Yasser Arafat is dead. Now what?

Yasser Arafat, who died on Thursday, was buried this morning in the ruined Ramallah compound to which he was confined for the last three years. Palestinians are in mourning; the rest of the world is wondering what happens now.

Steven Erlanger has an excellent analysis in today's New York Times about Arafat's passing, in which he observes:

His death early Thursday morning presents an enormous set of challenges to his own people, to the Israelis, to a re-elected American president and to the world at large.

It is a test, first of all, for the Palestinians themselves, to move from a revolutionary ethos of victimhood and military confrontation with Israel to a more responsible and legitimate government, able to care for its people and to negotiate for them.

It is a test for Israel and its prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to move beyond the dismissive response that there is "no negotiating partner" and to work to help the emerging Palestinian leadership consolidate and maintain authority and control.

All of that is true. But let's also remember that Arafat didn't dictate Palestinian ideology so much as reflect it. Although new PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas had issues with Arafat's refusal to loosen his grip on power, causing Abbas to resign as the Palestinian Authority's prime minister after only four months, there's still no guarantee that Sharon will find Abbas any more compliant a "negotiating partner" than Arafat was. And Sharon has internal battles to fight, which puts his own negotiating partner status in question.

No wisdom to offer here, I'm afraid. Just a fervent wish that Arafat's death might be a step toward renewed peace negotiations, and not another step further back into the abyss of violence and horror these last few years have wrought.