Palestinians need to examine the options open to them in the post-Arafat phase, writes Ibrahim Nafie As it waited with bated breath for those final returns that would determine the outcome of the US presidential elections, world attention suddenly shifted to Ramallah and then to Paris as it followed the rapid deterioration in the health of the Palestinian president. Arafat's absence will be a great loss for the Palestinian cause. This historic leader transformed what international powers had regarded as a refugee problem into a fully fledged liberation movement struggling against the iniquitous grip of foreign occupation. With the determination and drive of a resistance leader and the political and diplomatic skills of a statesman, he steered his people through arduous and critical junctures to bring their cause to the forefront of the international agenda. He has had the wisdom and fortitude to take courageous decisions when circumstances required, but never to the detriment of fundamental Palestinian rights and principles regardless of the enormous international and regional pressures upon him. He preferred to reap the consequences of the anger of the American administration and to risk the wrath of Israel's military might as it besieged his headquarters in Ramallah than cave in to unacceptable demands. As profoundly as they will grieve the loss of Arafat, the Palestinian people are endowed with incredible political fortitude and resilience. It is this that has always enabled them to produce strong and vibrant leaderships capable of unifying their ranks and steering them through tempestuous seas. The Palestinians, and the Palestinian resistance factions, have lost dozens of leaders of the calibre of Abu Jihad, Abu Ayad, Abu Ali Mustafa and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin only for new leaders to arise from their midst and take up banner. I have no doubt that the Palestinian people will overcome their pain at the loss of Arafat and rally once again beneath a new leadership as it charts a course during what is a delicate phase in the Palestinians' national endeavour. It cannot be stressed enough how the forthcoming phase will depend on how the Palestinian political elite comports itself. The ability to pull together and maintain stability will not only encourage Arab governments to rally behind them with all possible political and economic support, but also work to galvanise international powers -- the US above all -- into undertaking their responsibilities to halt Israeli aggression and set in motion serious negotiations leading to the implementation of the roadmap. Palestinian forces must demonstrate a high degree of political maturity and national commitment by engaging in a truly constructive national dialogue aimed at formulating a collective Palestinian agenda, clearly stipulating aims and the means to accomplish them. This agenda must be binding on all factions as well as consistent with international law and resolutions, feasible and free of the vague ideological clichés that give Israel the pretext to wriggle out of any settlement process. There is no reason why the absence of the symbol of the Palestinian cause should precipitate rupture in Palestinian ranks and internal chaos which only benefits the enemies of the Palestinian people. There is every reason for the Palestinian factions, whether under the PLO umbrella or not, to reach an agreement over a national agenda that will form the cornerstone for concrete progress towards the creation of an independent Palestinian state, in fulfilment of the vision espoused by Arafat. If the Palestinians must take the first step, Arab governments should take the second and produce a clearly delineated plan for providing the Palestinian people with all possible economic and political support. The Palestinian people require urgent assistance in rebuilding their decimated infrastructures, and in the absence of Arafat they will require double our efforts in helping them maintain order, sustain unity and work towards a unified strategy. On the diplomatic front the Arabs have several courses of action open to them as they work to compel the international community to fulfil its pledges and obligations towards the Palestinian cause. With Arafat gone Sharon will have lost the pretext he used to justify freezing the peace process and to promote his unilateral disengagement plan. Sharon will waste no time in scouring for new excuses to avoid negotiations, but as he does so the Arabs will be able to expose that right wing government of his for what it is: the true obstacle to peace. Once it is driven home that it was the Palestinians who had no peace partner rather than the reverse, it should be easier to persuade the Quartet to press ahead with the implementation of the roadmap. However, equally if not more important at this juncture is for the Arabs to prevail upon Bush, now largely free of those electoral considerations that had tied his hands on the Palestinian-Israeli issue during his first term of office, to make good his promise to bring about the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. The death of Arafat will be deeply felt in Palestine and throughout the Arab world. But this should not prevent us from mobilising all our energies and capitalising on the opportunities at hand for reviving the peace process and pushing towards a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian cause.
