Conflicting rumors, conflicted emotions
By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN
Published November 5, 2004
RAMALLAH, West Bank - President Arafat is dead.
President Arafat is mostly dead.
President Arafat is conscious and talking to an aide.
As Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat lay in a Paris hospital Friday, rumors about his condition were nearly as thick as the rich Arab coffee that has fueled many a debate about his life and legacy.
But there were no overt signs of mourning, not even much emotion.
"The media tells us he's died, he's not died, he's died - that makes us confused as to how we feel," said Qais Dahbour, 27.
Dhabour, a computer engineer, is a minor performer in the huge media circus that has descended on this hilly city awaiting definitive word on its most famous resident.
For several days Dhabour has been helping some of the dozens of foreign journalists encamped outside Arafat's battered headquarters. But there hasn't been much to do except stare at the concrete walls and the Palestinian dignitaries hustling in and out.
Suffering from a still unexplained illness, Arafat was evacuated from Ramallah by helicopter Oct. 29 and flown to Paris where he remains, dead or alive. No one seems to know for certain.
"I think he's already dead and they don't want to say," speculated Mukahal Raja, a Palestinian journalist. "It's not easy to take him to France and just four days later he's dead."
Friday morning, Israeli papers lead with the sensational news that Arafat was "brain dead" and "clinically dead." But Friday afternoon a radio station quoted an Arafat confidant as saying the Palestinian leader was alert and talking.
Nonsense, Raja scoffed:
"I know that man they interviewed and he is drunk 24 hours a day."
The medivac flight to France was the first time Arafat had left his headquarters since 2001, when Israeli troops blew up his helicopters in retaliation for three suicide bombings. Israeli missiles also destroyed or damaged several buildings in the compound, along with dozens of cars. Their rusted, mangled hulks now form a small mountain looming in one corner of the courtyard.
Another part of the lot contains scores of concrete-filled oil drums with menacing-looking spikes. Arafat's security forces set them out to keep Israeli helicopters from landing and snatching him in a sneak attack. The drums were temporarily moved to the side so a Jordanian air force chopper could evacuate Arafat after his condition worsened.
On Friday, former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders were seen entering the compound, fueling expectations that an announcement about Arafat's death was near.
There also was speculation his body would be flown back to Ramallah, for burial either here or in the Gaza Strip. Arafat wanted to be buried in Jerusalem - the city he has long claimed as the capital of a future Palestinian state - but Israel refused.
"Jerusalem is the burial palace of Jewish kings, not Arab terrorists," one Israeli official told CNN.
To get a better view inside the compound, many journalists have taken up posts in nearby high-rises. In one five-story building there was a camera crew on each balcony, giving it the surreal air of a Hollywood Squares set.
Elsewhere, reporters shaded themselves under Raj-style tents or gaily-colored beach umbrellas.
In another apartment building with several TV crews perched on the roof, residents seemed saddened, if hardly devastated, at the thought of Arafat's demise.
"He has a special respect with most of the Palestinian people, but it's not the end of the world - life will continue," said Suhail Rimawi, a real estate entrepreneur.
Like many others, he thinks Arafat is too rigid and has done nothing for ordinary Palestinians in recent years while allowing corruption to flourish among his cronies. Rimawi hopes for a better future for his six children who - like him - have never known any other leader.
"There will be more change without Arafat," he said. "The problem with Arafat was no one could change his mind. The Israelis and Americans - they want someone who is more flexible than that."
The interview was cut short by the smell of Arab spices wafting through the Rimawis' spacious apartment. This is the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast all day but sate their hunger with a lavish meal at sunset.
At the Za'rour Restaurant in central Ramallah, well-dressed families hurried toward the buffet table as the last golden light of day faded over the West Bank's rocky hills. Food, not Arafat, was on their minds.
"People understand that when he went away last week that was the end of him," the maitre d' said. "He's not going to come back."
Susan Taylor Martin can be contacted at susan@sptimes.com