Word: arafats
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Palestinians will quickly establish a consensus over which leaders will fill the formal positions of Yasser Arafat, who died early Thursday in Paris. But consensus over the way forward will remain as elusive as it has been for the past decade. It is a measure of Arafat?s unique status as a national symbol that despite that absence of consensus, Palestinian leaders ranging from moderate liberals such as Hanan Ashrawi to the hard-eyed bombers of Hamas have concurred on the role of the aging revolutionary, who spent his last three years living under virtual house arrest at the Ramallah...
Behind the scenes, the jostling has begun. Late Thursday night, as bulldozers cleared the courtyard of Arafat's compound of the concrete-filled oil drums and wrecked cars dumped there to prevent Israeli special forces from landing a helicopter to kidnap or kill Arafat, members of the P.L.O. Executive Committee met to discuss who would assume leadership duties while Arafat was abroad. No leader wanted to appear to be jumping into Arafat's shoes before he was dead, but P.L.O. chiefs told TIME they decided that in the absence of Arafat, Secretary-General of the P.L.O. Executive Committee, Mahmoud Abbas...
...Arafat were to die, the Palestinian constitution dictates that parliamentary speaker Rauhi Fattuh take over as President for 40 days, until elections might be held. Most top Palestinian officials believe Abbas, who resigned as Prime Minister last year after accusing Arafat of undermining his authority, would almost certainly win. Some Palestinian observers, however, questioned how long the clerkish Abbas would last if a challenge emerged later from a more ruthless opponent. The P.L.O. chiefs fear that without Arafat, the armed gangs ruling Palestinian towns wouldn't have even the modest restraining influence "the old man," as they call...
Sharon's next move may be determined most by Arafat's prospects for survival. If Abbas eases into the Palestinian driving seat, Sharon will face pressure to go back to the negotiating table. When Abbas was briefly Prime Minister last year, President Bush backed him and Sharon had to go along--until Arafat's backstairs maneuvers frustrated Abbas into resignation. Israeli political analysts believe that despite his condemnations of Arafat, Sharon was perfectly happy to let his old nemesis linger on in Ramallah, providing a flesh-and-blood excuse to avoid peace talks. A new Palestinian partner would force Sharon...
Sharon's Dilemma With Arafat severely ill, Israel's leader faces another challenge to his plan to pull out of the settlements...