What's he waiting for?
Hichem Karoui | 14.07.2002 12:23
What is he waiting for?
By Hichem Karoui, Special to Arab News
PARIS, 6 July ? Of course Arafat must go! US President George Bush is right. The Palestinian leader has failed in his mission. He could neither achieve peace with the Israelis, nor persuade his people to stop resistance and suicidal bombings! So, what is he good for?
And so has Sharon to do too! That has been omitted in Bush?s speech, but the president meant it ? no doubt ? although nobody has a clue about it!
Bush is not blind. He has certainly asked himself:
Does anyone pretend that Sharon has achieved a better record than Arafat? Indeed, the Israeli leader escaped momentously a trial for war crimes. But it is not the end of the affair. Bush, who is habitually so concerned with the human rights issues everywhere in the world, could not ignore it! How would the American president pay no heed to so many are willing with such a delight to relay on the lawsuit against Sharon? Just give them time. Arafat has perhaps failed as a future statesman, but Sharon in return has succeeded as a butcher. Bush would have to blame the writer of his speech. Maybe had he done so already! For as you can observe, it did not even dawn on the writer that these two points are paradoxical! You cannot have a Palestinian statesman (or more precisely future statesman) while allowing the ?butcher? on the other side to go wild and free with killings! That?s awful! You can still pretend that he is just reacting to the suicide bombings, but his own ?resume? as a career-butcher proves that he has always waited for the opportunity to make his bloody services higher in the stock market of Israeli values.
OK! Everybody will tell you that Arafat has reached the age of an honorable retirement. Any reasonable man would do that if he were in Arafat?s shoes. Why should one cling to power and behave like a crank, if he is deemed to be the obstacle to peace? Bush is aware of that. He had been briefed just before the famous speech about the state of Arafat?s health. Tenet, the CIA boss, was likely the man who informed the president about the progressive deterioration of Arafat?s mental faculties!
The report has been published in the Italian press and is available on the Internet. It was the weekly Panorama, owned by Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, that took the lead telling the readers about Arafat?s memory loss, spontaneous blackouts and other concentration problems! That was a scoop! Panorama did not however publish the report about Sharon?s mental state, as it was expected! The journalist who got that special report from Sharon?s own physician could neither leave Israel nor send his story to Panorama! He is still missing! Trouble is that not only the Israelis pretend that they never saw him, but his own boss at Panorama denies that such a person have ever worked for him! Nonetheless, Bush knows all these tricks. He wouldn?t let those little jerks of the press embark him on some adventurous declarations on behalf of their word!
None! It is on Powell that he relied. And the secretary of state who knows his new job even better than the former (the military that is!) was well the man who informed the president that the Arab leaders did not actually mind having Arafat removed! That?s exactly what he told The Times of London too. Thus it is to satisfy the Arab friends and for their delight that Bush kicked Arafat out of the future! Anyway, what is the future of an old man?
That?s why Arafat should give up! Indubitably, history will recall him as the only Arab leader who abdicated from power at the summit of a state that does not even exist! Arab leaders are very diehard, it is not a secret. Bush is thus giving Arafat a golden opportunity that has never been offered to another Arab leader (with the exclusion of Saddam!): to quit power before being forced to! Willingly, unwillingly, that does not matter! The point is that Bush has not ruled out a military intervention, if necessary! That is quite amazing, some of you would say!
Not at all. As negligible quantity as the Palestinian Authority could sound, if compared to the USA, Washington would send the ?boys? out to bring Arafat to his knees, if he refuses to obey!
Nasty affair!
Why so? And where did Tsahal go then? Why is it not capable of doing the job for Bush? You feel here that Sharon would not forgive Bush for this blunder! What happened to this world? Sending the US Army against that old rebel when Tsahal is already there strangling him and counting his pulsation and controlling his breath?
By the way, how old is Sharon?
That?s definitely not the point! Sharon could be 190 years old, if he wants. Nobody would consider that as a flaw. For a very simple reason: All the Israeli leaders wish to resemble the biblical patriarchs! Which is not the wish of the Muslim leaders. Indeed, if a veritable, a true and honest peace deal depends only upon Arafat?s departure, then he must go.
What if it depends on Sharon?s own departure, as the majority of the Arabs believe? Answer: It is not the Arabs that dictate to the Israelis what they ought or ought not to do with their leaders! Even if the Arabs are much more numerous than the Israelis, since they have no democracy, they should shut up and watch how a prime minister is made in Israel! Once he is up there in power, even the mighty Tsahal would not be capable of getting rid of him, although this is the tradition in some Arab countries!
Did you ask why?
Well. It is quite simple. Why should the Israeli Army undertake a coup against one of its generals? Who is Sharon? And who was Barak? And Rabin?
Israel is a democracy: That?s why generals rule it!
As to Arafat, had he not always sacrificed his private life for the sake of the cause? Well, today one more time, he should prove that he still knows how to listen to the voice of his people.
It is well his people, represented by Bush and Sharon who entreated him to go away!
So, what is he waiting for?
(
http://www.hichemkaroui.com)
Email this article Print this article
Features
? CNN?s two modes ? gossip and war!!
