Word: arafats
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Last week's wave of terror attacks and Israeli assassination strikes which together killed some 50 people on both sides underscored the impotence of the Arafat appointee who improbably carries U.S. hopes of pacifying the Palestinian street. Sharon didn't help matters when he publicly derided his Palestinian counterpart as a "featherless chick" who needed Israel to do his dirty work for him - a perception already shared by many Palestinians...
...government of Ehud Barak in their final talks at Taba in January 2001. The U.S. participated in the "quartet" discussions that initially shaped the plan, but Washington moved closer to Sharon's efforts to seek a military victory and endorsed his positions demanding the sidelining of PA president Yasser Arafat as one of a number of preconditions for renewed talks...
...After two weeks of the roadmap process, there's a tacit acknowledgment of the limits of Abbas's own authority. Yasser Arafat plainly remains in charge of the PA, and his endorsement remains essential if Abbas is to have even a remote chance of delivering on the security requirements of the "roadmap." Tuesday's reports that Israel is considering freeing Marwan Barghouti - the West Bank Fatah leader accused by Israel of running the movement's militias and terror groups - is a further indicator that those orchestrating the roadmap process are aware that the only workable cease-fire is one endorsed...
...While Abbas has been willing to the be the Palestinian leader Washington wants him to be, others ranging from Arafat and Barghouti to the leaders of Hamas are likely to be guided more by the sentiment of the Palestinian street. That's a double-edged sword. If Hamas's terror attacks are perceived to be imperiling Palestinians' chances of resuming their working lives, pressure will mount on the organization to suspend such attacks. At the same time, however, the flurry of diplomatic talks have thus far had little impact on the lives of ordinary Palestinians struggling under the chokehold...
...Palestinian militias continued to take a heavy toll with suicide bombs and Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Palestinian towns in the West Bank. But Bush's aides argue that disengagement was a strategy designed to force changes in the Palestinian Authority. Only when the unreliable Yasser Arafat was shunted aside would the President act. That happened in April, when U.S. pressure, Israel's isolation of Arafat and a sense of hopelessness among senior Palestinians combined to force Arafat to agree to the appointment of Abbas. "What took place last week never would have been possible if Abbas hadn...