Yasser Arafat’s announcement that he will set a date for general elections, perhaps in the spring, is evidence that a new course is being planned for the Palestinian Authority and, by extension, for all Palestinians living in the occupied territories. Early in the summer, Arafat made peace with Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei who, because of a perceived lack of authority, resigned after a short time. More recently Arafat presented himself in a rare light, as being mortal, a man who can make mistakes. And somebody who can learn from them.
Starting on Dec. 9, municipal elections are to be held in 36 towns and villages after which general elections are expected. It will be the first voting of any kind in the Palestinian areas in eight years. There have been dates for general elections set before but because Israel has besieged the territories, the holding of municipal, legislative or presidential elections has been logistically impossible. Even Arafat, when registering to vote on Saturday, had to do so at his partially destroyed headquarters in Ramallah. Israel still has a vice-like grip on most Palestinian land and thus an election will not be any easier. The territories have not reached anything near an atmosphere that would be conducive to either free or fair elections.
The Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike has ended after three weeks but, apparently, without leading to any significant changes as they demanded. The failure will anger inmates even more. The wall of separation continues its inexorable course of taking still more Palestinian land. And renewed violence is assured.
Israeli officials have indicated their response to the Beersheba bus bombings last week that killed 16 people will not be a large-scale invasion of Palestinian population centers but will take the form of “pinpoint assassinations” such as the ones that killed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his likely successor, Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantissi. As Hamas announced, it was those killings which led to last week’s Beersheba attack. Therefore a new vicious circle is certain.
The recent attack and the anticipated violence is bound to undermine Ariel Sharon’s plan to evacuate Gaza. Just hours before the blasts in Beersheba, Sharon was presenting the execution of his withdrawal plan. Hard-liners, however, cited it as a reward for what they call terrorism and will now double their efforts in the wake of Beersheba as will the powerful Jewish settlement lobby. A step out of Gaza now will be perceived by Israeli hawks as a pullout under fire. It will look that way to Palestinians, too — something the right finds unacceptable. The Bush administration has tried to marginalize Arafat, but its efforts have been offset by supporters who also carry weight, from Britain, which strongly opposes an Israeli style cold-blooded assassination of Arafat, to France, which has frankly said Arafat is an elected president and cannot be kept on the sidelines. Arafat’s remaining in power is a decision that basically rests with his people. His election announcement will give them the right to decide.
