With Love and Regrets from Damascus…to President Arafat

Mr. President, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sami Moubayed and I am a Syrian citizen who has followed your career with admiration and written extensively about you for the past two years. I have tried many times to meet you, but circumstances always came in my way: in Beirut, in Damascus, in Europe. I have always been an admirer of your leadership and your struggle for the cause - our cause, which is the liberation of Palestine and the creation of a Palestinian State based on the borders of pre-1967. Today, however, I speak for the generation of Arab youth in saying that I have nearly lost faith in Yasser Arafat, and am this close to losing faith in the entire Arab cause as well. At no time since 1948 have the Arabs been so pessimistic and so uncertain of their future. Mr. President, as I watched the Israeli onslaught over the past several months, and the current siege of Ramallah, I couldn't help but weep at the atrocities. Yes Your Excellency, I wept for our lost Arab nationalism and I wept for the bloodbath in Palestine. I wept because the Arabs died long before the Palestinians did. Since the Israelis laid siege to your compound in Ramallah in March 2002, I watched your maneuvering with a combination of admiration and fear, but frankly, I am disgusted at where the situation has reached today.

In March 2002, you were at the apex of your 40-year career, with enemy and ally rallying around your leadership. I saw your portraits carried in Damascus, which has historically been hostile to your leadership, and I saw you being hailed in Beirut as the Salaadin of modern times. Even the Muslims of Beirut, who suffered terribly from Arafat during the Lebanese Civil War, were behind you. Everyone, even those who have long tried to kill you, in Palestine, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Jordan, and in Libya, could not help but admire your leadership. I even met you're your archenemy Khalid Meshal of Hamas at his office in Damascus, and he said, "When the symbol of Palestine is threatened, we will all stand by him!" This unperceived popularity that you enjoyed back then, Mr. President, has vanished. Allow me to recount the reasons.

When you were released from Ramallah, the aura of Arafat began falling apart. At a survey conducted at Beir Zeit University, I read that Arafat today is at the lowest popularity point in his career since 1964. That Mr. President, was disturbing news for me. Like most Arab leaders, you are not aware of the speculations and reservations about your actions. Your advisors keep the truth from you out of fear. I will be frank out of love and respect. Your people accused you of giving in to Israeli pressure during the crisis of the Church of Nativity. You were scorned for letting Israel deport Palestinian citizens from the areas of self-rule to Europe and Cyprus. You then yielded to U.S. pressure and cracked down on the Palestinian opposition, thereby shattering the long-held belief that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was one of the longest standing democracies in the Middle East. Not satisfied with a manhunt on Hamas, you appeared before television cameras and claimed that Hamas is a creation of Israel, thereby infuriating a large portion of your people who are Hamas loyalists. For the record, I am not a supporter of Hamas and do not believe in the martyr attacks they are doing. To make up for the diplomatic mistake, however, you appealed to Palestinian emotions and promised sweeping political and administrative reforms in the Palestinian National Authority. For a minute, while a cabinet formation was in the air, people held their breath and wanted to believe that the reforms would be sincere and far-fetched. The cabinet that was formed, Mr. President, was a slap in the face to all those who were really expecting changes. It was doomed from day one when we realized that the cabinet had been approved in Washington before receiving an okay in Ramallah. Dr. Edward Said best described it as "a combination of tragedy and comedy." We were surprised Mr. President to see you, having boasted of independent decisions for decades, present the list of ministers to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt for prior approval. We understand the need to consult with Arab leaderships on regional issues, there's nothing wrong with that, but cabinet formation is a domestic issue. It is an issue that deals with national unity, sovereignty, and privacy that nobody other than the Palestinians are entitled to decide upon. We also heard that the size of the cabinet, and the nature of security reforms were all approved by the USA. The very fact that the Palestinian leadership needed conditional approval to draft a cabinet is a grave insult to the Palestinian people and to Arabs like myself who believe in your leadership and your cause. Political reforms and a cabinet change should be coming out of your own initiative, not because George Bush and Ariel Sharon wanted it.

