Yasser Arafat's Return: New Beginning for Palestine

By Stephen J. Sosebee

When Yasser Arafat first stepped on Palestinian soil at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on July 1 it marked an historic point in Palestinian history. For the first time in 27 years the PLO leader returned to the homeland he devoted his life to regaining for the Palestinian people. While there are serious questions whether he has actually regained anything in the Oslo Accords, there is no doubt that the Palestine question has entered a new, more complex phase.

Huge celebrations broke out in Gaza when the Old Man, as he is affectionately known here, cleared a path through jubilant PLO soldiers to make the first step of his return to Palestine a memorable one. "Only two months ago we were under the black days of occupation," said Rafah resident Yusef Hamdan. "I never thought I'd have the chance to see our leader returning to his homeland."

It is fitting that Arafat first returned to the Gaza Strip. It is in this narrow coastal plain that 750,000 Palestinians waged a bloody seven-year uprising that forced Israel to make political concessions. "It is not because he is Arafat, but a symbol of what we have struggled for," explained Ahmed Abu Sitta as he waited in the hot sun for the PLO leader to arrive. "Arafat is Palestine."

Such statements echoed the sentiments of many who greeted the Palestinian president on July 1. Even many opposed to the Oslo Accords welcomed the return of the man who was leading the Palestine Liberation Organization's struggle for Palestine before 75 percent of the Gazans were even born.

Yet Arafat's arrival in Gaza was predictably flawed from the onset. There was no schedule, security was overwhelming, and the overall program seemed to have been put together without any one person in charge. There was the worry that Arafat would not recognize the contribution of the Gazans in making his return possible. "I fear those who suffered in the intifada will be ignored now that the leaders from the outside are coming back," said Ehab al-Sheikh, a young Fatah Hawk who is paralyzed after being shot last August by Israeli undercover units. "If this happens, there will be a great loss of support for the PLO among the people here."

On the historic first day, Arafat was expected first to greet the large delegation of notables who awaited him at the Rafah border. Journalists, diplomats, leading churchmen, West Bank leaders, an Israeli Arab delegation and thousands of Gazans waited for hours in the sun, only to see Arafat wave briefly in their direction, get in a limousine and abruptly leave for Gaza City. He gave no speech, shook no hands and caused panic among many reporters who had come to cover the story of a lifetime. "We were stunned," said Jan Keulen, a Dutch journalist who covered Arafat for years in Lebanon and Tunis. "All of that waiting for nothing made people very upset."

In Gaza, thousands waited in the sun for Arafat's delegation, which included Intisar Al Wazir , wife of popular PLO leader Khalil Al Wazir (Abu Jihad), assassinated by an Israeli hit squad in Tunis. Others present were Hanan Ashrawi, Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi, and Nabil Shaath. Putting Ashrawi and Abdel Shafi, both of whom had been critical of the Oslo Accords and the style of Arafat's leadership, on stage with Arafat was an effort to enhance the image of unity among the returning PLO loyalists and the West Bank and Gaza leadership. Unity is a theme Arafat articulated in his speeches throughout the Gaza Strip and in Jericho.

By the time Arafat mounted the stage in Gaza City, the streets were clogged with tens of thousands of celebrating people. Hundreds of Palestinian police and soldiers milled about, exuberant despite the heat.

"Most of us fought in Lebanon and spent years waiting in exile," Captain Musa Khalid explained at the rally. "Arafat's return to Palestine is a great feeling for us all. It means the PLO has finally returned to its homeland and the blood of the martyrs was not wasted."

As people pushed forward from the rear to get a glimpse of the proceedings, the hot sun began to claim victims from those who had waited there for hours. People who fainted were passed over the heads of the crowd to an ambulance from Shifa Hospital. Emergency treatment preparations, both for Arafat and for the crowd, had been made by the Palestine Council of Health. By the end of the day more than 80 people had been injured, and a 12-year-old boy was killed when a shed upon which he was standing with dozens of other spectators collapsed.

An Historic Address

By the time Arafat finally reached the stage at 5 p.m., the crowd had grown to an estimated 80,000 people. He began his historic address with conciliatory words for the Islamist Hamas opposition. "We are here today to tell Ahmed Yassin that we will not rest or be silent until you are with us by our side, here, here, here," Arafat vowed. Sheikh Yassin, the crippled Hamas leader, has been jailed in Israel since 1989.

The gesture came despite outspoken Hamas disapproval. "His visit is shameful and humiliating, as it occurs in the shadow of occupation and in the shadow of Arafat's humiliating submission before the enemy government and its will," read a Hamas statement. "It is impossible to present a defeat as victory."

Arafat may have been a bit too concerned with his opposition, both in his speech and the manner in which his security shielded him even from the press upon his arrival. It appeared that his advisers relied mainly on Israeli intelligence, which usually overestimates the strength of the Islamic resistance movement for its own political and budgetary ends.

