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Amid the ruins, a search for new hope Muted farewell reflects sense of failure Chris McGreal in Ramallah Saturday November 6, 2004 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1344983,00.html For Fayek Hotari there has been no other leader. The rounded, stumpy, endlessly energetic and quick-witted figure of Yasser Arafat for years embodied Mr Hotari's dream of driving the Zionist project back into the sea and reclaiming the family home he has never seen. Ten years ago, with the Oslo accords, that aspiration evolved into the more realistic pursuit of ridding the West Bank and Gaza of Israeli occupation and building Palestine next to, and not in place of, the Jewish state. But Mr Hotari is 48 now and for him the dreams built around Mr Arafat are as shattered as the mountains of concrete and rusting car hulks left by the Israeli army in the Palestinian leader's compound and de facto prison for the past two and a half years. "I do not think there is a single Palestinian who does not believe President Arafat is the father of our nation," said Mr Hotari, a vegetable shop owner doing a thriving trade yesterday. "He is the father of our hope, our identity, our dignity and he forced the Jews to recognise that we were people, too, with the same rights to a country. "But President Arafat is also the father of the country you see around you. What is it? It is not what I thought we were struggling for." Ramallah has not yet begun to mourn Yasser Arafat. Among many people here it is considered offensive to discuss the consequences of his death until he finally succumbs. It is Ramadan and the pace of life is dictated by the fast, with people rising before dawn to eat and praying frequently. At some mosques yesterday there were prayers for the leader. But Palestinian reaction to date has been telling. After Mr Arafat's collapse 10 days ago only a few dozen Palestinians kept vigil outside his compound, the muqata. As the helicopter lifted off a couple of days later carrying him on the first leg of his journey to Paris, the send-off was muted. There was no wave of emotion across the Palestinian capital at the very real possibility that Mr Arafat had left the West Bank alive for the last time. There was generally only wondering. Would he be back? And if he doesn't come back, what then? "It is hard to imagine life without Arafat," said Saleh Dawod, a 43-year-old car mechanic. "We don't know what to expect. We know who the people at the top are - Abu Mazen, Abu Ala. We know all these names. But we don't know what they will do for us. I feel sad for Arafat but I also feel sad for us, the people. I do not see an end to our problems." An Arab member of the Israeli parliament, Ahmed Tibi, wrote an open letter of farewell to Mr Arafat. "Supporters and opponents, friends and rivals, all see the man with the keffiya, the man in the eternal khaki, as the embodiment of their national longing - the eternal symbol, and even after the man himself goes, he will be with us forever," he wrote. "I wish I were wrong, but when Arafat's helicopter took off from Ramallah, we felt this was a symbolic ascendance to heaven. Despite his promise to us to return, this will apparently not happen." The more time the Palestinian leader spent isolated in his compound, the more he was isolated from the people of Ramallah and the rest of the occupied territories. But Mr Arafat remained a symbol not only of Palestinian aspirations but also of their suffering. Even his critics never doubted the Palestinian leader's willingness to endure the harsh conditions of his incarceration that took a visible toll on the ailing 75-year-old rather than bow to the Israelis' will. "He suffered and we suffered with him," said Mr Dawod. "I think it took the Israelis a long time to understand that we would rather suffer and be free than accept the occupation." But the Palestinian people had their own gripes with Mr Arafat. They loathed the corruption and cronyism at their expense. They grew weary of his administrative incompetence. They despaired of the failed tactics and lack of direction, although few doubted that the real fault for the failure of the peace process lay with Israel, which never let up in its perpetual hunger for other people's land. The more Israel and the US heaped blame on Mr Arafat as the single most significant obstacle to peace - calling for his removal from office, or worse - the more it drove ordinary Palestinians to set aside his shortcomings and stand with their leader. "If Sharon does not want him, there must be a reason," Mr Dawod said. "The reason is that Yasser Arafat would not agree to what the Jews want to do to the Palestinian people. He would not agree to the Jews being our masters. Sharon wants someone who will agree." But some things do not change. While attention was focused on Mr Arafat and his fight for life in Paris, the dying went on in Palestine. � An Israeli tank shell killed two young Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip yesterday. The shell smashed into the home of Ahmed al-Smari, seven, and his cousin, Mohammed al-Smari, eight, in Khan Yunis refugee camp. =========+========= FEEDBACK? http://nativenewsonline.org/Guestbook/guestbook.cgi GIVE FOOD: THE HUNGERSITE http://www.thehungersite.com/ Reprinted under Fair Use http://nativenewsonline.org/fairuse.htm =========+========= Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Native News Online a Service of Barefoot Connection Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nat-International/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
