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Source: http://nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06sat1.html
The Man Who Refused to Say Yes
(New York Times) - Editorial It is not often in history that someone's legacy can come down to one single defining moment, to one single critical choice. But such is the story of Mr. Arafat's life, and it is almost unbearably disappointing that four years ago, faced with the admittedly difficult choice of saying yes to Israel, Mr. Arafat said no. When Arafat entered Gaza as the head of the Palestinian National Authority, he added only pomp and ceremony to his authoritarian, secretive, patronage-ridden rule. He made no serious attempt to build a competent government or to prepare his people for the required compromises of a peace deal or the responsibilities of statehood.