Power struggle within Palestine as a result of Arafat's illness?
Palestine, Politics, 11/18/1997

Palestinian officials in public have remained silent and preferred not to comment on press reports, mostly coming from Israeli papers, that a power struggle has already started within the Palestine government and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

"I do not see any reason why we should busy ourselves with this gossip," said a senior member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He added that the Palestinian government laws are very clear in stating that once President Yasser Arafat disappears from the political scene, the speaker of the PLC would take his post for an interim period of two months. In other words, the Palestinians already have a replacement for Arafat, Ahmad Qurei' (also known as Abu Ala').

But Palestinian spokesmen have ridiculed reports of Arafat's ailing health condition and blamed such reports on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his media advisor in person, David Bar Ilan. Some of the reports hinted that Jibril Rajoub, commander of the Preventive Security in the West Bank, is one of the candidates to succeed Arafat, but according to PLC member Hatem Abdul Qader, Raajoub "is a military man and he cannot run for presidency unless he quits his job." Rajoub himself has become a center of debate with Fatah, the mainstream PLO movement, following a decision taken recently by the movement's Revolutionary Council to freeze his membership in the council for 45 days. No details were available on why the decision was taken, but sources within Fatah said that Rajoub had built up a number of foes within Fatah who see in him a real threat to their status and influence in the movement. Palestinian sources said the decision to freeze Rajoub's membership was taken by a special committee appointed by President Arafat in order to calm down power struggles in Fatah and in face of reports on Arafat¹s state of health.

Abdul Qader and another PLC member, Hussam Khader, had recently visited Tunis where they met with PLO Political Department Head Farouk Qaddoumi to discuss with him future of the Palestinian power struggle after Arafat. Qaddoumi, who has refrained from coming to the PNC areas out of his opposition to the Oslo Accords, was quoted as saying that he would prefer to see separate elections conducted to choose the president of the Palestinian government on one hand and the PLO head on the other. At the moment, Arafat holds both positions but many Palestinian believe that none of the current leaders is popular enough to succeed Arafat in both of them.

Besides, Abdul Qader believes the PLO should remain the political body that represents the Palestinians abroad and the one with whom Israel should negotiate the final status of the Palestinian territories. He said that Qaddoumi is the most appropriate candidate to become the head of the PLO Executive Committee.

Other candidates whose names are lately mentioned as potential successors to Arafat include Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, who is sometimes referred to as "Man Number Two" in the Palestinian leadership. Abu Mazen has been very careful lately and has not given any statement that would suggest that he is involved in the present power struggle within the rank and file of the PA.

The question of who will succeed Arafat is as old as the PLO itself. But lately, many reports spoke of Parkinson's disease, a chronic ailment of the nervous system. The disease expresses itself, among other things, in the form of a ³masked face² (a face without expression) and shaky body parts.

With the Palestinian media trying to keep away of this sensitive issue, Israeli press has brought extensive reports on Arafat's health condition. But according to intelligence experts in Israel, Arafat¹s life is not in danger. From conclusions reached recently in Israel¹s intelligence unit, it appears Arafat is suffering from nervous system damage incurred during a plane crash in the early 1990s. Following the accident, Arafat suffered a stroke. Surgery following the crash relieved some of the blood leaking into his brain, but then he had to undergo similar surgery shortly afterwards. The visible external phenomenon, including the light shaking of one hand and one leg, shaking lips, a lack of concentration, a sideways glance and a lack of control over his facial muscles are attributed to the same nervous system damage.

Many believe that since Arafat, 68, arrived in the territories, he has been under severe pressure, having to deal with much more than he did back in Tunis. Close aides to Arafat admit that the president, to a considerable extent, doesn¹t have the capabilities he once had, but still they insist that his health situation is normal.

"He is much less patient, more edgy. He doesn¹t have the strength for conflict he once had in the past and he is much more exhausted,² one aide said. Nabil Shaath, Arafat¹s close adviser, said, ³Whoever works 22 hours a day cannot be sick. It would be enough if you knew his daily schedule for the last two days to understand a sick man wouldn¹t be able to handle this pace.²

Previous Stories:
  Arafat in India while Albright is there   (11/17/1997)
  Arafat defends his health   (10/31/1997)
  Arafat to fight corruption   (10/20/1997)

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