With the sun setting on the Arafat era (Intel Report), there is a great opportunity in the future for the Palestine people. A high ranking Palestinian delegation traveled to Paris to see with their own eyes the condition of their leader. For over two years, access to Arafat has been restricted by those in his inner circle. This last week, Arafat?s wife, Suha, became the gatekeeper to her husband. Restricting the flow of information, Suha was able to reinsert herself publicly despite not having been seen with her husband for over two years.

Saeb Erekat on November 9 stated that Arafat has suffered a brain hemorrhage. Nabil Sha?ath stated that Arafat is very ill and has been in a coma since November 3. With Arafat?s medical condition looking bleak, the power struggle is beginning. Control, power, and money are all at stake. Behind the scenes, the negotiating has been ongoing over where Yasser Arafat will be buried. One Palestinian official last week suggested that Arafat had wanted to be buried in Jerusalem. The Israelis quickly shot that down. As one Israeli stated, ?Jerusalem is the city in which Jewish kings are buried not terrorists.? The Israeli government countered that Arafat?s parents and sister were buried in Gaza, and he should be buried there as well. Some Palestinians have suggested that Arafat?s compound in Ramallah, where he defiled the Israelis for more than two years, would be more fitting. Palestinian leaders have been trying to get a sense of Arab world leaders who might pay their last respects to a man for whom some was a freedom fighter and for others a terrorist.

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