Mr Arafat’s dilemma is acute. If he bows to America’s demand that he must “arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts”, he risks a violent confrontation with the armed factions, a fight that could bring the collapse of his own authority, personal and institutional.
But if he does not do so, and lets the intifada run free, he risks his very existence at the hands of an Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who, in effect, has already buried him. And he can expect little help from an American administration that is plainly fed up with a Palestinian leader who promises much but delivers little.
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