The struggle was the man; the man was the struggle

Early Thursday morning the suffering of President Yasser Arafat of Palestine was brought to an end with the announcement of his death. He never recovered from the coma he had slipped into since last week.

Chairman Arafat as he is more popularly referred to was certainly one of the most recognizable faces of our times, a man who was dodged by death all the time, had many close shaves, was victim of many assassination attempts, and countless poison attempts too. And he survived them all for the more than four decades that he was at the forefront of the struggle for the liberation of his wronged people.

The final hour came on a military hospital bed in Paris. He had survived more than the proverbial nine lives of a cat. Death is a winner in the end. It will take the patient and one by one overwhelms even the doctors too.

The implacable enemies of the Palestinian struggle in Israel and US could not even wait for the final hour before dancing on his grave.

The Zionists have been announcing his death since he arrived in Paris after Israel had 'allowed him' to leave his beleaguered ramshackle office complex in Ramallah where he had been barricaded for more than two years and illegally kept under house arrest in the full glare of the global media by the mass killer, yet-to-be- convicted genocidaire, Ariel Sharon.

Last week, Sharon's patron saint, the newly triumphant George Bush, was ambushed by reporters prematurely asking for his reaction to Arafat's death. You could see the feigned surprise on his face. If it had been in private he would probably have rejoiced since he had deliberately erected road blocks to peace that excluded Yasser Arafat in his so called road map for peace in the Middle East which was a blue print for Sharon's mendacity.

But the televisions were there so Dubya could only, after prolonged seconds, say: MAY GOD BLESS HIS SOUL! We must not forget that this is a very Christian President therefore he was only extending Christian charity for the repose of Arafat's soul. If he had his way with God (I have no doubt he thinks of himself as God's chosen one!) he must be wishing something else.

Ariel Sharon and his goons do not even have to go through the kind of public hypocrisy that Bush went through when Arafat's death was confirmed.

The humiliation they made him and his people suffer throughout his life and more directly in the last three years of besieging his office did not stop with his failing health and even with his death. They have already made it known that his wish to be buried in Jerusalem will not be 'allowed'. Trust these usurpers for originality! They are claiming that the city is a holy sight to bury worthy Kings of Jews! Those privileged kings include disgraced former British Newspaper baron, Robert Maxwell, who died a few years ago in suspicious circumstances. He is buried among the worthy kings for his services to Zionism. Maxwell was a Jew of East European origin yet Yasser Arafat, a Palestinian, cannot decide where he should be buried in the land of his birth inhabited by his people from time immemorial.

Washington and Tel Aviv hawks and their fellow travellers, apologists and the many they confuse with their relentless propaganda are suggesting that the death of Arafat will see a renewal of efforts at resolving the Israeli-Conflict. Why the death of Arafat will bring peace when Sharon and his likes are still very much alive I do not know. Why is the US bent on imposing leaders on other peoples when they reject this in their own country and never dictate the same to Israel? Has it ever occurred to these people blinded by their greed for other people's land that their opposition to Yasser Arafat actually made him a matyr to Palestinians, Arabs and other admirers across the world? His humiliation became the humiliation of a people.

In Bush and Sharon's warped thinking the conflict is down to one man and now that he is out of the way everything should be looking good. One does not need rocket science to see the ruse in this type of argument. Yasser Arafat (with all the twists and turns in his long career as a freedom fighter) among Palestinians and all lovers of human freedom was more than just a man but the symbol of a struggle and the idea that human beings will always resist oppression no matter how difficult the situation. His physical demise will not mean the end of the dream and hope for freedom that he devoted all his life to.

In the pantheons of revolutionary icons Yasser Arafat is in the same class as Nelson Mandela although with different historical methods and outcome but one shared and abiding connection: triumph of hope over despair in search of human liberation. Arafat may not have lived long enough to see a liberated Palestine but that triumphal hour will come certainly in the life of his only daughter, nine year old Zahwa.

For many Africans the Palestinian struggle became twinned to the African struggle against apartheid and colonialism in South Africa and the rest of Africa. Today the Zionists have succeeded in penetrating many African countries (through Security and Intelligence establishments and also financial /commercial inducements). A consequence of this is the re-establishment of diplomatic relations for the state of Israel mostly broken for most of the 1970s and early 1980s. However in spite of the collusion of our state elites (especially insecure presidents who believe only MOSAD and Israeli mercenaries can protect them) the solidarity with Palestine continues to be popular among Africans. As a people who have known (continue to suffer) racism, discrimination, exploitation, extermination , occupation and humiliation on our own lands (past and present) the solidarity is instinctive and independent of whatever any Arab country is or is not doing and what our governments may or may not be up to.

The death of Arafat will not diminish this even if PLO offices have become almost extinct across the continent as Israeli embassies open up behind gilded barriers (like that of their biggest sponsors, USA). The PLO retains special status within the African Union (as it did in the old OAU), including Summits of Heads of State and Governments expressing the collective diplomatic and political position of Africans to stand firmly in support of the Palestinians.

To Chairman Arafat, we say ‘Go well to your maker, brave soldier, you tried your best and acquitted yourself as an unwavering strugglist. Even if your best did not bring freedom to your people in your lifetime, be rest assured that the Struggle continues and the Victory will be yours posthumously.’

Yasser has gone but the Palestinians remain to continue the struggle that he so valiantly served with total dedication. In death as in his life only moral cowards will be indifferent when they hear the name Yasser Arafat. And each time we mention the name Palestine comes to mind and vice versa too. Indeed the struggle was the man and the man was the struggle for a free Palestine.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa

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