The death of Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and President of Palestine Authority has been mourned by freedom loving people throughout the world. He was the living symbol of the Palestine struggle for statehood: he symbolized the aspirations of a deprived people to live with dignity and honour in their own homeland. What could be a more poignant pointer to the tragic Palestine situation than his official military funeral in Cairo — a funeral of a head of state without a state, attended by heads of states and dignitaries from many countries. And what could more eloquently express his standing among the Palestinian people than the mass outpouring of grief not only in Ramallah where he was later buried, but among millions of Palestinian people scattered in West Bank, Gaza and refugee camps in different countries.

The last ailment of Arafat or its diagnosis and treatment at the military hospital in Paris is shrouded in secrecy. Accusations have been raised even by his personal physician for 22 years that he was poisoned by Israel, that he was the victim of a stealth assassination. Right or wrong — the fact remains that reactionary Zionists in collusion with the US imperialists for whom the struggle by the PLO headed by Arafat, was a thorn in the flesh, had many times in the past tried to eliminate him. And one thing is clear: the three year confinement as virtual prisoner in a few rooms in his bombed out Ramallah headquarters under siege by Israeli military had shattered his health. Significantly Ariel Sharon, heading the fascist Zionist regime in Israel did not even try to hide his glee at the death of Arafat, decrying him as a terrorist and proclaimed — in tune with US imperialist approach — that the death of Arafat was a significant moment in the History of Palestine, and expressed his hope that peace negotiations would advance under a new leadership. Thus they pose as if the present violence was Arafat’s fault and not due to the terrorist activities of Zionist Israel regime in robbing the Palestinians of their homeland: driving them out, destroying their homes, assassinating their leaders and resorting to indiscriminate killing of civilians.

Agony of Palestinian people: history of imperialist crimes

To see things in the right perspective let us turn a few pages of history. It may be recalled that the formation of the Jewish State of Israel was proclaimed in the land of Palestinian people where Jewish settlers constituted only a minority in 1948. Till then Palestine was under British mandate though the Arabs had been promised independence during the First World War for their help in driving out the Ottoman empire from the region. But in a two-faced way at the same time through the Balfour declaration (1917) Britain had made it clear that it favoured the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, and from then on the Zionists vigorously followed a policy of sending Jewish settlers there both legally and illegally, with support and connivance of the British imperialists. The establishment of a Jewish state and the partition plan proposed by the UN in 1947 at the instance of the British imperialists, whereby there would be two states side by side was opposed by Arab Palestinians who wanted one single state where both Jews and Arabs lived together. The very day the British mandate ended and they withdrew all their troops. In the name of a Jewist state, Israel proclaimed a Zionist state and thereby betrayed the cause of its own common people and fighting broke out. In this war of 1948 Israeli Zionists who had been armed with sophisticated weapons for years by Anglo-US imperialists, grabbed much more territory than that allotted to Israel under UN partition plan, driving out through terror and massacres hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people who had lived there for centuries. Palestine people have been living since then as refugees in neighbouring lands and Israel has stubbornly refused their right to return to their homelands. After that through successive wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973 Israeli rulers have aggressively and illegally annexed more and more territories and have brazenly defied the world opinion to vacate the occupied lands, with full support of the USA and other imperialist powers. The barbaric aggressive policy of Israel has driven practically a whole people out of their homeland and forced millions to a life of untold misery in sordid refugee camps, depriving them of all political, economic, social and cultural rights. Thus to this day the Israeli Zionists under US patronage are violating all international laws and norms and have flouted all UN resolutions with impunity. To mention but the UN resolution calling upon the Arab states to recognize the existence of Israel and demanding that Israel recognize the right of Palestinians to self-determination, for an independent state of their own. While PLO and Arab states have long ago extended this recognition to Israel, yet till today Israel is viciously denying the Palestine people a state on their homeland. But Israel should also remember that as long as it does not accede to the very legitimate and just demand for an independent Palestine state, its own state will carry no legitimacy in the eyes of freedom loving people throughout the world.

From above it is amply clear that the Jewish state of Israel was planned and created in collusion with and open support of the imperialists to act as a springboard, as an advance outpost for them to establish control over the rich petroleum resources of the Arab countries in the Middle East, by launching imperialist attack on the resurgent Arab nationalists whose anti-imperialist mental make up stood as stumbling block before achieving this vile objective. The imperialists knew that after worst persecution under Hitler and the killing of millions of Jewish people in the gas chambers, the Jews had the sympathy of the world people. So in order to implement their nefarious design of committing unpardonable crime against the Palestine people, they cunningly exploited people’s sympathy for the Jewish people and sought to confuse world opinion.

