German Papers The End of the Arafat Era
The death of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat on Thursday morning in Paris is the top story in all major German newspapers today (except, of course, for the tabloid Bild, which has a cocaine scandal and a full-page picture of supermodel Heidi Klum on the cover.) Editorialists focus their attention on what Arafat's death means for peace in the Middle East, and for his own legacy.
A number of German papers feel that Arafat's death, at age 75, may very well provide a needed push for the Middle East peace process. The left-of-center Sueddeutsche Zeitung thinks Arafat's death offers a chance to look forward, noting that the intense discussions surrounding the transfer of power suggest the Palestinian leadership understands this. "Arafat's death may prove to be more of a liberation than a burden for his citizens.... He was no longer the man who could advance a solution that was constructive, political and one that would de-escalate the situation."
It is a position the Financial Times Deutschland completely agrees with. The paper argues that Arafat not only held together the Palestinian Authority, but also covered up and explained away difficult and harsh realities. "The death of the Palestinian leader is therefore not just a zero hour for his people. It opens up the historical chance to finally break from the spiral of violence and to restart the bombed-into-submission peace process in the Middle East." It notes that elections for the position of Palestinian president, which are to take place within 60 days, represent an important opportunity for Palestinians to begin cooperating with the West and with Israel.
The conservative paper Die Welt also believes that Arafat's death opens up chances for peace, but takes a look at the power structures within the Palestinian Authority itself. Arafat left behind complete chaos and no clear vision for the future, writes the paper. "His death now offers the Palestinians a chance to free themselves from the autocratic and corrupt structures of an apparatus that has become decayed and empty."
The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung focuses on the question of the future leadership in Palestine, mentioning that there are two distinct camps vying for the position: those from the leadership of Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah, and those who come from the more radical groups fighting in the intifada. However, the paper points out, the reaction of Israel will be decisive. "The Palestinian leadership cannot accomplish anything alone, but with Israeli help, a lot can be achieved.... Sharon should help stabilize the leadership in Ramallah." Possibilities to do that, writes the paper, include once again allowing traffic between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and reducing the time-consuming checks of Palestinians coming into Israel.
The Berlin daily Berliner Zeitung takes a similar tack, but focuses on the United States. "The only hope for a slow pacification of the (Middle East) conflict is the United States of America. But as clear as that is, one knows that at the moment there is no room for hope. The American government is determined to continue on their course of unlimited support for Israel." This, argues the paper, will lead to the continuation of Israel's hard-line policies, which, in turn, will strengthen Palestinian terrorism.
Finally, a number of papers take a look at how Arafat will be judged by history. And none of them are very positive. SPIEGEL ONLINE editorialized that Arafat "was one of the last great autocrats -- and with his death, the only ones who are still with us are Moammar Gadhafi, Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Il." (Read the rest of the editorial here .)
The financial daily Handelsblatt doesn't paint a much more complementary picture. Its editorial is entitled "Death of a Terrorist" and writes that "the Palestinian leader will not go down in history as a fighter for independence nor even as the founder of a state.... Arafat dies as a terrorist." The editorial further points out that "the intifada has led Palestinians into a dead end, as some of them now see."
Bild also sees Arafat in the same light. "His shoulders carried a Janus face over the past few decades: His hands, which accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, were sticky with the blood that he spilled as a terrorist. With his hate, his struggle, and his failure, he embodied his people like nothing else. He will survive in Palestinian myth."
