With Yasser Arafat dead, a role is once again wandering in search of an actor. Few believe that anyone can play that role adequately. Ever since the founder of the Fatah movement shot into prominence after the battle of Karameh in 1967, Yasser Arafat had been like no other leader.
With the exception of Fidel Castro, Arafat straddled the world stage longer than any other leader. Many of the statesmen 75-year-old Mohammad Abdel Rawf al-Qudwa Arafat al-Hussaini interacted with during his military and diplomatic career had left this world long before met his Lord on the morning of Nov 11 in a Paris military hospital. As a Palestinian Authority spokesman put it: "He closed his eyes and his big heart stopped. He left for God, but he is still among his great people."
Wife Soha was with him at his death bed, and with daughter Zoha she later attended the funeral that President Jacques Chirac gave her husband with the full protocol due to a head of state - much to the chagrin of Israel and its supporters.
True to form, Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon refused to let the Palestinian hero be buried in Jerusalem. Still, when he was laid to rest in Ramallah, Arafat had ensured that he was covered with soil from the holy Islamic city.
Under house arrest in Ramallah, weak with illness, unable to get fresh air, Yasser Arafat continued to inspire his people until his very last moments. The biggest blow to his hopes for peace came when President George Bush announced on April 14 that Israel would keep "some" West Bank land even after withdrawing from the occupied territories. This sabotaged a roadmap which Mr Bush had himself unveiled in April 2003. Crafted by the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, the roadmap visualized the emergence of a sovereign Palestinian state by 2005. However, the president went a step further and scuttled the roadmap by saying that 2005 was an "unrealistic" date. Disappointed but undeterred, Arafat said he would continue to fight for his people's freedom.
Israel also showed contempt for international law when, despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice, declaring the separation barrier illegal, it continued its construction.
Also, in keeping with its cloak and dagger policy, Israel murdered Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of Hamas, on March 22; and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rentissi, on April 17. On Nov 23, an Israeli officer pumped 20 bullets into Iman al-Hams, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, in Refah, Gaza.
The killings in the Gaza strip reached a new height when, in a matter of seven days in September and October, Israeli troops murdered 73 Palestinians. October 25 was another bloody one when the Israelis killed 16 more in a raid. By Sept 28, when the Intifada had entered its fifth year, 3,334 Palestinians and 1,017 Israelis had been killed.
On December 12, however, the Palestinians had a modest success when they detonated a tunnel in Rafah, killing four Israeli soldiers, and wounding more than a dozen.
By the time the year came to a close, there was no sign that the peace process would be revived. A lot of course depends upon who will succeed Arafat. Mr Mahmood Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organization's nominee for the top slot, appeared headed for an easy win in the election scheduled for January 9, but Mr Marwan Barghouti, the fire-brand leader now in an Israeli jail, changed his mind. First he announced he would not run for the post of president of Palestinian Authority so as to maintain the Fatah's unity. Later, he reversed his position. Hamas, meanwhile, has announced its boycott of the polls.
It now remains to be seen whether America, which had shunned all contacts with Arafat and considered him the stumbling block to peace, would force Mr Sharon to revive the peace process.
Terrorism, meanwhile, continued to rock Saudi Arabia, where militants chose to attack government and American targets. On Dec. 6, gunmen stormed the highly fortified US consulate in Jeddah, killing 12 people and losing in that process three of their comrades.
Other developments:
TURKEY: Finally, Ankara heard the news it had been long waiting for. On Dec 17, the European Union summit in Brussels announced that it would open membership talks with Turkey in October this year.
At one stage, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to walk out of the summit over the demand by Greek-Cyprus that Turkey recognize the Nicosia regime in writing.
However, Mr Erdogan saved the summit from collapsing by promising he would initial the May document that extended the EU membership to 10 states, including the Greek-Cypriot republic.
Most observers believe entry negotiations are likely to be tough and long. In fact, European Commission Chairman Romano Prodi warned that the negotiations could be broken off if Ankara did not continue to advance on political and social reforms.
IRAN: Throughout the year, Iran remained under pressure from the US and Europe on the question of its nuclear programme, with Israel hinting it could strike Iran's nuclear installations.
The issue was Iran's enrichment of uranium. One intelligent move by Tehran was to hold indepth talks with the European Three - Britain, France and Germany. The Three promised to provide Iran with nuclear technology provided it stopped its uranium enrichment programme. Talks with the EU-3 meant that the issue would not go to the Security Council, where the US could have a resolution passed imposing sanctions on Tehran.
Tehran promised to suspend its enrichment programme, but said the decision did not mean an abandonment of enrichment. The EU-3 also went back on their promise to provide Iran with n-technology. No final agreement had been reached between the two sides by the time the year drew to a close.
Earlier in the year, the reformists lost their grip over parliament after elections gave a comfortable majority to the conservatives. The reformists alleged that the February elections had been rigged - a reference to the disqualification of over 2,000 pro-reform candidates, including some sitting MPs, by the Council of Guardians. This served to make the job of reformist President Mohammad Khatami more difficult.
With Yasser Arafat dead, a role is once again wandering in search of an actor. Few believe that anyone can play that role adequately. Ever since the founder of the Fatah movement shot into prominence after the battle of Karameh in 1967, Yasser Arafat had been like no other leader.
