News Analysis: Sharon Fails to Get Rid of Arafat

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, July 18, 2003

News Analysis: Sharon Fails to Get Rid of Arafat

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Since he was isolated into his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah in late 2001, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has realized that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been trying his best to pull the carpet that he has been standing on for several decades.

Sharon has managed to convince the United States that Arafat could never be a partner for he supports Palestinian militants and encourages them to keep carrying out attacks, especially suicide bombing attacks against Israel.

Sharon, however, did not yield to the pressure from the rightwing and religious parties in his coalition to physically deport Arafat form Ramallah to Sudan when Israeli soldiers were about to reach Arafat's office during the widespread Defensive Shield Operation in the West Bank in April 2002.

Adnan Abdullah, a Palestinian analyst from Gaza and a former local Fatah movement leader, said "Sharon failed three times to get rid of Arafat, and would of course fail in any attempt to neglect his role in reaching a permanent peaceful solution with Israel."

He said that the first time that Sharon was trying to get rid of Arafat was when Israel accused the Palestinian leader of being responsible for bringing the arms-loaded ship "Karin A" to Gaza in early 2002.

The "Karin A" freighter, which was intercepted by Israeli naval commandoes some 500 km from Israel's shore in the Red Sea on Jan. 3 of 2002, was loaded with over 50 tons of weapons and ammunition and destined for Palestinian-controlled Gaza from Iran.

The second time was during the Defensive Shield Operation in April 2002 and the third was when the Israeli army destroyed all the buildings around his personal office and threatened him to handhimself over to the Israeli army, he said.

The analyst said that after studying all the options with his cabinet members and US experts on how to deal with Arafat, Sharon found out the idea of deporting Arafat out of the country or killing him would cause severe harm to Israel.

"The idea of dealing with an alternative instead of dealing with Arafat was the best for Sharon," said Abdullah.

Therefore, Israel and the United States encouraged reforms within the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and creating the post of a Palestinian prime minister who would be given all the authorization to negotiate with Israel.

Sharon and the United States believed Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen),who is the secretary general of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and a member of the Fatah Central Committee (FCC) chaired by Arafat, could be the best alternative to get rid of Arafat.

Abu Mazen, an architect of the Oslo accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, is a man who strongly believes that the Palestinians could not get their legitimate rights by armed struggle, but through peaceful dialogue and negotiations with Israel.

"Abu Mazen knows that there are several members within the Fatah Central Committee who are loyal to their historical leader and would never let a man like Abu Mazen to be an alternative to Arafat," said Abdullah.

After Abu Mazen was sworn in as the first Palestinian prime minister on April 30, he met with Sharon several times, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell twice in the West Bank town of Jericho, while Arafat was still besieged into his Ramallah office by the Israeli army.

Abu Mazen began to run the negotiations with Israel and reached a security agreement with the Jewish state, under which the Israeli army pulled out from several occupied parts in the Gaza Strip as well as from the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian prime minister managed to convince Palestinian militant groups to accept a three-month Hudna, or truce, to stop armed attacks against Israel.

However, when Abu Mazen began to authorize Minister of Security Affairs Mohmmed Dahlan and other cabinet members to negotiate with Israel on the issues of prisoners' release and finance, Arafat immediately interfered and took issues with the premier.

At a FCC meeting held in Ramallah last week, several FCC members blasted Abu Mazen for the way he was negotiating with Israel and accused him of playing with the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The disputes within the Fatah movement, particularly between FCC members loyal to Arafat and Abu Mazen, had prompted the latter to resign from the FCC and cancel a scheduled meeting with Sharon, which was set to discuss the Israeli pullouts from more West Bank cities and the release Palestinian prisoners.

However, Arafat and Abu Mazen finally reached an agreement to end their disputes Monday night after a series of mediation efforts within the FCC and by an Egyptian delegation sent by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Well-informed Palestinian sources said that under the agreement, Arafat holds the rights to reform and chair a highest committee for negotiations and a highest Palestinian Council for security.

While Abu Mazen has the authority to draw up the policy of the government in accordance with the Palestinian Basic Law, the sources said.

The sources stressed that the two veterans in the Fatah movement agreed to intensify coordination between them in all fields, and "not to give a chance to anyone to use the gaps between them."

The question that remains after Arafat and Abu Mazen overcame disputes is "would Sharon and the United States again look for other ways to get rid of Arafat after they claim that he is the only obstacle making Abu Mazen's job very difficult?"

Questions?Comments? Click here

Britain Tells Israel Its Willingness to Continue Ties with Arafat

Palestinian Daily Slams Sharon for "Inciting against Arafat"

Major Milestone for China's Car Industry ( 3 Messages)

Scholars, or Trouble Makers?--People's Observation ( 64 Messages)

Why Renminbi Not to Be Revalued, Chief Economist of Morgan Stanley ( 19 Messages)

US Steps up Relations with Taiwan: Commentary ( 11 Messages)

Requisite Silence Self-discipline of the Media ( 2 Messages)