Arafat — great leader of Palestinian anti-imperialist struggle

It is against this historic wrong and persecution of their entire people that the Palestine resistance struggle grew and Arafat emerged as a leader who attained iconic status. Already in early youth in 1949 in Cairo in Egypt, while studying engineering, Yasser Arafat organized the students to come forward in movement with the demand for an independent Palestine. Ins-pired by his father who was a freedom fighter, and lost his life during the war with the Israeli army, Arafat learned to love the land and the people and dedicated himself to the liberation struggle. In 1959 giving up his career as an engineer, Arafat founded the Al-Fatah — an underground group of just 5 people and went on building up armed struggle. Such was the great patriotism and heroism with which he was able to imbue this armed resistance that their great battles became legendary and inspired the Palestinian people and refugees to join in the resistance movement and to become death-defying commandoes. In the course of time was created the PLO, an umbrella organization of different resistance groups — including the Al Fatah — and associations of doctors, lawyers, students, teachers, women and workers. Later Arafat became the chairman of the PLO. In this daunting anti-imperialist struggle Arafat emerged as a leader, capable of unifying the Palestinian people, he became the very embodiment of their struggle, their aspiration to live with dignity and honour in their own homeland. Such were the achievements of PLO under the leadership of Arafat in political, diplomatic and military fields that it could successfully project the nationhood of Palestine and draw worldwide support of people for the cause of Palestine. In 1974 the Arab states gave PLO official recognition as authentic representative of the Palestine people. That is to say they recognized Palestine as a nation with Arafat as its head. This was followed by the official recognition by 120 States. Later that same year the UN also recognized PLO and allowed Arafat to address the General Assembly in 1974.

Arab rulers curbing influence of PLO

It may be recalled in this context that after the second World War, under the leadership of Stalin, liberation movements throughout the world were flourishing. It is a teaching of Lenin, though, that in this era of imperialism and proletarian revolution such anti-imperialist liberation movement unless organized under the genuine revolutionary leadership of the working class cannot beget the desired emancipation from the yoke of exploitation. Because the bourgeoisie has become historically a compromising force and hence cannot lead such struggles to logical culmination. But it is found that in many countries the bourgeoisie was providing leadership to these anti-imperialist liberation struggles, which obviously meant that such struggles were destined to end in a half-baked and truncated way to establish resurgent bourgeois states where capitalist exploitation would continue. Be that as it may, under the leadership and correct policies of Stalin at that time, unity among anti-imperialist Arab nationalist forces got cemented and Pan Arabism swept the entire region. It is in this background that first the British imperialists and later the US imperialists who snatched the leading position in the region, hatched one conspiracy after another, using Israel as a springboard to carry out their nefarious imperialist design. Today the US imperialists are posing as if they were fighting against terrorism. But it is they in collusion with Britain that actually armed and supported the secret Zionist-terrorist death squads guilty of such acts of terror against and massacres of Palestinians as could drive a whole people into exile. Many leading figures of the US supported Israeli government including Ben-Gurion, Begin and Ariel Sharon were members or organizers one time or the other of such terrorist squads.

And so powerful was the imperialist backed and equipped modern army of Israel that in a mere six days of war against the PLO and different Arab armies Israel could occupy Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan heights and Sinai in the 1967 war. It is against such powerful enemies, against such seemingly insurmountable odds that Arafat led the Palestinian people in their anti-imperialist resistance struggle, in the fight for their just cause. In this epic anti-imperialist struggle, for long many years, he was able to imbue them with indomitable courage, self-sacrifice and perseverance even in the midst of persecution, massacre and treachery, setting a unique and glowing example before the world. In this context it may be recalled that even though the ruling Arab regimes supported the PLO under Arafat they did not hesitate to betray and backstab the Arafat, the PLO on several occasions. To mention but the eviction of Palestinian people and PLO from Jordan in 1970 as King Hassan set his soldiers on them in the ‘Black September massacre’; or the fact that in a total reversal of stand Syria under President Assad, sr. suddenly came to the help of imperialist-Zionist-backed Phalangists in the 1976 Lebanese civil war resulting in the defeat of the Palestinians, leftists and poor masses who had been fighting side by side and had been on the verge of victory. This culminated finally in the forced exile of Arafat and later massacre of thousands of refugees when Israel had invaded Lebanon in the early 80s. Even in Tunisia where Arafat set up PLO headquarters he was not safe from Israeli state terrorist aggression and missed being assassinated by a hair in an Israeli launched missile attack that killed many people.

It can be seen that despite their overall support for Palestine cause, under the overall impact of Pan-Arabism, the Arab ruling regimes did not hesitate to stab the PLO in the back, in collusion with imperialism or succumbing to pressure and intrigue. The rulers of the Arab countries also apprehended that the impact of the PLO movement on their own people — whose legitimate left-democratic movements they crushed and just aspirations they curbed for perpetrating their exploitive rule — could turn the table against them and endanger their own rule. Hence they did not hesitate to betray and backstab the PLO in order to curb its influence on their own people who supported the PLO always.

Role of former Soviet revisionist leadership

In this situation, the role played by former Soviet revisionist leadership standing in stark contrast to the correct revolutionary politics and handling of contradictions by Stalin during his lifetime, helped to tilt the odds more heavily against the PLO. The former Soviet revisionist leadership wrongly handled the contradictions in the region, being guided more and more by nuclear war phobia and hegemonistic considerations, characterized by less and less effective support for liberation movements. To take but the example of the 1973 Israel-Arab war when the Arab armies were on the verge of victory, the revisionist leadership of former USSR pressurized them to accept a cease-fire resolution it sponsored in collusion with the US imperialists. This proved detrimental to the interest of Arab countries and helped the US imperialists to boost their prestige and get a firmer hold in the region. Again during the Lebanese civil war when Syria trained its guns against the Palestinians and Lebanese leftists fearing the effect of their imminent victory on its own people, the revisionist Soviet leadership armed Syria, instead of putting pressure and denying arms. This dealt a heavy blow to Palestine cause. Despite all these the former Soviet revisionist leadership did give some support to the PLO.

