Gidon D. Remba, the President of Chicago Peace Now, issued the following statement in response to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death:

First, I want to extend condolences to the Palestinian people who looked at Yasser Arafat as a national symbol and leader. Although Arafat was a terrorist who fought violently against Israel for much of his career and did little to stop--and much to encourage--the carnage of the current Intifada, I and the entire Chicago Peace Now membership hope that the next generation of Palestinian leaders will choose to emulate the period of Arafat's life in which he was an active partner in the pursuit of peace with Israel. This was particularly so during the last three years before the Camp David summit in 2000 when Israel experienced only a single fatality from suicide bombings thanks to Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation and the hope generated by ongoing peace talks (from Oct. 1977 to Oct. 2000).

Arafat’s passing will create the opportunity for more moderate Palestinian leaders to take the reins, men like former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen), who has consistently and publicly opposed terrorism and the violent intifada, and who will reportedly succeed him. Abbas was thwarted by Arafat from gaining control over the Palestinian security forces. That, along with the failure of Sharon and Bush to help him, prevented Abbas from putting his words into action, and was one of the main reasons that the Road Map crashed last summer.

Arafat's departure could create an opportunity for ending the intifada, reaching a truce with Israel, and leveraging Israel's disengagement plan into a new peace process with responsible Palestinian leaders. We call on Israel and the US to work with the Palestinian Authority to ensure that elections are held as soon as possible to bestow greater legitimacy on new Palestinian leaders, empowering them to rein in violence and allowing them to negotiate with the confidence that they have the support of their people. Further, we call on President Bush to lead an international effort to help Israel and the new Palestinian leadership transform Israel’s unilateral disengagement plan into a coordinated effort pursued jointly by Israeli and Palestinian officials. Cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in implementing Israel’s disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank under an agreed cease-fire is vital both to Israel’s security and to the ability of the Palestinians to create responsible government in the areas Israel evacuates.

Chicago Peace Now, the Chicago-area affiliate of Americans for Peace Now, is a Jewish, Zionist organization dedicated to enhancing Israel’s security through peace and to supporting the Israeli Peace Now movement. Shalom Achshav, Peace Now, was founded in 1978 by 348 reserve officers of the Israel Defense Forces who believed that only a negotiated end to the conflict in the Middle East could bring true security to Israel and her people. Chicago Peace Now affirms the right of Israel to exist in peace and security as a democratic Jewish state and believes that the only durable settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a two-state solution between Israel and a territorially and economically viable non-militarized Palestinian state.