Yasser Arafat has left the Middle East, almost exactly ten
years after he came back from North Africa on the wings of
the Oslo Agreements and the promise of peace in our area.
At that time, he came with the confidence and even adulation
of almost the entire world. In 1994 he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize, along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, for
his "efforts to create peace in the Middle East."
Last week he left under the suspicion that his absence would
do more to promote peace than his presence.
Even in those days, there was discussion about his
bloodstained hands. Since then he has encouraged the further
murder of thousands, including more than a thousand murders
in the last four years alone.
His apologists always point to the limitations on his ability
to act. But there are plenty of things that he do, that it
was obviously within his power to do otherwise.
The institutions of the Palestinian Authority are all under
his thumb. All of them preach hatred and violence with regard
to Israel. The PA television shows endless films depicting
how cruel and heartless Israeli soldiers are, interspersed
with films about how wonderful it is to die for the
homeland.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, programming directed at
children constantly stresses how wonderful it is to be a
martyr (shahid). School textbooks do not show Israel,
and they also send the message of embracing death. The
textbooks teach that the children can serve in combat support
roles.
In a 6th grade textbook it says that when Mohammed and his
companion Abu Bakr hid in a cave, Abu Bakr's young daughter
aided them by passing them information about the enemy and
giving them water. The schoolbook teaches children to see
themselves in similar roles: "Asma, Abu Bakr's daughter, was
my age when she played a role . . . " and immediately asks
the question: "What role can I play?"
The official PA daily reported (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,
Oct. 11, 2004): "In spite of family members' warnings, groups
of children are spreading around the [Gaza] camp, both to
pass on information to the resistance and to bring them
water."
Clearly the children are applying the lessons that they
learned.
Schools and summer camps for children are named after suicide
bombers. Parents of suicide bombers are interviewed, and they
explain how happy they are that their son or daughter became
a martyr. Old lies about Jews are repeated, and new lies are
invented, such as that poisons were introduced into
Palestinian water.
All this is the daily fare of the media that is owned and
operated by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. All this
has been set up by Arafat and can be changed by a wave of his
hand. In effect, Arafat and his institutions say, over and
over again, that they want to murder all Israelis.
This is what Arafat has said consistently for 40 years.
This is the reason that Prime Minister Sharon has said that
it is not worth talking to Arafat.
However, there is no reason to anticipate any immediate
breakthrough if Arafat leaves the scene. The poisoned
atmosphere that Arafat created will certainly survive him. No
leader that takes his place will be able to make any sudden
drastic changes.
It will take a long time to repair the damage that Arafat has
caused his people. Even once there is a will to make serious
steps, it will take time. The atmosphere of violence and the
internal chaos that prevail, not to mention the complete
corruption of all the governmental machinery, all have a life
of their own that will probably extend far beyond that of
their creator.