Mr. President it is with a heavy heart that I observe you adopting propaganda measures and political decisions that no longer differentiate you from other Arab leaders. I am surprised that after securing a sweeping victory as President of the PNA in 1993, you slowly started to adopt image-boosting techniques that have traditionally disgusted Arabs. Your photos are plastered on walls, songs of praise have become more common, and Palestine Satellite TV covers your news in the same manner that Libyan TV covers those of Mu’ammar Qaddafi. Despite the promises of sharing power with others, you continued to hold the two senior posts of president and prime minister. The post of Master Speaker remained in the hands of Ahmad Qura'e, who is an extension of your views, strategy, and aims. Meaning, all decision-making in Palestine remained firmly confined in your hands. The opposition is voiceless because they have been left out of government and what remains of its leadership are either in exile, in jail, or have been killed off by Israel. All those who enjoy a power base in Palestine and who can give your administration a face-lift, or more legitimacy, have refused to take part in the cabinet. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is immensely popular, could not but refuse, so long as its leader Ahmad Sa'adat remains confined to your prisons in Jericho. Hamas was not invited, and even renowned PLO officials like Hanan Ashrawi, Abd al-Jawad Saleh, Salah Tamari, and Haydar Abd al-Shafi, turned down government posts. I heard that Tamari, a prominent member of Fatah, was given the post of Minister of State. Mr. President, what respected politician nowadays would take up a make-believe portfolio? Renowned Palestinian thinkers, who might have given you a headache but who nevertheless would have done wonders for your image, like the poet Mahmud Darwish and the academic Edward Sa'id, were not even candidates for government office. So, the only voice that is heard in "democratic" Palestine is that of Yasser Arafat.

As for the rest of the ministers, most of the old team are back in office, enjoying the spoils of war that were distributed at Oslo in 1993. The peace agreement is long dead, but its architects still live off its achievements. Its about time, Mr. President, to acknowledge that Oslo is dead. I know Mr. President that the pressure you are facing is enough to defeat the strongest of men, and I have often defended you by telling people, "Walk a mile in Arafat's shoes!" I also realise that it is difficult to remain a hard-liner given the disgusting Arab environment that surrounds you. At one point or another, every one of your Arab "brothers" tried to kill you, yet they always came back asking for forgiveness. Whenever things became shaky in their own countries, they turned to Arafat, knowing that nothing can boost their image better than courting Arafat, whose name has become synonymous with that of Palestine. All those who tried to beat you to the pulpit of Arab nationalism failed, and you have outlived all your enemies. I know that it is difficult to maneuver with other Arab leaders, who are infamously corrupt, yet have the nerve to call on you to clamp down on corruption. I have often said that they should leave Arafat alone, and clean up their own house before involving themselves in the affairs of Palestine. I am also appalled by the fact that some Arab leaders refuse to donate funds to the PNA because they do not trust its officials and fear that they money will pocketed by them. Certainly, some leaders, who are corrupt themselves, use it as an excuse, but others are sincere in their fears and the mere fact that some people have these reservations are a serious indicator that changes in the PNA--real changes, are needed immediately.

Given all of the above, Mr. President, we can assume one thing, that Yasser Arafat is no longer the man of the moment that he should be. Six months ago, I was saying, "Only Yasser Arafat got us here and only Yasser Arafat can get us out." Since your siege in Ramallah, you have taken a series of unpopular decisions, which were crowned by the latest cabinet formation. It hurts me to see a freedom fighter like yourself, a legend by all standards, being defamed by the Palestinian opposition and by other Arabs as well. It hurts me to hear Bush's latest remarks about your leadership and his demand that you be replaced by another Palestinian. At this stage in your career, you should be in retirement, honored for a lifetime of achievements and struggle, and not the subject to mounting criticism. You should be the "spiritual" leader of Palestine. For months, many Arabs and Palestinians have been calling on you to resign. I had always argued against such a solution but I can realize today that maybe, this is the best solution for Palestine. If you step down Mr. President, you will find nothing but praise and tears from the Arab public. Everyone knows that you have dedicated your life to Palestine. No one will blame the freedom fighter that's in you for stepping down. If you resign, you will be remembered for what you did.

If you stay in office, you will be remembered for what you didn't. You will rank among the two Arab leaders who stepped down from office in recent history, Syria's Shukri al-Quwatli and Gamal Abd al-Naser of Egypt. Quwatli stepped down in 1958 to enable the creation of the Syrian-Egyptian union and Naser did so in 1967 to take blame for the collective Arab defeat in war with Israel. Quwatli stepped down to materialize his dream of Arab unity, saying, "I have lived all my life for union, now that is here, I will not let my post obstruct its materialization." You can do the same Mr. President. You have lived your entire life calling for a Palestinian State and it seems today that this state cannot be created unless it is backed by the USA. And the Americans, given their bias towards Israel, are seemingly determined not to create a state under your leadership. This is clear by Bush's June 24 speech at the White House. For the record, I am opposed to every word said by Bush, but I refuse to believe that a Palestinian State is obstructed by Yasser Arafat. Therefore, rather than hamper the creation of Palestine, I beg you to step down and make the dream a reality.

God bless you, and God bless Palestine.

Damascus
Gulf News
June 26, 2002