Arafat remains unbowed as his 'long march' continues

Veteran Middle East correspondent David Hirst was recently the first journalist to be granted an interview with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat since the intifada began.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat often describes his struggle as a "long march" to the "spires and minarets" of Jerusalem, capital of his Palestinian state-to-be. "And I hope that the next time you see me," he said, "I will be in my mother's house." It was next to the Wailing Wall, he explained, and it had only been partially destroyed when the Israelis demolished the ancient Mograbi quarter immediately after their conquest of East Jerusalem in 1967.

Here in Ramallah, he is as physically close to his goal as he can get, a mere 10 minutes by car, but whether politically this really is his last way-station on the road to Jerusalem depends on the outcome of the intifada. At the moment, like all the town's inhabitants, he is under siege.