Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   EDITORIAL Friday, November 19, 2004 Arafat’s death an opening, but Middle East peace remains elusive So Yasser Arafat is dead, and the talk around the world is that this may mean a new opening for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Who among us would wish otherwise? The whole world is sick to death of the escalating and endless warfare between these two peoples. Yet the hard reality is that, while Arafat was unquestionably a huge stumbling block to peace in the Middle East, particularly in his last years, the passions that he fanned into flames from the shelter of his battered Ramallah compound are ages old. The bitterness and discord that stain the history of these two peoples’ interaction go so far back into history that Arafat could only, as it were, pour gasoline on what was already a raging fire of intolerance between certain elements of two radically different worldviews. In the west, many analysts have come to judge Arafat as a man who bred and harbored terrorists, an opportunist, a man who had a better chance than most to end the hatred between these peoples and who, history will almost certainly show, failed to take advantage of that chance. There is no question that he had the loyalty of thousands upon thousands of Palestinians, as the outpouring of grief at his chaotic funeral proved to the world. But there is also no question that more moderate voices in the Palestinian world knew he was not the answer to their hopes of securing a lasting peace and a secure homeland. A less strident, less militaristic, more nuanced voice would be needed, and millions around the world earnestly wish that such a voice can be found among the factions competing for his mantle of leadership among the Palestinians. As a matter of policy, America stands foursquare behind Israel. It cannot be otherwise. Without the financial and military support of our government, there is no way that this tiny nation could have survived since 1948 in the midst of so many sworn enemies. But it is also true that, while American support of Israel can never waver, Palestinian claims for a homeland must be addressed. Despite its military superiority and the goodwill it enjoys in many quarters around the globe, Israel must make some genuine concessions if peace is ever to come to this region. As things stand now, daily life for many Palestinians means a constant series of humiliations to be endured. Many do not even have easy access to the water they need for daily living. Yasser Arafat saw these legitimate grievances and might have addressed them through legitimate channels. Instead, he chose to use them as incentives to recruit young militants and suicide bombers, aggravating almost beyond redemption the tensions between Jews and Palestinians that have so often broken out into armed conflict. The bloodbaths that have descended upon Israel’s public thoroughfares in recent years as the result of suicide bombers have turned the world against a man who had gained legitimacy as a Noble Peace Prize winner only a decade earlier. For those who would dismiss Arafat as nothing more than a failed leader and a man who harbored terrorists, however, no less a personage than Pope John Paul II himself lends some perspective to the situation. The Vatican did open diplomatic channels with the Palestinian National Authority while Arafat was in power, and the pope met with the Palestinian leader 12 times during his pontificate while searching for Mideast solutions and working to protect Christian minorities in the Holy Land. The pope’s efforts remind us that no avenue, no matter how unpopular in the eyes of the world, should be left unexplored in the quest for a lasting peace in that desperately troubled region. — Lou Jacquet/Editor   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2004   Democrats’ consideration of modified abortion stance welcome   Coach’s dismissal gives some insight into America’s psyche   Arafat’s death an opening, but Middle East peace remains elusive   The presidential campaign: ‘A pox on both their houses’?   150,000 and more put aside scandals, embrace beacon of hope   When Catholic schools close, parents must shoulder some of the blame   Jews, Christians respect one another across great divide of faith   Latest ‘civil war’ pits defenders of marriage against courts   Civility in short supply as nation faces a barroom brawl   Catholic publications ‘speak truth to power’ nationwide, up north   Past Articles From 2003