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Have you seen this man?<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The news yesterday of Palestinian President\/Chairman Yasser Arafat\u2019s worsening illness<\/a>, and his subsequent departure to Paris for medical treatment, seemed to surprise many Palestinians. After all, Arafat has survived various threats to his life (assassination attempts, plane crashes, and sieges) during his tenure as the Palestinian leader. Viewed simultaneously<\/a> as a corrupt autocrat and national savior, the 75-year old Arafat, who turned over control to a three-member panel that includes<\/a> the present and former prime ministers, is said to be \u201cvery very sick\u201d and possibly suffering from leukemia<\/a>. Like most Arab leaders, the Nobel Prize-winning<\/a> Arafat found ways to enrich himself while in office (he appears<\/a> on Forbes\u2019 annual list of the wealthiest \u201cKings, Queens and Despots\u201d). Unlike them, however, he did not have a son which he could anoint as his successor. (Perhaps the rules will be rewritten, as they were<\/a> in Syria after the death of Hafez Assad, so that Arafat\u2019s teenage daughter Zahwa can take over?) Regardless of Arafat\u2019s response to his medical treatment, the sudden realization among Palestinian leaders that he is in fact a mortal human being will spark a battle for succession \u2013 though not the democratic kind that many observers would like to see. \u201cWhen he is gone, we will have a civil war that will destroy us,\u201d said<\/a> Sausan Shahin, a law student at Abu Dis University. \u201cSome people will not know how to behave, you will have everyone fighting for power.\u201d The most popular candidate to succeed Arafat, Marwan Barghouti<\/a>, is presently behind bars in Israel and is unlikely to be released anytime soon. While Arafat used diplomacy<\/a> to help bring the Oslo Accords into being, since returning to Palestine ten years ago little movement<\/a> has occurred towards full statehood, or even reforms urged by other Palestinian leaders. The prospect for movement in the peace process may change<\/a> as younger (and more realistic) Palestinians begin to articulate creative ways out of the impasse that has been in place since 2000. \u201cI think it would be better if he were replaced by another person,\u201d said<\/a> restauranteur Rami Dagharme of Jenin. \u201cHe is tired, and he was not very successful. With all due respect, if he can\u2019t deliver he should step aside and let someone else do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

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