During his entire period of detention, Arafat has emerged from his office only on rare occasions. After the prolonged siege of Operation Defensive Shield (in March and April 2002), he paid brief visits to Jenin, Nablus and Bethlehem.
On two or three occasions he toured sites in Ramallah or held Friday prayer services in the Al-Tashrifat Mosque in the muqata compound.
From time to time Arafat sits on the steps leading to the building where his office is located in order to spend a few moments breathing the air of freedom - just like a prisoner given the chance to stroll around the prison courtyard on a bright, sunny day.
In many respects, this is a voluntary detention. On more than one occasion, Israeli spokesmen have said Arafat is free to leave his headquarters and even travel abroad; however, a threat is attached to such statements: If Arafat leaves the country, there is no promise he will be allowed back in. Arafat's close associates are saying he has decided not to take any chances. His headquarters, among the rubble, is providing asylum for those on the Israel Defense Forces' "most wanted" list and those whom the army wants to arrest and interrogate. There is no information on their identity or on their precise number. What is known, however, is that one of those people is Tawfik Tirawi, one of the leaders of Arafat's security mechanism, whom Israel suspects of involvement in terrorist attacks. Tirawi vehemently denies these allegations. Although he spends a great deal of time in the muqata, he leaves the compound frequently. Arafat fears if he himself leaves the headquarters, the Israelis will exploit the opportunity, enter the compound, arrest the "most wanted," confiscate classified documents and Arafat's personal documents, and - who knows - perhaps they will even stay in the headquarters and stop him from returning.
The very same Palestinian leader who, over a period of decades, made a habit of traveling almost every week to the four corners of the earth to meet cabinet ministers and counts, participate in conferences and summit meetings, and to speak at major international forums, now finds himself a prisoner, caged in by the four walls of his compound, receiving very few visitors and constantly surrounded by the same group of associates. What on earth does Arafat do all day?
`Get well' greetings
One of his regular visitors is Akram Haniyeh. Haniyeh is a close adviser, who was at Arafat's side at all the sessions at Camp David in July 2002, and is the editor in chief of the Al-Ayyam newspaper, which is based in Ramallah and which, each day on page 3, reports Arafat's schedule. A week ago Wednesday the newspaper carried the following report: "President Arafat has received a letter of greeting on the occasion of Id al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice [which took place the previous week], from Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, who wished him good health and who expressed the hope that he would soon attain his aspirations for freedom and independence for his people, and that the Palestinian nation's own country, with Jerusalem as its capital, would become a reality in the near future."
That Wednesday, Al-Ayyam also reported that Arafat had received letters of greeting from the presidents of Nigeria and Maldive Islands. That same day Arafat sent letters of greeting to Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos on his having been elected to the post of president in the first round of voting and to the president of The Gambia, Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh.
Anyone who happens to survey page 3 in Al-Ayyam since this section first made its appearance would find nearly all 200 of the world's nations together with the names of their respective leaders. Arafat sends letters of greeting to and receives such best wishes from most of these leaders on the occasion of religious and national holidays, memorial days and birthdays. He also exchanges with those leaders "get well" greetings. This custom is obviously observed by many leaders throughout the world and, certainly, by the foreign ministries of the global community of nations. However, of special interest here are the detailed reports on this correspondence that Arafat's office issues and the publicity that his office generates surrounding the correspondence. In many instances, the report also contains the complete text of the greetings, including their wealth of routine cliches.
Al-Ayyam's page 3 also lists those who have recently visited Arafat. The list no longer includes heads of state or cabinet ministers. Today, the diplomats with whom Arafat meets are, for the most part, relatively low-ranking officials, such as consuls-general headquartered in East Jerusalem, or representatives of offices that many nations have established in Gaza City and Ramallah. Sometimes the visitors are officials from embassies in Tel Aviv who are directly responsible for Palestinian affairs or representatives of international organizations and institutions. The diplomat who visits Arafat most often is European Union Special Envoy Miguel Moratinos. Over the past few months, Arafat and Moratinos have met once or twice a month.
Internal politics
The list of regular visitors to Arafat's office includes three religious leaders: Sheikh Taysir Bayud Al-Tamimi, who was recently appointed to head the Muslim qadis (judiciary) in the PA, Greek Orthodox Bishop Attallah Hanna, and Rabbi Moshe Hirsch of the Neturei Karta organization in Jerusalem. According to reports in the Palestinian media, Rabbi Hirsch visits Arafat once every few weeks (the rabbi is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Palestinian National Council).
Arafat's daily schedule is packed with meetings revolving around internal Palestinian matters. His appointment book is managed by his secretary, Abu Sa'ud, and his assistant and spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh is present at most of these meetings. In photographs of the meetings, we can generally see, standing behind Arafat, his mustached personal bodyguard, whom everyone calls Al-Basha, while the photographer is usually Hussein Hussein, who never leaves Arafat's side unless a replacement photographer has been brought in.
The head of Arafat's bodyguard unit is Faisal Abu Sarah from Force 17 and his director general is Ahmed Abed al-Rahman. Arafat also has a large number of advisers and aides, the most prominent of whom and the one with most seniority is Dr. Ramzi Khouri.
Members of the upper echelons of the PA who are now frequently seen in Arafat's immediate entourage are Haj Ismail Jabber, commander of the West Bank, and cabinet members Yasser Abed Rabbo (who is culture and arts minister) and Saeb Erekat (local government minister). Both individuals are involved with the political issues that are being directly handled by the chairman. Finance Minister Salam Fayyad is also a frequent visitor to Arafat's office and remained at his side during the last siege, six months ago.
Arafat currently meets with many local delegations. He mediates in quarrels and disputes, intervenes in the appointment of every senior official in the various Palestinian institutions and sets policy in the area of funding allocations, especially allocations to the PLO and Fatah. Major missions in Arafat's name, in Israel and overseas, are carried out by his economic adviser, Mohammed Rashid (also known as Khaled Salam), and cabinet member Nabil Sha'ath. In Gaza, Arafat is represented by Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, who is considered a close, loyal associate.
Regular weekly meetings of the Palestinian leadership are held in Arafat's office. This leadership consists of members of the cabinet and the PLO Executive Committee. Committee meetings of the Fatah movement also take place there. Attendance at all these sessions is only partial because of Israeli-imposed movement restrictions that prevent the representatives from Gaza from attending.
Arafat's prolonged imprisonment in the muqata has managed to distance him not only from international diplomatic activity but also from the direct contact he used to have with the Palestinian public. In the past he would tour the length and breadth of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and would visit institutions. Today he is forced to make do with an event such as a youth theater presentation that was held last week in honor of Id al-Adha at the muqata and to which children from Ramallah were invited. All of Arafat's associates agree that his lifestyle has changed dramatically over the past 15 months, although he is still very much involved in internal Palestinian politics.
