Questions of chaos
As Bush and Blair reaffirm their commitment to solving the Palestinian question, Azmi Bishara finds himself in a perfect piece of Becket
Azmi Bishara / Al Ahram Weekly

Farewell Arafat
Arafat surprised us by not surprising us. Some fusion between the ailing man and the ailing narrative had preordained the end, preventing the tragic hero from imparting his unique imprint upon his fate. This time, there was no miracle, no surprise: the tragedy was reduced to a long, drawn-out, banal television serial.
Mahmoud Darwish / Al Ahram Weekly

Power to the patriarch
YASSER Arafat, the great survivor - a militant for half a century - is dead. He escaped a dozen assassination attempts plus targeted shootings by the Jordanian air force in Amman in 1970 and the Israeli air force in Lebanon in 1982 and in Tunisia in 1985. He thwarted endless attempts to destabilise his movement. He and his weaponry were thrown out of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria; then he was confined in Tunisia for 10 years.
Eric Rouleau / Le Monde Diplomatique

Israel: verdict on the wall
The International Court of Justice has condemned Israel’s wall by a near-unanimous vote, but nobody knows if the United Nations will act on the recommendations and demolish a structure that symbolises only hatred.
Willy Jackson / Le Monde Diplomatique