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HOST: Peter Mansbridge and Pamela Wallin
GUEST: MARIAM SHAHIN, Jordan Times; RASHEED HALIDI, University of Chicago; BISHARA BAHBAH, Arafat advisor.
WALLIN: And joining me now to discuss whether Arafat can, not only inspire a cause, but actually govern a nation, is Bishara Bahbah, an advisor to Mr. Arafat; he is in Washington tonight. Rasheed Halidi. He is the director of Middle East studies at the University of Chicago. And also with us this evening, Mariam Shahin. She is a journalist with the Jordan Times. And she is in Gaza City tonight. And, Mariam, let me start with you if I can. What kind of a day was it for you as a Palestinian?
MARIAM SHAHIN: Well, I think it was a very exciting day. I'm happy I made it today because I came over from Jordan, and the bridge was closed for a couple of hours. There was fighting by settlers. But I came just before Arafat arrived, and it was a tremendous moment for me, not because I'm a great supporter of Arafat as an individual, but certainly of the symbol that he has been for my people for as long as I can remember.
WALLIN: So as you stand there tonight in Gaza City, literally on the ground that some people are calling the beginnings of a homeland, is that how you see it?
SHAHIN: Oh, definitely. Definitely. I think today with the arrival of President Arafat, it was a sort of a baptism of the deal that had been closed, of the handshake of September 13th, in Washington. I think today was the inauguration of whatever is being born.
WALLIN: Mr. Halidi, let me go to you on this question of what was accomplished today by Chairman Arafat -- certainly a personal triumph of sorts. But was there a political achievement? Did he accomplish something today just by showing up?
RASHEED HALIDI: I don't think that his arrival was a political accomplishment in and of itself. I think a lot of emotional satisfaction is going to be derived by Palestinians. But I think that will be short-lived. In the long run, the same kind of questions that everybody's been worried about -- governance, democracy, economic development -- are not really going...