Arafat and the Olive Branch

In the twilight of Yasser Arafat, it becomes necessary to reckon the balance of his work. Reflections on his controversial life have been and will continue to be published in major newspapers around the world: may they serve to weigh, objectively and side by side, the few virtues and many flaws of this man who—for better and for worse—has made history for decades. Despite having received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, in the last five years Arafat had shown himself to be, along with Sharon and Bush, an important part of the problem in the Middle East, especially when he turned down the offer—unbeatable, according to many—that Barak and Clinton presented to him at Camp David five years ago.

Many remember when, at the United Nations, Arafat said he carried an olive branch in one hand and a rifle in the other, and begged the world not to let the olive branch fall from his hand. I find the scene hardly moving. An honest analysis will reveal that the Palestinian leader’s philosophy was very seldom pacifist, if by pacifist we understand one who commits to peace as the only alternative and renounces—in theory and in practice—every form of violence, including terrorism. The basic difference between Yasser Arafat and a true pacifist, like Mohandas Gandhi, is that Arafat carried an olive branch in his hand, whereas Gandhi was—himself—the olive branch.

Without a clear successor, the Palestinian movement will face the storm of naming a new leader, as soon as it makes up its mind to accept—as others already have—the imminent death of the previous one [1]. Although Arafat’s legacy is, by definition, mixed, his balance is negative. It is, however, a reflection of the feeling of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples: peace is desired, but violence is never renounced. This formula is doomed to failure, because—as the Buddha preached millennia ago—hatred does not defeat hatred: only through love and forgiveness is the vicious cycle of violence stopped. There is no way to peace, Gandhi declared in a phrase that will outlive the centuries: peace is the way.