Editorial: Rule marked by terrorism

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 8:57 a.m.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is so seriously ill that he has left Israel and has flown to Paris to receive medical care. The 75-year-old Arafat never set up an orderly succession plan in the event he became ill or died, so there already is rampant speculation as to what will happen if he is unable to return to power. It is possible that a leadership vacuum could happen, allowing the situation to deteriorate further on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, even resulting in a civil war among Palestinians. Yes, the situation could get worse, but no one should start waxing nostalgic about Arafat's reign.

Arafat has been able to cultivate an image, especially in Europe, of being a freedom fighter, but it's all a lie. The reality is that Arafat is a terrorist. Arafat never has been interested in obtaining a permanent peace in the Middle East, refusing even a generous land-for-peace offer made in 2000 by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Soon after the negotiations collapsed, Arafat gave his blessing to a terrorist campaign that was waged by Palestinians against Israelis. He did nothing to stop the suicide bombings that have maimed and killed innocent Israelis. Indeed, he has encouraged such attacks, whose goal is the extermination of Israel and its people. Arafat has shown, despite his claims to the contrary, that he isn't interested in creating a Palestinian state, which only would have legitimacy if it truly recognized Israel's right to exist.

We hope that moderate Palestinians who actually support a peaceful settlement will emerge in leadership positions in the Palestinian Authority once Arafat is no longer around. But we're also realistic about how unlikely that will be anytime soon since Arafat and his top aides have indoctrinated millions of Palestinians into hating Israel, a hatred that won't disappear overnight. If there is to be a real peace, those destructive beliefs must be extinguished. Israel has bent over backward in reaching out to Palestinians -- now it's up to the Palestinian people to make real concessions that demonstrate they genuinely want peace as much as Israel, the beacon of democracy in the Middle East.