The article is focused on Arafat because he is calling the shots in the PA. Because he was negotiating with Israel under the Oslo framework about ending the occupation. Israel had just offered 95% of West Bank back, far exceeding previous offers, and Arafat responded, not with a counter-offer, but with a terrorist campaign.
Arafat ordered this war, either directly or with a nudge, nudge, wink, wink, leave the country act to Fatah and the Tanzim. This is not just an Israeli line -- Prof. Sayigh says so too. This is not an "intifada", a spontaneous uprising, but a war of Arafat's choosing, and a highly disfunctional war at that. This puts the onus squarely on Arafat. |
