Post-Arafat Mid-East

cctv.com 11-11-2004 13:54

For most Palestinians, life without Yasser Arafat is hard to imagine, since he has been the symbol of the Palestinian struggle for decades. However, they also worry about the future. The end of the Arafat era has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the Middle East political landscape.

The death of Arafat could re-shuffle the cards in the Middle East conflict. A Chinese expert said that, in a sense, Arafat's exit could put a stop to Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's controversial unilateral pull-out plan.

Li Shaoxian, professor of China Inst. of Contemporary Int'l Relations, said, "Arafat's incapacitation or death would raise fresh questions about Sharon's unilateral plan for withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank in 2005. Now with Arafat's death, Israel has no excuses to carry on its unilateral plan."

But he also said it was premature to speculate on the fate of the post-Arafat peace process. For Palestinians, a rocky succession will only add to uncertainty to the peace process.

Li said, "Arafat is the key to Palestinian unity. Since he holds all the strings in his hand, his departure could trigger a power struggle among the different Palestinian factions. Chaos may be unavoidable. And, if Israel pulls the settlers and its troops from the Gaza Strip, extremists could move into the area. This could accelerate the collapse of the peace process."

Whatever the consequences, the Arafat's death will complicate matters in the region. And a change in leadership is fast becoming inevitable. How this impacts on the Middle East peace process will affect not only the future of the Palestinians and Israelis, but also the prospects for stability in the region as well.

Editor:Chen  Source:CCTV.com