"Arafat rejected the deal because, as a dictator who had directed all his energies toward strengthening the Palestinians hatred toward Israel, Arafat could not afford to make peace"
- Natan Sharansky
About this Quote
This quote by Natan Sharansky is describing the stopped working peace deal between Israel and Palestine in 2000. It recommends that Yasser Arafat, the leader of Palestine at the time, turned down the deal since he had invested his whole profession cultivating a strong sense of hatred towards Israel amongst the Palestinian individuals. As a totalitarian, Arafat was unwilling to make peace with Israel as it would have been seen as a betrayal of the Palestinian individuals and would have compromised his own power. For that reason, Arafat declined the handle order to preserve his own power and the hatred of Israel among the Palestinian people.