NEWS ANALYSIS Hamas leader boosts Arab support for extremist stance

LONDON, June 2 (JTA) — The tour of Middle East capitals by Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin has produced a major boost for the Islamic extremist organization. The tour also sent seismic shock waves through the Palestinian world, according to Arab sources in London. Yassin, they say, has established a solid base of support, particularly among regimes that perceive Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to be vulnerable, and that are seeking to burnish their Islamic credentials and appease their domestic extremists. The Yassin “road show,” which has so far included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Kuwait, Yemen and Syria over the past month, has elevated Hamas to the status of a major force in Palestinian politics, rather than just another fractious Palestinian splinter group. This recognition, say the sources, will provide Hamas with a solid platform when it decides, as it inevitably will, to mount a frontal political challenge to both the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization for leadership of the Palestinian cause. Moreover, they believe the timing of Yassin”s visits — which came at a particularly low point in the fortunes of Arafat and the peace process — indicates an unexpected level of political acumen by the Hamas leader, who depicts Arafat as an Israeli collaborator and the Palestinian Authority as the guardian of Israel”s security. But if the tour has been an institutional success for Hamas, it has been a personal triumph for Khaled Mashaal, head of the Hamas political bureau and target of the botched Mossad assassination bid in Amman last September. It is Mashaal who choreographed, orchestrated and stage-managed the tour, propelling himself from the rank of backroom functionary to potential future leader — not only of Hamas but also of the wider Palestinian movement. Until now, the activities of Amman-based Mashaal have been restricted to the West Bank and Gaza, and to working as a liaison with other Palestinian opposition groups. He has now been presented with a greatly enhanced role on a significantly larger stage. Arab sources here do not believe that Israel, as has been suggested, will attempt either to stop the ailing Yassin, who ostensibly went abroad to seek medical treatment, from returning to Gaza or seek to reimprison him when he does return. Rather, they say, the Israeli authorities will opt to keep Yassin close to home in Gaza, where they can keep him under observation. And they will not rearrest him for fear of creating a martyr and provoking more antagonisms with Jordan”s King Hussein, who demanded Yassin”s release in exchange for Mossad officers captured in Jordan after the bungled assassination attempt. The tangible fruits of Yassin”s odyssey have been the warm and conspicuous receptions he has received in regional capitals, particularly in Kuwait, where — in another slap in the face for Arafat — he was the first Palestinian leader to have been officially received since Arafat publicly supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein”s 1990 invasion. Other notable successes were Iran”s agreement to an appeal from Yassin for the release of four Palestinian members of the Iraqi army who were captured during the Iran-Iraq war and the rapturous reception Yassin received from thousands of Palestinian refugees at a sports stadium in the Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus last week. In addition, he will be bringing home to Gaza $50 million that various Arab leaders have donated to his war chest. But Yassin”s tour has not been an unmitigated triumph: Jordan and Lebanon both bolted their doors and prohibited Yassin from visiting. The Jordanian decision is regarded as an attempt to avoid stirring Palestinian passions in the kingdom at a time of high tension over the peace process. The Lebanese rejection of Yassin is perceived as another manifestation of the continuing hostility toward the Palestinians for their role in the 1975-1990 civil war. Palestinian Authority feathers have clearly been ruffled by the success of Yassin”s trip. Indeed, some Palestinian officials have privately charged that Yassin”s tour was encouraged by Israel and the United States to pressure Arafat. But authority officials are publicly playing down the potential threat of the politically rampant Hamas leader. Instead, they are concentrating on achieving a “counter triumph” for Arafat by pushing for an Arab League summit, which is likely to be held in Damascus this week or next. It is still unclear whether the summit will involve all members of the Arab League or whether it will be a scaled-down meeting involving Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Palestinians. Saudi Arabia last week acquiesced to Arafat”s demands for the summit, ostensibly to formulate a united Arab position on the deadlocked peace process that would lead to a withdrawal of Arab ambassadors, as well as diplomatic and trade representatives, from Israel. Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah held talks in Damascus and Amman over the weekend to sound out Arab leaders on the proposed summit and its agenda. But by early this week, the idea of the summit appeared to be running into trouble. While Saudi officials declared that all Arab leaders supported the idea of the summit, the Jordanians were understood to be opposed to the proposed withdrawal of diplomatic representatives from Israel. For their part, the Egyptians were cool on the idea of holding the gathering in Damascus. Still others expressed concern at the prospect of sidelining — even sabotaging — current U.S. efforts to convince Israel to go ahead with a substantial further redeployment on the West Bank. Having snubbed Washington over last October”s economic summit in Qatar and, more recently, over the Iraqi crisis, those opposed to the idea were said to be reluctant to risk embarrassing the Clinton administration once again. Whether or not some form of agreement can yet be cobbled together to allow for either a full-scale or even a mini-summit, Arafat suffered yet another blow last week when the leading Saudi daily al-Riyadh launched a ferocious attack on him, suggesting that the Palestinian leader was senile and declaring that he was no longer fit to lead the Palestinian people. The editorial — which sent shock waves through the Arab world — said that it respected Arafat”s “history,” but that he had “ceased to be fit for a battle that requires people who have vision, initiative and firmness, coupled with a systematic approach that does not take the risk of adopting policies that lead to defeat, and does not get dragged into issues that lead to a breach.” Responding to the attack, the pro-Arafat daily al-Hayat al-Jadida spoke of what it termed the Palestinian people”s “miraculous steadfastness and legendary defense of their identity and existence,” coupled with significant contributions to the “construction and development of brotherly countries.”” Whatever spin the Arafat loyalists place on the latest developments, Yassin has thrown down a challenge that cannot be ignored by the Palestinian Authority — or by Israel.