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A Palestinian Democratic State?

Without specifically naming his target, President Bush has asked the Palestinian people to get rid of Yasir Arafat, their elected leader. Not only might such a demand backfire and ultimately boost the shaky position of the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, but it constitutes a blatant intervention in the affairs of the people of another country. This is not new behavior on the part of a U.S. leader. President Clinton intervened in the 1998 Israeli elections by openly supporting Ehud Barak and sending him some of his best campaign aides. Nevertheless, the blunder of one president cannot excuse that of another. Moreover, given the deep sensitivity of Arabs on questions of “pride,” “dignity,” and “shame/ honor,” the least one can say is that the way in which President Bush expressed his view about the Palestinian elected leader did not conform with diplomatic usage. I am not a fan of Arafat. Far from being a statesman, he seems to be an incorrigible opportunist and troublemaker. In the 1970s he tried to overthrow King Hussein of Jordan; then he created his own “state” inside Lebanon; he helped the Ayatollah Khomeini seize power in Iran; from the day he signed the Oslo agreement, he did not hide his intention of evading his obligations. But try to imagine the reactions of the American people if a foreign head of state told them they should force their president to step down. It is true that the United States is the only superpower and the leader of the “free world.” Just the same, it should respect the rules of international conduct before asking others to abide by international norms. It should avoid arrogance in the conduct of its foreign policy. The president of the United States, more than any other leader of the world, should carefully measure the advice he gives to others before proclaiming it in a public arena. It is up to the Palestinians themselves to dislodge Arafat, confine his record to the dustbin of history, and choose more dignified and worthwhile leaders. The only thing the United States can and should do is offer them and the world at large indisputable information about the man who has failed his people and brought them as well as many others (including Lebanese, Iranians, Western, and Israeli civilian victims of his terrorist acts) misery, corruption, and bloodbaths. Having said that, one must recognize that President Bush’s speech contained several important and innovative suggestions for solving the Middle East confrontation.