? The Jewel in the Crown
? A look at the powerful Jewish lobby in America
? Keep remembering - lest a surprise comes your way
? The sparrow and the beetle
By Hichem Karoui, Special to Arab News
PARIS, 6 July ? Of course Arafat must go! US President George Bush is right. The Palestinian leader has failed in his mission. He could neither achieve peace with the Israelis, nor persuade his people to stop resistance and suicidal bombings! So, what is he good for?
And so has Sharon to do too! That has been omitted in Bush?s speech, but the president meant it ? no doubt ? although nobody has a clue about it!
Bush is not blind. He has certainly asked himself:
Does anyone pretend that Sharon has achieved a better record than Arafat? Indeed, the Israeli leader escaped momentously a trial for war crimes. But it is not the end of the affair. Bush, who is habitually so concerned with the human rights issues everywhere in the world, could not ignore it! How would the American president pay no heed to so many are willing with such a delight to relay on the lawsuit against Sharon? Just give them time. Arafat has perhaps failed as a future statesman, but Sharon in return has succeeded as a butcher. Bush would have to blame the writer of his speech. Maybe had he done so already! For as you can observe, it did not even dawn on the writer that these two points are paradoxical! You cannot have a Palestinian statesman (or more precisely future statesman) while allowing the ?butcher? on the other side to go wild and free with killings! That?s awful! You can still pretend that he is just reacting to the suicide bombings, but his own ?resume? as a career-butcher proves that he has always waited for the opportunity to make his bloody services higher in the stock market of Israeli values.
OK! Everybody will tell you that Arafat has reached the age of an honorable retirement. Any reasonable man would do that if he were in Arafat?s shoes. Why should one cling to power and behave like a crank, if he is deemed to be the obstacle to peace? Bush is aware of that. He had been briefed just before the famous speech about the state of Arafat?s health. Tenet, the CIA boss, was likely the man who informed the president about the progressive deterioration of Arafat?s mental faculties!
The report has been published in the Italian press and is available on the Internet. It was the weekly Panorama, owned by Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, that took the lead telling the readers about Arafat?s memory loss, spontaneous blackouts and other concentration problems! That was a scoop! Panorama did not however publish the report about Sharon?s mental state, as it was expected! The journalist who got that special report from Sharon?s own physician could neither leave Israel nor send his story to Panorama! He is still missing! Trouble is that not only the Israelis pretend that they never saw him, but his own boss at Panorama denies that such a person have ever worked for him! Nonetheless, Bush knows all these tricks. He wouldn?t let those little jerks of the press embark him on some adventurous declarations on behalf of their word!
None! It is on Powell that he relied. And the secretary of state who knows his new job even better than the former (the military that is!) was well the man who informed the president that the Arab leaders did not actually mind having Arafat removed! That?s exactly what he told The Times of London too. Thus it is to satisfy the Arab friends and for their delight that Bush kicked Arafat out of the future! Anyway, what is the future of an old man?
That?s why Arafat should give up! Indubitably, history will recall him as the only Arab leader who abdicated from power at the summit of a state that does not even exist! Arab leaders are very diehard, it is not a secret. Bush is thus giving Arafat a golden opportunity that has never been offered to another Arab leader (with the exclusion of Saddam!): to quit power before being forced to! Willingly, unwillingly, that does not matter! The point is that Bush has not ruled out a military intervention, if necessary! That is quite amazing, some of you would say!
Not at all. As negligible quantity as the Palestinian Authority could sound, if compared to the USA, Washington would send the ?boys? out to bring Arafat to his knees, if he refuses to obey!
Nasty affair!
Why so? And where did Tsahal go then? Why is it not capable of doing the job for Bush? You feel here that Sharon would not forgive Bush for this blunder! What happened to this world? Sending the US Army against that old rebel when Tsahal is already there strangling him and counting his pulsation and controlling his breath?
By the way, how old is Sharon?
That?s definitely not the point! Sharon could be 190 years old, if he wants. Nobody would consider that as a flaw. For a very simple reason: All the Israeli leaders wish to resemble the biblical patriarchs! Which is not the wish of the Muslim leaders. Indeed, if a veritable, a true and honest peace deal depends only upon Arafat?s departure, then he must go.
What if it depends on Sharon?s own departure, as the majority of the Arabs believe? Answer: It is not the Arabs that dictate to the Israelis what they ought or ought not to do with their leaders! Even if the Arabs are much more numerous than the Israelis, since they have no democracy, they should shut up and watch how a prime minister is made in Israel! Once he is up there in power, even the mighty Tsahal would not be capable of getting rid of him, although this is the tradition in some Arab countries!
Did you ask why?
Well. It is quite simple. Why should the Israeli Army undertake a coup against one of its generals? Who is Sharon? And who was Barak? And Rabin?
Israel is a democracy: That?s why generals rule it!
As to Arafat, had he not always sacrificed his private life for the sake of the cause? Well, today one more time, he should prove that he still knows how to listen to the voice of his people.
It is well his people, represented by Bush and Sharon who entreated him to go away!
So, what is he waiting for?
(
http://www.hichemkaroui.com) Email this article Print this article
Features
? CNN?s two modes ? gossip and war!!
? The Jewel in the Crown
? A look at the powerful Jewish lobby in America
? Keep remembering - lest a surprise comes your way
? The sparrow and the beetle
Hichem Karoui
Homepage:
www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=16654
Comments
Display the following comment