A MASS
murderer died last week, and millions mourned.
The Palestine Liberation Organization he headed
kidnapped and murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the
1972 Munich Olympics. In 1973, Yasser Arafat was
recorded ordering the assassination of the U.S.
ambassador to Sudan. Shortly afterwards, the
ambassador and two other diplomats held hostage at
the Saudi embassy in Khartoum were murdered by PLO
operatives. In 1974, the PLO attacked Maalot High
School in Israel, massacred 26 children and
adults, and wounded 66.
Mr. Arafat's PLO led the first Intifada
("uprising") from 1987-1993, when 160 Israelis
were killed. Palestinians were also murdered,
mostly by other Palestinians.
Mr. Arafat walked away from the negotiating
table at Camp David in the summer of 2000, and a
few months later another Intifada erupted. Since
that time more than 1,000 Israelis and 2,100
Palestinians have died unnecessary and premature
violent deaths.
For what was all this bloodshed? The
Palestinians are further than ever from having a
state of their own. Their economy has been
destroyed. The Palestinians live in miserable
conditions.
So why do millions of Palestinians mourn Mr.
Arafat's passing?
Mr. Arafat almost single-handedly brought the
plight of the Palestinians to the world's
attention. The PLO was founded in 1963, when Gaza
was controlled by Egypt and the West Bank was
controlled by Jordan. Their goal was the
destruction of Israel. In the early days, the PLO
received support from Jordan, but Jordan never
offered to create a Palestinian state in the West
Bank. Jordan supported the struggle against
Israel.
From 1949 to 1967, the Palestinians were
already living in miserable conditions in Gaza and
the West Bank. The world considered the
Palestinian problem a refugee problem, not a
statehood problem.
When Egypt and Jordan were kicked out of the
West Bank and Gaza in 1967, Mr. Arafat seized the
moment, and got world opinion turned around, so
that eventually almost everyone came to accept
that the Palestinians should have their own state.
This was a remarkable achievement. Statehood for
the Palestinians was not a big issue from 1949 to
1967.
Mr. Arafat's collusion with Jordan in his
struggle against Israel came to an end in 1970,
when thousands of Palestinians were killed by
Jordanian military and police forces in "Black
September." But even without Jordan's help, he
succeeded in securing political recognition for
the PLO, a major coup in the eyes of the
Palestinians.
With Mr. Arafat's encouragement, the cult of
terrorism has become pervasive in Palestinian
territories. Palestinian children are recruited to
die as martyrs as long as they can take a few
Israelis with them.
This death cult is so pervasive that some
Palestinians danced in the streets when the World
Trade Center towers fell and many died. But Jews
are not dancing to celebrate the death of Mr.
Arafat.
As it says in the Hebrew Bible, in Proverbs
24:17, "Do not rejoice in the downfall of your
enemy." Every year at Passover, when Jews tell the
story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, we are
reminded of this wisdom. When the angels wanted to
sing songs of praise to God for parting the Red
Sea and leading the Hebrews across from slavery to
freedom, God silenced them, saying, "How can you
sing when my children (the Egyptians) are drowning
in the sea?"
So we acknowledge that even Mr. Arafat was one
of God's creatures, and there is sadness that he
was seen as such a wicked and terrible person. But
we have another reason not to rejoice. We have no
idea what will happen next.
Ariel Sharon, George Bush, and Bill Clinton
agree that Yasser Mr. Arafat was the major
obstacle to peace between Israel and the
Palestinians.
You might think, therefore, that if we remove
the obstacle all should be well. Think again. Look
at Iraq. The Mr. Arafat of Iraq, Saddam Hussein,
was removed, and even with a large U.S. military
presence the country has been plunged into
violence and chaos.
The Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, to be renamed the
Mr. Arafat Martyr's Brigades, nominally a part of
the PLO, has already announced that it will not
obey orders from either Mahmoud Abbas, the new
chairman of the PLO executive committee, or Prime
Minister Ahmed Qurei, who has added running the
National Security Council to his responsibilities.
If the PLO's own organizations won't obey the
PLO's leaders, what can be expected of other
organizations not part of the PLO, like Hamas?
Even though Abbas and Qurei may be moderates
who will seek peace with Israel, the big question
is whether either of them will have the courage to
do what David Ben-Gurion did at the founding of
Israel - to make clear, even using military force
against his own people, that there is only one
military, only one government.
Mr. Arafat had opportunities to be as
courageous a leader as Mr. Ben-Gurion. However, as
the great Israeli statesman, Abba Eban, said, "Mr.
Arafat never missed an opportunity to miss an
opportunity."
In the summer of 2000, he could have agreed to
the peace plan proposal worked out with Bill
Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. If
he had accepted that deal, he could now be
remembered as the true father of the Palestinian
nation.
His terrorist past would have been overshadowed
by his accomplishment as a statesman. Perhaps he
would have earned the accolades that French
President Jacques Chirac showered on him: Mr.
Chirac called Mr. Arafat a "man of courage and
conviction who, for 40 years, has incarnated the
Palestinians' combat for recognition of their
national rights." History will not be as kind to
Mr. Arafat as Mr. Chirac. Mr. Arafat is likelier
to be remembered as the father of modern
terrorism.
Whatever we make of Mr. Arafat's legacy, his
passing presents us with an opportunity.
We should encourage President Bush to seize
this moment and become actively engaged in
brokering a peace deal between Israel and the
Palestinians.
They need America's help. The pain and distrust
on both sides is too high for them to be able to
make peace on their own.
Rabbi Barry Leff is the spiritual leader for
Congregation B'nai Israel in Toledo.
