Arafat's confinement enters second year

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- With pale face and stiff gait, Yasser Arafat emerges between two columns of sandbags framing the entrance of his shattered compound, cradling the arm of a white-bearded Jewish man -- his favorite rabbi.

Israeli tanks and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's threats have effectively kept the Palestinian leader captive in this rubble-strewn compound for just over a year, stripping Arafat of much of his power and rendering his Palestinian Authority impotent.

Arafat once darted from one world capital to another, but in the past year, he has left Ramallah only once, for a brief tour of the West Bank on May 13. Since the most recent Israeli military siege in September, he hasn't ventured beyond his front steps to see off his dwindling visitors.

On this drizzly day, his guest is ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Hirsh, Arafat's minister for Jewish affairs. Hirsh, who confers regularly with Arafat, doesn't believe the state of Israel should exist until the Messiah arrives -- a position far more extreme than Arafat's. Arafat guides Hirsh to the rabbi's black stretch Mercedes, then offers a few words on his predicament.

"I would like to go to participate in the Christmas services in Bethlehem," said Arafat, who's been barred by Israel from the nearby Palestinian town he theoretically governs. "I would like to go to Gaza, to Nablus, to Hebron, to face the troubles our people are facing."

But there's virtually no chance Arafat is going anywhere soon.

Visit from Jane Fonda

He has to settle instead for a solidarity visit by Jane Fonda, who plans to negotiate the coiled razor wire and 10-foot-high dirt embankments to stop by on Saturday.

In the latest chapter of Sharon and Arafat's long-running feud, Sharon has chiseled away at Arafat's authority, and since December of last year, has kept him pinned down at his Ramallah complex.

Israel has hinted that if Arafat leaves his compound, even for a quick tour around Ramallah, Israel will tear down the remaining buildings and arrest suspected militants inside.

"You heard what Sharon threatened to do. Because of this, (Arafat) will not leave the compound," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary and a longtime Arafat confidant. "He wants to travel, but right now it's a question of patience."

Arafat's daily routine consists of rising at 4 a.m., reading from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, plus a selection of Palestinian and English-language newspapers. He rides an exercise bike and has a breakfast of eggs, honey and cheese at 6:30, his aides said. His days are filled with meetings, phone calls and paperwork, with about 300 guards and staff members crammed inside the tight quarters during the day, and 170 remaining at night.

At 73, Arafat's lips and hands tremble. Aides insist he's in strong health, though they acknowledge oxygen canisters were brought into the compound as a precaution during an Israeli siege.

Sharon has resisted calls by Israeli hard-liners to expel Arafat, which would allow the Palestinian leader to resume his globe-trotting and place him beyond Israeli control.

For Arafat and the Palestinians, prospects are bleak. The Palestinian uprising launched in September 2000 has provoked a tough Israeli military response, leading to the crumbling of the Palestinian government and economy.

Arafat, who visited Bill Clinton's White House more often than any other leader, has been shunned by President Bush, who has called for new Palestinian leadership.

A diplomatic initiative aimed at restarting peace talks, supported by the Americans, the Europeans, the Russians and the United Nations, appears to be on hold until after the Israeli elections in January, which Sharon's Likud Party is favored to win.

And any U.S. military action against Iraq would divert attention from the Israel-Palestinian conflict and could give Sharon a freer hand to act.

For now, there's no sign of change, with Arafat insisting he'll stay put and Sharon saying he's prepared to wait until a new Palestinian leadership emerges.

"My sense is that Sharon will not initiate a big change," said Mark Heller, an Israeli political analyst at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. "Having Arafat locked in Ramallah means he can't do much to put pressure on Sharon."

Arafat's confinement began amid a surge in Palestinian attacks that prompted Israel to destroy his helicopters in December 2001.

In January, Israel moved tanks outside the gates of the walled compound, a collection of government offices, soldiers' barracks, and a prison that covers a full city block.

After three separate sieges this year, the compound's walls have been torn down, along with most buildings, except for Arafat's three-story tan stucco office, where he sleeps and works in separate rooms on the second floor.

Every window in the building is covered with sandbags and trash barrels filled with cement -- blocking all sunlight and contributing to Arafat's pronounced pallor.

The parking lot contains dozens of luxury cars reduced to twisted chunks of metal, piled atop each other. Arafat's armored Mercedes is buried somewhere in the heap.

Israeli troops pulled back to the outskirts of Ramallah several weeks ago. But on Thursday, a lone Israeli jeep entered the compound within 20 yards of Arafat's building before driving off.

"This is just another provocation that reflects the Israeli intention to destroy the Palestinian Authority and the peace process as well," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister.