RAMALLAH: From his early days as a freedom fighter to his recent years as Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat has defied the odds to pursue the struggle for an independent Palestinian state. But his long-held dream was far from realization as Israeli forces besieged his presidential compound here on Sunday as part of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s efforts to isolate him and crack down on militants.

Despite having electricity, water and telephone services cut off, Arafat remains defiant. “I appeal to the international community to stop this aggression against our people, this military escalation, this killing,” he said in a candlelit interview at his tank-encircled headquarters on Saturday.

In an earlier telephone interview, he vowed to defy Sharon, adding: “The only thing he can do is take me as the corpse of a martyr. He will not take me any other way.” Arafat, 72, who wears his trademark black-and-white chequered headdress in the shape of a map of Palestine, pledged to continue the struggle for a state with the eastern sector of Al Quds as its capital.

Arafat’s popularity among his people has risen since his confinement began in early December, while opinion polls show Israelis have been losing confidence in Sharon. But his future was unclear after Sharon declared him an enemy on Friday and vowed to take widespread action to isolate his Palestinian Authority wherever it was believed to be fostering a “terrorist infrastructure”.

Palestinian officials said Arafat faced the toughest challenge of his political life, facing another test of his reputation as a political survivor. Many Middle East observers say that if anyone is capable of getting out of this fix, it is Arafat, long renowned for his wile and ability to survive everything from civil wars to a plane crash in the Libyan desert in 1991.

“Arafat was able to lead his people from exile, and he’ll continue to lead his people no matter what kind of situation he’s in,” political analyst Ghassan al-Khatib said. “His political position is much stronger now because his people feel they can identify with him. The Palestinians and now the Arab public do understand he’s facing this pressure because he refuses to make political concessions.”

Some Palestinian and Israeli political analysts say putting Arafat under such pressure could have the opposite effect to the one desired by Israel, by fuelling Palestinian resentment and provoking more violence. “Will placing Arafat under siege solve the problem? No, definitely not. Violence will lead to more violence,” said Israeli political analyst Abraham Sela.—Reuters