Foreign Ministry: Arafat's International Standing Plummets - Diana Bahor-Nir
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has received reports from Egypt and Sweden on a change in attitude by the local media toward Arafat. The Israeli Embassy in Stockholm reported that in recent weeks a series of articles and commentaries have concluded that while revolutionary leaders such as Nelson Mandela in South Africa have succeeded in becoming statesmen, Arafat has not, and that he is blocking the development of a Palestinian state. One journalist wrote in Expressen: "Arafat is finished, I write this with joy."
The Israeli Embassy in Egypt reported that the Egyptian media increased the tone of disparagement of Arafat over the weekend and gave prominence to Muhammad Dahlan's criticism of Arafat. A number of senior Egyptian commentators compared Arafat to Saddam Hussein, as someone who sought to benefit himself and not his people, and in the end lost everything. (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew)
IT WASN'T HIS WANTON MURDER OF ISRAELI CHILDREN, HIS DUPLICITY OR HIS CORRUPTION. IT WAS THE REBELLION OF HIS OWN TERRORIST INFRASTRUCTURE THAT DID IT.
SEE: Assessing the Current Challenge to Arafat - David Makovsky
The fact that the movement against Arafat is driven by his former supporters, rather than by Israel and the U.S., gives it particular potency. The breakdown of law and order in the West Bank and Gaza has arisen amid Arafat's unwillingness to follow the first phase of the Quartet Roadmap for peace, which calls for the PA to place its security services under the control of the prime minister and interior minister. According to his colleagues, Arafat believes - as other Arab rulers do - that he would risk being toppled if he shared security authority. Even if the scope of the opposition appears deeper than it has in the past, one should not underestimate Arafat's various techniques for withstanding challenges to his authority.
SEE: Arafat Would Rather Die Than Implement Reforms - Danny Rubinstein
The turmoil surrounding Arafat comes entirely from within the upper ranks of the Fatah movement - the Palestinian ruling party. Arafat might pretend that he is transferring governmental powers and implementing reforms, but in practice, nothing will change. He would rather die than implement any reforms that would mean giving up his powers. He still personally signs checks in every sphere that is not subject to external supervision by donor nations. He continues to manipulate all the people around him, and continues to rule just as he did in the past. (Ha'aretz)
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