Arafat's Tunnel

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

He sees the light at the end of the tunnel; we see it as distant while he sees it as near. This is what Arafat insisted on through years of illusions and the manufacturing of fantasies. If only he would now clarify for us what light he was speaking of, and what tunnel. Is it the tunnel of recognizing Israel? Or the tunnel of corruption, tyranny, and monopolizing decision-making? Or the tunnel of implicating aides and council members and crossing every red line? Or the tunnel of the ministry and its ministers?

It is a fine thing for a person to be optimistic and hope for light and radiance, but I know that radiance requires a discerning heart and a seeing eye. Radiance is not available in public life unless a spirit of collective work and mutual cooperation prevails, the values of selflessness and respect for others are reinforced, and an atmosphere of freedom—without which there is no creativity—pervades.

Looking back, I wonder whether Arafat believed himself when he was optimistic about a light at the end of a tunnel that the Palestinian people were nearing the far side of. Did he truly think that his leadership style, his intellectual capacities, and his practical conduct would lead to liberation and a Palestinian state? If he did think so, then my assessment of his capacity to analyze matters is the truth. He led the Palestinian people in a manner centered entirely on himself, arming himself with money and media, and preventing the various leaderships and factions from approaching his lofty tower; he split the various Palestinian factions and opened fire on many of them, whether in Jordan or Lebanon, and pursued the various individuals who showed promise for leadership roles; he built a vast institution of corruption and corrupt men, drawing close to him those who became implicated and excluding those who preserved their integrity. He left the PLO a breeding ground for collaborators, so our sons fell on various fronts, victims of betrayals, and he turned his back on the Arab and Muslim masses, taking the regimes instead as patron and protector, and used money to buy consciences, allegiance, and loyalty, until hypocrisy became the pinnacle of virtue and embezzlement the height of cleverness. Slickness became the watchword of daily activity, and self-justification the heart of political thought.

A wretched, repugnant record of struggle that relied on maneuvering and “wheeling and dealing,” that refused to take counsel or to listen to sincere words and a pure conscience, and that persisted in error and in pursuing every dissenting or critical voice. Is this how homelands are liberated and societies and states are built? The inhabitants of the earth watched him practice corruption, monopoly, and tyranny, and so they came to hold the Palestinian people, and the extent of their genuine practical desire to establish a real state, in contempt.

It seems the tunnel has grown long and dark, so that Arafat is now having it closed in on him by Israel itself. People like me told him not to listen to the promises of Israel and America, and not to indulge his illusions, and just as we were, in his view, contemptible and narrow-minded over the years, our words were the ravings of an opposition recruited as agents for neighboring states. So is Arafat now content with the advice of his inner circle, which he built with money that was supposed to belong to orphans, widows, and strugglers? As a Palestinian, I cannot help but sympathize with, or stand with, whoever Israel stands against—once I am certain that what is happening is not part of a play that has run for decades—but at the same time, I do not accept that the Israeli measure should serve as cover for corruption or misconduct.

Despite all the corruption and the policies of waste and recklessness, Arafat keeps us occupied with ministerial trivialities and nonsense that cannot serve the interest of the Palestinian people. The minister falls and the minister returns, the minister sulks and the minister withdraws in protest. People are dying, houses are being demolished, land is being confiscated, bellies are being ripped open, eyes are being gouged out, and the ministers jostle at the gates of the sultan, invoking the approval of America and Israel. Palestine does not need ministers if the night of the tunnel is to grow even a little shorter; it needs people who live the suffering and work out with the people the way out. So set this aside, Mr. President.

9/September/2003

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “نفق عرفات” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.