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Arafat's Troubled Legacy

(Chicago Tribune)David Makovsky - For the world, Arafat's success is about what he gained, territorially and economically. But for Arafat, success was about what he did not give away so as not to be accused by Arab history of undue compromise. He preferred the politics of grievance over the politics of governance. His strategic refusal to equate peace with reconciliation gutted any hopes that a deal between governments could be transformed into a more meaningful - and lasting - peace between peoples. This failure was critical, for arguments over the permanence and legitimacy of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East remain at the very heart of the Arab-Israel conflict. The writer is senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2004-11-16 00:00:00
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