Life After Arafat

Yasir Arafat
Courtesy: Dina Jawhar

Dina Jawhar registering Yasir Arafat to vote.
Courtesy: Dina Jawhar

Dina Jawhar handing Yasir Arafat his voting ticket.
Courtesy: Dina Jawhar

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By Belia Mayeno

Dina Jawhar is a 23-year-old Palestinian living in Ramallah. Now that Yasser Arafat has passed away, Palestinians will elect a new leader next year. But even when Arafat was still alive, Palestinians were already planning for elections...and Dina was the poll worker who registered him to vote.

At September 4th registrations for the election was started -- I first started and registered Mr. Yasser Arafat. They told me, don’t panic and just treat him like any normal person. He walked in, and then he said, “What should I give you?” I said, “Can you give me your ID? And he said, “Of course…and you don’t know me?” I said “Of course I know you.”

All the people here are thinking that all our Palestinian dreams was buried with Mr. Yasser Arafat. Maybe we’ll have to vote just to keep the bad ones away.

Some people here are not willing, not able, and not looking to negotiate with the Israelis and some people are really interesting to get quiet peace, to live a quiet life, not like this. We tried Abu Mazen for a short time and we are trying Mr. Abu Qureia for another short time and nothing serious happens. We are really afraid that they all want to be president and no one of them is thinking about the general common of his people. If someone new appears and we would elect him, maybe he would let us down.

In Palestine, the young people are maybe 60 percent of the country. Maybe we will all vote because it’s the first time it’s happening here, like any other country, and independent country. Now the most important thing for us is peace – it all comes after peace.

It has been four years since I’ve prayed in Jerusalem. That’s what we’re talking about, peace. What we are hoping in our new prime minister or president, or whatever…is to feel that we are free, in our country. Even if we lived in two countries, like Israeli and Palestinian we want to feel the peace with them…that we can go there, that they can feel free to come here. Just feel that we are neighbors, not enemies.

Sara Dansker is an 18 year old settler who is in the Israeli army. She lives in Efrat, about 20 minutes away from Jerusalem. She sent these thoughts from Israel on Yasser Arafat’s passing.

I think changes that might occur between Palestinian and Israelis depends a lot on the next leader for the Palestinians. Depends on how strong a leader he’s going to be, and if he’s going to want to take a very active role trying to find a different way, and trying to minimize terror and violence and stuff like that. So right now it’s very uncertain, because we don’t know if the next leader who is going to come from the Palestinians is going to be strong enough to change the path that Arafat sort of laid out in a very, very strong way for so many years.

Every time something happens, every time soldiers have to go into Gaza for certain things…you know to catch a certain terrorist or stuff like that - you’re always worried about your friends. Every time on the news, that someone’s been killed, you think – do I know them? Is it the brother of someone I know, is it the cousin of someone I know? It’s always in your mind because in a way, you always know someone.

It would be very hard for me to believe that something could really change so much that people wouldn’t have to go in fighting to Gaza, even if it is the next few years and not the next few months.

I think it’s a very utopian vision that we would be able to travel to each other’s cities and be friends and be good neighbors. I think it’s something that it would be very nice if I didn’t have to fear every Arab or Palestinian that got on the bus. But it’s something that seems very far away from me in the state where I am…where we all are.


- "Life After Arafat" was produced by Youth Radio's International Desk, in association with National Geographic.