Arab World Wonders About Palestine After Arafat

by Mohamad Ozeir

(PNS) -- Press coverage of Yasser Arafat's death in the Arab World has been overwhelming. Much of the coverage the day after the official announcement of his death emphasized similar themes -- Arafat as a symbol of his people, a leader who put the Palestinian cause on the world's conscience, a controversial figure who was always in the eye of the storm. Only in Kuwait did the daily press take a distinctively critical approach to his accomplishments.

Beirut's leading daily newspaper Annahar asked in its headline, "What Palestine After Arafat?" Annahar noted that the Palestinian leadership successfully passed the first challenge of the succession "without breaking their laws or amending their constitution." Arafat's death brings "the end of an era, not a man, a leader, not a president, and ushers the way to a new era that is not going to be determined soon."

Another major Lebanese daily, Assafir, which is more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, ran the headline, "Palestine Takes Back the Cause From the Leader." "The 'old man' (one of the most commonly used nicknames of Arafat) passed away," Assafir wrote. "It is time for the one who filled the world with struggle, bullets and olive branches to get some rest." The headline of the front-page editorial read, "But Palestine won."

"Arafat a Martyr" wrote the Almustaqbai daily, quoting one of Arafat's speeches after the Israeli siege of his offices in Ramallah. The paper, which has a wide readership in the Gulf and is considered pro-Saudi, ran a special four-page supplement on Arafat's life that was headlined, "The Martyr of the Palestinian State." Arafat didn't "see the state but returned the flag to Palestinian land."

In Amman, Jordan, Addustour, a leading daily, described Arafat as "an exceptional man who lived all his life to serve the cause of his people. Only death was able to stop him from leading his people toward liberty, dignity and national independence." Addustour noted in its coverage that Arafat will be temporarily buried in Ramallah in a cement grave, to be moved to Jerusalem when that city becomes the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Alrai, another major daily in Amman, ran the headline, "A Symbol Passed and a New Era Starts," and noted in one editorial that Arafat's path was "filled with failure and defeats as well as victories and success" to "transform the Palestinians from refugees to a known cause on every platform." It concluded that the death of Arafat will prove to the world that he was not an obstacle to peace but a defender of the cause. Another column in the paper declared Arafat's death a sad day for all Arabs.

In Cairo, Egypt, the last stop for Arafat on his final trip to Ramallah, the editorial of the Arab World's leading daily Al Ahram called Arafat "the Father of the Palestinian Cause." "History will note that Arafat is the man who made the Palestinian cause an international issue. It is not a refugee issue anymore. It became a cause of his people's self-determination, independence and a sovereign state, recognized by the whole world."

The Algomhuria daily wrote in a report from Washington, D.C, that the Bush administration is taking the opportunity of Arafat's death to revive its role in the peace efforts in the Middle East. It sees in the American decision to officially participate in Arafat's funeral in Cairo "a sign that Washington wants a new start with the Palestinian leadership."

The coverage of the event was similar in the press of the Gulf Region, with one exception: Kuwait. Most Kuwaiti newspapers highlighted Arafat's decision in 1990 to support the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. What made the coverage more interesting is a political storm surrounding the government television station's praise of Arafat. Although the general manager admitted that he made a mistake by allowing the news coverage to praise Arafat, there were speculations about the future of the Minister of Information, Mohammad Abu Alhassan, who is in charge of all government media outlets.

Kuwaiti dailies took a more critical approach to Arafat's accomplishments. Alrai Al-Aam's editorial made a distinction between "Arafat the freedom fighter who was a symbol for all, and Arafat the politician who was the enemy to all, including those who supported him." Another column in the paper described Arafat as someone who has loyalty only for Palestine. A third article warned against any attempts to welcome Arafat's successors because "his decision to support the Iraqi invasion was institutional, not personal."

The Alqabas daily's headline read, "A Different Middle East After Arafat." Its editorial suggested that "regardless of his mistakes and miscalculations, Arafat's legacy is that he set the limits for any future peaceful solution where no successors would accept any compromise without the return of the occupied Palestinian land, including Jerusalem, and without the right of return for Palestinian refugees."