Word: arafat
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...epic irony of Yasser Arafat's final hours or days is the growing sense that he may facilitate, by his death, what he failed to achieve in the course of his storied life. As recently as a week ago, Palestinian statehood had seemed like nothing more than an abstract wish for the foreseeable future; now, suddenly, with the Palestinian leader reportedly in a terminal coma, Palestinian statehood is once again being discussed in the realm of the possible. It's not simply Arafat's passing from the scene that has enabled the shift. The Bush administration is facing rising pressure...
...focus most of its energy on fixing Iraq after an occupation that even they admit was badly planned. But inevitably, other international problems will be competing for Bush's attention as well. MIDDLE EAST PEACE During Bush's first term, Palestinian and Israeli politics have become more polarized. With Arafat potentially off the field, Hamas is in a stronger position to compete for authority with the Palestinian leader's eventual successors in Fatah. Sharon faces an internal rebellion of his own over plans to close settlements and withdraw from Gaza. All in all, the prospects of a broader Camp David...
...ISRAEL: With Arafat ill, Sharon faces fresh challenges...
...unfulfilled. Here too the candidates' positions differ only in degree: Kerry says, if elected, he would appoint an envoy to the Middle East to restart the peace process, but like Bush, he backs Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's refusal to negotiate a permanent settlement while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains in power...
...Israel or to roll back its occupation; Israel's vastly superior military resources are unable to destroy either the traditional Palestinian nationalist movement nor its more militant rivals. Neither side can prevail through force, and periods of calm simply punctuate bouts of increasingly bitter violence. Sooner or later, Arafat will die, or be removed in some way from his position of power. But that may not substantially alter the strategic logjam...