RIYADH, 17 April — An official dinner is surely not the best venue to approach and interview a very important person but it still is an occasion no journalist would miss. The VIP in question is Suha Arafat who was the guest of honor at a reception hosted yesterday by the wife of the Palestinian ambassador to the Kingdom, Mustafa Deeb.
My interest in Suha Arafat dates from the early days of her marriage. Many women, I included, wondered at the time who was the slim blond-haired woman married to the man who had become worldwide the living symbol of the Palestinian struggle for independence.
When I arrived at the residence, the Palestinian first lady was already seated. “Where is she?” I asked myself, trying to locate her in the room where some of Riyadh’s leading women had gathered. I finally spotted her when she stood up to greet a guest.
A few minutes before I met her, I was told that she spoke fluent French and English. “So you speak French,” I asked her in a surprised tone. “Yes, I do” she answered in flawless French. She paused and anticipating my second question continued: “I went to a French school and then I pursued my studies at the Faculty of Paris III in France where I studied political science, law and languages.”
“Is it your first visit to the Kingdom?” “Yes” she replied. “I have been invited by Princess Jawhara, the wife of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and I performed Umrah. I reverted to Islam 10 years ago.”
During her trip to the Kingdom, she has visited charitable institutions as well as philanthropic societies. “I do a lot of humanitarian work,” she said and went on to name half a dozen foundations she presides, including the Foundation for the Handicapped of the Intifada. “The Kingdom is highly mobilized. I was moved by the Saudi people’s strong feelings toward the intifada. Everybody is helping but Saudi Arabia is playing a very special and crucial role,” Suha Arafat said.
I told her that we were following closely the events unfolding in Palestine. Before I could even finish my sentence, she exclaimed, “The situation is terrible in Palestine. Our country is being reoccupied!”
I asked her if there was any hope of an end to the continuous clashes. “There is no hope for the time being,” she concluded forcefully.
The impromptu interview ended at that point as we were summoned to dinner.
Despite our brief encounter, Suha Arafat had lived up to my expectations. This positive feeling underlines the importance of effective public relations.
