FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU. FOOL ME TWENTY TIMES...

Arafat is in serious damage-control mode, trying to prevent his slippage into the state of irrelevance that Sharon has claimed for him over the past year. His latest effort is a hail-mary, stating in an interview with Ha'aretz that he now accepts the Clinton plan and that he believes he can reach an agreement with Sharon. Had Yasser held this position two years ago it may very well have led to a two-state solution (albeit a shaky one based on the lack of internal Palestinian reform). By coming out with such a statement now, after his military gambit failed to achieve Israeli concessions - he has no credibility. Arafat may have finally realized the futility of violence against Israel, but the people he purported to lead have not. Instead, he has led them into a pathological culture of martyrdom that is now the central obstacle to a lasting peace in the region.