The crisis that has struck the new Palestinian Cabinet with Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei threatening to resign just two days after he was sworn in is appalling. While Israeli tanks attack in Gaza, while Palestinians are being shot and killed, their leaders are squabbling. The Israelis must be laughing; Palestinian disarray is precisely what they want.
The crisis puts the spotlight firmly on Yasser Arafat. Even if it were not his doing, the buck stops with him as president of the Palestinian Authority. But it is his doing. He has already lost one prime minister in his struggle to keep control over the government; he is now in danger of losing a second. That is wholesale irresponsibility. The last thing the Palestinians need when they are under such intensive attack is a power struggle; what they need is firm, united and decisive leadership.
While this struggle continues, there is no chance of getting the peace plan back on track, no chance of ending the oppression, misery and violence that are the daily lot of the Palestinians. Only once there is a new government in place, one which can deliver, is there any possibility of negotiations restarting, of Palestinian freedom perhaps becoming a reality. Without a strong, united Palestinian government, negotiations will remain where Ariel Sharon wants them — in abeyance. It is painful to admit it, but with its squabbling, the Palestinian leadership is acting just like a puppet, with the Israeli leader pulling the strings. It is doing precisely what he wants — and he does not need to lift a finger. It is humiliating.
What Arafat does not seem to understand is that the longer this struggle continues, the greater the danger he will lose the affection of his people permanently. He still has a major role, one he has earned for bringing the Palestinians to the brink of their promised land, that of figurehead leader. It is no mean role. But he has already proved for all to see that he is not up to the task that is now required, that of administrator and negotiator. Even if his age and health were not against him, his political skills are. The Palestinian authority, when under his direct control, was a model of mismanagement, corruption and incompetence.
For the sake of the Palestinian people, for the sake of their future, he has to let go and retire gracefully from active politics. He has to allow them to decide who is prime minister, who is in Cabinet. He has to let that Cabinet get on with the job of government. He has to stop trying to impose his will on it, stop trying to impose his minions on government ministers. The longer he tries, the longer the Palestinian government will remain gridlocked and powerless — and Palestine will remain the mirage Sharon wants it to be.
