Remembering Yasser Arafat

By

Mr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

Sabidde@yahoo.com

 

“The lessons of history are clear: no nation or nation-state will ever tolerate subjugation and oppression -- why should the Palestinians?”

 

It’s been three years since the premature and unfortunate death of one of the major actors of the twentieth century, Chairman Yasser Arafat (August 24, 1929 - Nov 11, 2004). The truth is still out there as to whether he was murdered, died a natural death, or succumbed to “independent illness.” History has shown that nothing can be hidden forever; in the not too distant future therefore, the truth shall be revealed as to what really happened. Arafat was born Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini.

 

Yasser Arafat was, for me, and for a great many people around the world, a statesman. He was a man of vision, a man of valor, a man of principle and of unbounded energy and vigor. He not only embodied his people’s resolve for self rule, dignity and freedom, he gave hope to all those who yearned to free themselves from the shackles of limitation, imprisonment, defeat and subjugation. What greater service is there than the service to ones own people and to ones own land. Arafat accomplished both:  He lived his life in the services of his people and his land. Arafat gave wind to the wings of Palestine.

Chairman Arafat made some mistakes. There is no doubt about that. But the greatest mistake would have been for him to acquiesce to the ill-intentioned dictate of American and pro-Israeli camps -- most of whom accused him of not transiting from “freedom fighter to statesman.” Short of selling his soul, these teary-eyed pro-Tel Aviv pundits and politicians would never have accepted Arafat. Some hated him, others despised him. Nothing Arafat said or did would have satisfied them.

I liked Yasser Arafat. I loved him. And so did millions of people around the world. We understood his cause. Here was a man who stood up to the State of Israel. Here was a man who stood up to the United States. Here was a man that refused to be bullied by anyone. Here was a man who refused to compromise his principles. Here was a man who steadfastly refused to betray his people. Arafat was the champion of a noble cause. He epitomized his people’s struggles, hope and aspirations.

Chairman Yasser Arafat was said to have scuttled the peace process. He did not! He was branded a terrorist. He was not! He was a freedom fighter extraordinaire. It is unfortunate that America, and especially Israel, painted the man with unflattering brushes. There is nothing Arafat did, said or dreamt of that successive Israeli government and Prime Ministers have never done, said, or designed. He was accused of terrorism as if terrorism was the private purview of any one state, non-state actors or band of people.

The State of Israel rightfully became independent in 1948, but has steadfastly denied the Palestinians a statehood; and have also systematically and illegally annexed Palestine, sent in Apache helicopters, battle tanks, gunship and other weapons to assassinate those they consider terrorists, and have also bulldozed people’s homes and maim and killed innocent women and children -- all in the name of defending Israel’s sovereignty. Sadly, Israel’s actions are not deemed terrorism by the United States.


Generally, terrorism is a reaction to the intermestic policies of a state. And in some cases “terrorist organizations” are formed in opposition to the repressive and non-democratic actions of nation-state. In order words, most terrorist organizations came into being only because particular governments refused or failed to take into consideration the grievances of an oppressed group -- in which case terrorism becomes the “weapon of the weak.”

What were Arafat and his men to do when the State of Israel was belittling and disparaging them? What was the PLO to do when the Palestinian lands were being illegally annexed? What was Arafat to do when his homeland was being turned into settlements for Jews fleeing other parts of the world?

Generations of Palestinians have been dispossessed of their land and rights. And so the majority of what Arafat and his band of brothers did was merely a reaction to the callous and illegitimate actions of the State of Israel. That is to say: most of what Arafat and his men did was not a crime, but merely a legitimate political struggle against an occupying force. It is an irony that the Israelis are now doing to the Palestinians some of the things Hitler and the Nazi’s did to innocent and defenseless Jews in years gone by. What Nazi German and Hitler did was barbaric, unconscionable, and inhumane. The world should never have allowed it to stand. Today, the Palestinians are suffering similar fate in the hands of the State of Israel. Injustice is injustice and no injustice must be allowed to reign.



For several years the State of Israel wanted nothing more than to “arrest, deport or kill” Arafat. For years they had tried in vain to “get him.” They were obsessed with him. When he was finally “deported,” he died within a few days. That begs the question: What happened to Arafat? What did he die of? Were pathogens deliberately introduced into his immediate surroundings? Or, was it a bit of this and that and that and this in his food and water and blood? Was he betrayed by a trusted comrade? For three years or so, Arafat was confined to a hell-hole. What happened to him in all those years? Does the Israeli cabinet know what the French Doctors didn’t know?

Arafat is gone; but his death has not solved the Israeli or Middle East problems. Since his passing, no lasting progress has been made, no viable solution has been found. I won’t be surprised if Washington and Tel Aviv miss him.  There has to be a tinge of regret on their part. After all, he was the man they could talk and negotiate with. Who can they negotiate with today? HAMAS and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in the Gaza Strip, or FATAH and President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank? In Yasser Arafat, every one knew where the “buck stopped.” The current equation benefits no one. What a mess!

 

The lessons of history are clear: No nation or nation-state will ever tolerate subjugation and oppression -- why should the Palestinians? In all of these, one vital lesson was forgotten: “Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality -- not as we expect it to be but as it is -- is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love” (Carl Frederick Buechner).

History will absolve this freedom fighter! History and posterity will be kind to him because he was not the main and only problem. Sure, he is responsible for part of the blame; but successive Israeli Prime Ministers, along with several American Presidents, must all share in the blame. In the main however, successive Israeli Prime Ministers and a faction of the Israeli society refused to honestly deal with Arafat.

 

The Palestinians are human; but the Israelis treated them as though they are sub humans. Therefore and until there is a change in policy and attitude on the part of the State of Israel, no Palestinian leader will do business with them without risking his life, reputation and humanity. The ANC fought against apartheid South Africa; Robert Mugabe and his men fought against the oppressive regime of Ian Smith and his cohorts. Free peoples around the world fought for their freedom -- which was what the PLO and Arafat was doing!

The State of Israel is fearful that the Palestinian and the Arab world are scheming to do them in. This is an unfounded fear! Their best hope and best chance for peace, security and peaceful coexistence depended on Arafat; but now that Arafat is no longer on the stage let’s see who the Israelis are going to blame next. When it is all said and done, history will absolve Arafat for he was truly a great man, a statesman and a peacemaker. And so I mourn the untimely passing of a unique nationalist and a genuine statesman.  The world misses him very much!

 

Sabidde@yahoo.com