Anyone who had been to Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal knew that the PLO and Arafat's popularity were at an all-time high, and the role and influence of Hamas had been diminished. There seemed no chance for the "civil war," predicted by Israelis, despite their government's successful effort to flood Gaza with cheap weapons in the 10 months that elapsed between the Sept.13 handshake at the White House and Arafat's July 1 arrival.

"The people will not tolerate inter-Palestinian fighting," said a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader from Khan Younis. "Opposition now should be democratic and nonviolent. All opposition forces, including Hamas, understand this."

Hamas now focuses on social and charitable projects in Gaza, rather than military or political opposition. Although its main contribution during the intifada was in the form of militancy, now there is a much more relaxed atmosphere in the Strip.

In his seemingly spontaneous speech, Arafat addressed prisoners still detained, intifada victims, helpful Arab regimes and leaders, the West Bank areas he plans to regain in future talks and, of course, Jerusalem.

"We have vowed to our martyrs that we will pray for them in Jerusalem, which is the first site, the site of the Prophet Muhammad and the birthplace of Jesus," Arafat cried to a cheering crowd. He then called on the Israeli public to recognize the Arab holy sites in Jerusalem and for them to support Rabin in order to protect the "courageous peace" they had signed. "We need to be united as one man," Arafat echoed. "We want to build our homeland as free men, a homeland of democracy, freedom and equality."

By the time the speech finished, Arafat and nearly everyone in Gaza were exhausted. He was rushed under tight security to the Palestine Hotel, where soldiers had permitted only a few journalists to wait outside the gates. There, followed by scores of armed soldiers and police and without a wave, statement or even a glance at the eager media, he disappeared into the hotel for the evening.

The next day, Saturday, Abu Ammar rebounded from his chaotic first day on Palestinian soil with a visit to Jebalya refugee camp. There, before several thousand refugees in Palestine's largest camp, Arafat called on the international donor countries to fulfill their economic pledges without further red tape or delays. "We will not abide by their conditions," he vowed. "The Palestiniain people are strong and capable. With sweat, our energy and solidarity, we will build our country."

Seated with him were dozens of camp youths injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers. "I am proud to be in the birthplace of the intifada," Arafat told them. He also promised that the autonomy accord will extend to the rest of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and that it eventually will lead to a Palestinian state. "I want to tell you frankly this autonomy accord does not please all the Palestinians, but it is the best deal we can get under these circumstances," he said.

On Tuesday morning, July 5, Arafat flew in a borrowed Egyptian helicopter, escorted by Israeli helicopters, across the West Bank. At Jericho the Israeli helicopters peeled off to return to their base and Arafat landed in the other autonomous Palestinian region. There he made a speech at the bus terminal at Allenby Bridge to a crowd reduced by Israeli right-wing demonstrators and travel restrictions to about 7,000 enthusiastic Palestinians. Although he had nearly no voice left, Arafat called again for unity and patience to achieve a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Among the many notables on stage during Arafat's address were three Orthodox Jewish rabbis from the anti-Zionist Naturei Karta. One of them, Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, was appointed adviser to Arafat on Jewish affairs in the autonomous areas.

Arafat also swore in 12 new ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. The oath was administered in front of Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics. Arafat then chaired the first official meeting of the PNA in a newly built old-age home and mental health clinic in Jericho. He proposed a campaign to clean up Gaza, build 30,000 housing units and create 25,000 new jobs within the next year. Finance minister Mohammed Nashashibi was asked to prepare a quick budget for this year and next, and to establish wage structures for public workers.

After a tour of the Jericho area, Arafat flew back to Gaza late in the afternoon and then on to Paris to meet Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. There the three shared the UNESCO peace prize and discussed how the interim peace accord should proceed throughout the territories. Upon leaving for Israel, Prime Minister Rabin announced that the Paris meeting with Arafat had been the most successful to date. Arafat announced that on his return he would set up his permanent residence in Gaza rather than Jericho as had been expected.

Yasser Arafat's return marked a turning point in Palestinian history. No longer is he the chairman of a revolutionary organization in exile, but rather the administrator of an embryonic state. The question posed not only by Israelis is whether he can successfully make the transition from guerrilla leader to chief of state.

Setting up a working bureaucracy and clearing the rubbish from Gaza's streets may or may not require different skills than rounding up funds in international capitals to fuel a political organization whose members were scattered over six continents. However, should Arafat and the Palestinian leadership fail in running the autonomous regions smoothly while guiding them toward statehood, the remarkable achievements of the last year will be for naught. All that is certain about the historic return of its exiled leader to Palestine is that it is the beginning of a definitive chapter in the long history of a Holy Land.

Stephen J. Sosebee, a free-lance writer, is a founder of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.