Arafat relishes the limelight

By Richard Miron
BBC correspondent in Ramallah

A Palestinian policeman with his Kalashnikov rifle on his lap, takes shelter from the afternoon sun in Yasser Arafat's battered compound.

The Palestinian flag will fly over the mosques and churches of Jerusalem Yasser Arafat Israeli anger, Muslim outrage Should Arafat be expelled?

The heat seems to have sapped the energy of the guards, and television crews outnumber the handful of ordinary people who remain on the forecourt in front of the Palestinian leader's office.

Yasser Arafat's compound was mostly destroyed last year by the Israeli army in retaliation, it claimed, for his responsibility for suicide bombings.

Twisted piping hangs down from the shattered shells of various buildings. Crushed cars lie in a disorganised pile near the Palestinian leader's office.

Israel says Yasser Arafat is the obstacle to a peaceful settlement in the Middle East.

'Vintage Arafat'

Over a year ago, the Israelis confined him to the compound in the hope that he would become politically isolated and irrelevant.

Events have proven them wrong.

In pictures: Crowds back Arafat

The outgoing Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - widely known as Abu Mazen - resigned following a power struggle with Yasser Arafat.

The Palestinian leader now knows the world is watching him. He has been thrust centre-stage by the Israeli cabinet's decision in principle to expel him.

The previous evening he had appeared in the sandbag entrance to his office, in front of a few thousand Palestinians who gathered there.

In his trademark black and white headdress he hailed what he called his beloved people.

"The Palestinian flag will fly over the mosques and churches of Jerusalem," he said.

This was vintage Arafat. The old man of Palestinian politics, presenting himself as the fighter and liberator for his people.

"With our blood and with our soul we will redeem you," the crowd chanted at him.

Discontent

Young and old had come to be with Yasser Arafat.

"I've come to support our president, to show him that all Palestinians are with him," said Nada, a 30-year-old man from Ramallah who was carrying his two young children in his arms.

But amidst this very public outpouring of enthusiasm, there were also private mumblings of discontent.

One man who walked to the compound from his home nearby said: "We aren't coming to support him as a man. We come to demonstrate our Palestinian problem which Arafat represents."

Arafat is criticised by some for surrounding himself with corrupt, self-serving officials.

His critics say his decisions have left the Palestinians politically isolated and economically impoverished.

But the Palestinians reserve their harshest words for the Israelis.

Standing in the compound, Jibril Rajoub, Yasser Arafat's national security adviser, says Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza lie at the root of the problems in the region.

"We hope the Americans exert enough pressure on this crazy and foolish Israeli Government to change and understand the infrastructure for violence, terror and bloodshed is the occupation," Mr Rajoub said.

The Israelis are reported to have dusted off contingency plans to expel the Palestinian leader.

But while people here wait to see, Yasser Arafat is making the most of the limelight locally and internationally, which he has been lacking for a long time.

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