Posted on 11/11/2004 10:27:41 AM PST by Ginifer
CAIRO (Reuters) - Arabs across the Middle East see the death of Yasser Arafat, icon of the Palestinian national struggle, as the end of an era -- and say it is up to Israel to make it a chance for peace.
Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza and the West Bank to mourn their president after his death early on Thursday.
Lebanon's Palestinian refugees met news of his death with wails of grief and volleys of gunfire. The Koran blared from loudspeakers in Jordan's Palestinian camps.
Arab governments praised a leader who fought for a Palestinian state for decades but never achieved it. Several states announced three days of mourning.
"Arafat was the embodiment of the Palestinian question and his absence will certainly be greatly felt," said Hossam Zaki, spokesman of the Arab League in Cairo.
"But to all those who think his passing away will open all the doors for peace, we say that this is false and that the answers never really lay with the Palestinians as much as with the Israelis."
Israel and the United States long accused Arafat of thwarting peace, but Arab commentators said this was a pretext.
"Israel and its supporters say the obstacle to peace that is Arafat has disappeared. This is untrue and unjust because (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon does not want to grant the Palestinian people their rights," said the daily Al-Khaleej newspaper in the United Arab Emirates.
From Morocco to Oman and from Syria to Yemen, states paid tribute, offered condolences or announced a period of mourning.
Kuwait, still angry with Arafat for siding with Iraq during the 1990 invasion, was a notable exception, making no official comment hours after Arafat's death.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told parliament Arafat "defended rights, struggled against occupation and pursued peace". Saudi Arabia's ailing King Fahd said in a statement he received the news with "great pain and deep distress".
Morocco, Algeria and Jordan called Arafat's death a "tragedy", while Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali said Arafat's values and virtues would inspire the Palestinians. Yemen urged Palestinians to unite.
Syria buried past differences with Arafat, calling him a dignified leader. Information Minister Mahdi Dakhl-Allah said he believed Palestinians would "overcome this crisis".
FILLING THE VOID
Palestinians across the political spectrum grieved and officials said they were working for a smooth transfer of power. But some said it would be difficult to repeat Arafat's balancing act between rival groups.
"He was the only one who understood the importance of national unity and there will never be a Palestinian leader willing to bear the consequences of saying 'no' to the Americans and Israel," Arafat aide Jibril Rajoub told Al Jazeera television.
Randa Ashmawi, columnist with Egypt's Al-Ahram Hebdo, said a moderate Palestinian leadership could emerge if Israel and the United States revived the peace process, but added: "If there is a deterioration, Hamas will take over."
Saudi newspaper commentator Hussein Shobokshi said the new Palestinian leadership would probably be more pragmatic, but how they dealt with the militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad would be crucial.
"They might have to accommodate them in a government," he said.
APPEAL FOR UNITY
Hamas issued a combative statement: "The loss of the great leader will increase our determination and steadfastness to continue Jihad and resistance against the Zionist enemy until victory and liberation is achieved."
Iran -- Muslim but not Arab and long an opponent of the peace process -- said Palestinians should not to let Israel take advantage of a vacuum.
"What is important now is for the Palestinians to stay united and understand the sensitivity of the situation to confront the plots of the Zionist regime, which wants to take as much advantage as it can from Arafat's death," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Ordinary Arabs wondered if Israel was willing to make peace, even with a new Palestinian leadership.
"The Israelis said they didn't want to talk peace with Arafat; now they will say the situation is not clear and they have no leader to discuss peace with," said Ibrahim Ezzat, a Cairo taxi driver.
But a few saw new hope. "Arafat's absence may open the door to a new path which could see Palestinians obtaining their rights," said Yemeni teacher Humoud al-Osaimi.
You gotta get up priiiiiiiitty early in the morning to get something past these Gloomy Arabs.
life....
is....
GOOD.
My gloat muscles are sore.
An end to Gloomy Arabs? Sound good.
Here's hoping it's an end to the blind hatred taught by Arafat and his cronies to the poor Palestinians who have been kept in squalor since the State of Israel was founded.
More missiles slamming into Hamas vehicles, followed by the obligatory Palestinian car/corpse swarm, are clearly needed.
The ignorant Palestinians will be looking for someone else to steal money from them and will not know the difference.
Arafat robbed them, and they seemed not to mind one bit.
Moron Arabs dont even see this piece of sh*t Arafat has robbed them blind for years and years..Illeterate morons they are..
the gloateus maximus?
is....
GOOD.
You forgot Gloomy Yankee fans!
It's been a GREAT 4 weeks!
Just when I thought the next four years couldn't get any better. Thanks Arafat. :)
More like an end to an ERROR.. they made.. in judgement!
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