President Bush let it be known Thursday that he believes Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian president, has \failed as a leader."" Regardless of Israeli or Palestinian support, several students on the UW-Madison campus agree that Arafat has not been an effective leader.
Israeli forces announced Sept. 11 their decision to ""remove"" Arafat. According to Israeli officials, the ousting of the Palestinian leader could include deportation or exile the Palestinian official.
Nasser Abu-Fahra, a Palestinian and a UW-Madison graduate student, agrees that Arafat has not been an effective leader, but he said Palestinians should be able to choose their own destiny, their own leader.
Abu-Fahra will be leaving for Palestinian territories on Monday in order to conduct field research on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
He expects the violence to heighten over the next few months, which will affect his family in the Palestinian territories.
""The good news is that they're surviving. Unfortunately, that's the 'good' news."" Abu-Fahra said. They keep closing roads, putting up road blocks, it's difficult to make a living. The city is starving and the situation is unbearable.""
Israel has now proclaimed an ""all-out war"" on the militant Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. On Aug. 19, 23 people were killed by a Hamas suicide bomber on a Jerusalem city bus.
Since then, Israeli forces have killed six civilians and 14 Hamas members, the most recent being killed Thursday, according to The New York Times.
Jenna Sheftel, a student at UW-Madison, and president of Madison-Israel Public Affairs Committee, also agrees Arafat has failed as a leader.
In general, those contacted agree Arafat is not effective, but had differing opinions about the United States' role in the peace process.
Jennifer Loewenstein is a senior lecturer at UW-Madison in professional communication and an expert on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and Middle East and U.S. foreign policy. She said she believes the ""road to peace"" is neither.
""It's dead, completely dead. The U.S. could make a real difference by cutting off aid to Israel. I think the U.S. is instrumental in that the road map is going nowhere,"" said Loewenstein.
Sheftel said both parties involved must be ready for peace.
""[I am] a very strong supporter the American/Israeli relationship. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East,"" Sheftel said. ""Obviously a very important part of our [the United States] relationship with Israel is that we connect on moral and humanitarian levels.""
Julie Weitz, co-leader of Kavanah Progressive Jewish Voice, believes the United States hinders the peace process.
""The U.S. is funding Israel to continue settlements, and I think that the money that is being put toward that occupation needs to be put toward dismantling settlements,"" Weitz said.
""The money could then be used as an incentive to move people back to [Israel],"" she added.