Imperialists-Zionists step up aggression

When the socialist camp had collapsed, whatever support it had given to the Palestine cause, fell away. Despite deviations whatever restraining effect the socialist camp had had on the imperialists — with that gone the US imperialism emerged as sole superpower in its term-dictating role in the international field. World communist movement was then in total disarray, and the Palestinians had incurred the disdain of several Arab regimes for their support to Saddam Hussein — even in this most perilous international situation, in the face of overwhelming odds Arafat succeeded to keep the Palestinian people firm and united, raising their just demands for an independent state of their own on Gaza Strip and West Bank with Jerusalem, or parts of it, as their capital. Thus, under Arafat the PLO held aloft the banner of anti-imperialist struggle unwaveringly all alone when even China did not come forward in support. It is at that juncture that US imperialists apprehensive of the international impact of the Palestine struggle, that acted as a source of inspirations to the people worldwide groaning under capitalist-imperialist oppression, in the name of peace-maker arm-twisted the Israeli terrorist state to give some concessions to Palestine. Under the Oslo agreement of 1993 Israel was to grant autonomy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho to begin with, to be followed by autonomy over the West Bank. The right of return of refugees was not dealt with at all and the status of Jerusalem, among others, was left to be decided upon in later phases.

To say that Israel has not kept its promises and fulfilled even the limited concessions made is an understatement. Far from withdrawing troops from the West Bank, Israel has increased military checkpoints and unleashed a policy of unhindered aggression. And take the example of Jerusalem, to forestall its negotiation the Zionist regime has gone on evicting Palestinian people from Palestinian East Jerusalem, demolished their houses and building settlements surrounding Jerusalem to cut off its access to the West Bank, declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Since the time of the peace accord Israel has been increasing fortress-like settlements, especially in West Bank, raising the number of settlers to 400000 or double their number. And finally to lock in the Palestinians into their scattered cities and villages in the West Bank over which they have civic control, and which are fragmented through Israeli settlements, Israel has built a complex of fences, concrete walls, trenches and razor wire completely fencing in the Palestinian cities and villages from the rest of the West Bank and Gaza, disrupting the lives of thousands of Palestinians, separating them from jobs, schools and their farmland, etc. in a way that has no parallel anywhere in the world. No wonder the international World Court or Court of Justice in The Hague (not to be confused with the Kangaroo Court set up by USA in the same place to try its enemies) called on Israel to dismantle these illegal fences. But as usual under US patronage Israeli regime has brazenly defied international law and world opinion.

Not content with this, Israel has unleashed a campaign of provocation, and terror especially under Ariel Sharon. For this they have blamed Arafat since Camp David talks in 2000 ended in a flop when Arafat stood firm in his demands for Israeli withdrawal of settlements except for some powerful Israeli pockets in one place and demanded control over parts of Jerusalem as well as a settlement of refugee question. While the Israeli fascist Zionists have refused to budge on any question, they have through concerted media campaign spread lies and canards about Arafat’s and Palestinian people’s stand and gone on a continuous campaign of provocation and humiliation of Palestinian people. Moreover they have since gone on assassinating one Palestinian leader after another through missile attacks as well as killing indiscriminately civilians, including women and children, demolishing houses, ruining Palestinian orchards, closing its borders on and off, diverting water resources in the West Bank, in short, seeing to it that the semi-autonomous areas under Palestine authority have no economic viability — after all this they call the Palestinian people who began to revolt against such criminal treatment — often fighting the modern Israeli army with nothing but stones — as terrorists and demanded of Arafat that he contain the revolt, kill, torture and arrest them. Yet all the Palestinian people want is peace and dignity on an equal footing with Israel.

Arafat — symbol of epic Palestinian struggle

For over 50 years Arafat remained in the thick of battle and spearheaded the struggle against imperialist-Zionist terrorism, a battle of ups and downs — savouring victories and suffering defeats, but never losing heart. He remained as the very symbol of Palestinian aspiration and struggle for their own independent state. Even when he was kept a prisoner in his headquarters in Ramallah bombed and under siege of Israeli terrorist regime, with no regular supply even of food, water and medical care, he remained steadfast to his last.

Arafat’s death has left a void and beckons to the conscience of anti-imperialist forces, freedom loving people and working class throughout the world to come forward and stand in active solidarity at the side of the Palestinian people in their hour of grief and in their just and legitimate struggle that will continue. Having pledged to continue the struggle, the heroic Palestine people need to remain united and unflinching in their resolve to carry forward the just movement drawing inspiration and lessons from Arafat’s life and struggle. History, justice and world opinion are on their side and one day, sooner or later Palestinian struggle is bound to meet with success.