ARAFAT THROUGH SOME PALESTINIAN EYES

Arafat's health was soon the focus of attention for the international media. Amidst worries about the kind of care he could be given in Ramallah, the French government stepped in and offered to provide treatment for him. Christiane Amanpour of CNN, commentating as Arafat was airlifted to Paris on October 29, expressed surprise at the small number of supporters present at the maqata'a, illustrating what I was beginning to see as a deep divide between the international perception of Arafat and the views of many Palestinians. Abroad he was regarded as the main stumbling block to peace whereas at home he was often criticized for yielding too much to Sharon and Bush.
Down at one of the local grocery shops I asked if people were worried about Arafat.
'Some sections are, some sections think it's time we got rid of him,' said Ismail, the owner. It was clear from the way he spoke that he was one of the latter.
Ismail, a retired engineer, was something of a politician. He had stood for the previous legislative council elections and more recently had drafted a blueprint for a binational state which he was emailing to people all over the world as a solution to the conflict. He believed that if Arafat died there would be anarchy, with all the militias fighting each other for power.
In the souk I spoke with Waddeh who said he thought that Arafat was already dead and that they were covering it up to give themselves time to sort themselves out and work out a strategy. In any case he didn't think it would be a loss. 'For us he's been dead for ten years.'
After iftar at Umm Ahmed's house we sat around watching the latest events on television. I asked Ahmed, who worked in Ramallah, if people there were concerned about Arafat's ill health.
'Very few.'
'What'll happen if Arafat dies?'
He clapped his hands, snapped his fingers, swayed and whooped, and grinned at me.
Then he took a photo out of his wallet. It was of himself with Arafat, taken when he visited him in his compound four years previously.
'What did you talk about?' I asked, curious.
'Nothing,' he said, in a tone which suggested that there couldn't be anything that he would have to say to Arafat. But he still seemed pleased to have the photo.
One of the sisters switched channels and we watched the histrionics and melodramatic posturing of a Syrian soap for a bit. I asked Suleiman why the French were being so helpful to Arafat.
'Because they are nice people. They're not like the British.' He gave me a sideways roguish look to reassure me that no offence was meant.
However he didn't hold out any hopes for the French doctors being able to save Arafat as he believed that he had been poisoned, either by the Israelis or by people in the Palestinian Authority.

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