Will the passing of this mass murderer and master propagandist have an immediate impact on the Palestinians? interest and ability to reach an agreement with Israel? Can his death bring about the end of the Palestinian terror war against Israel and perhaps usher in a period of peace in the Middle East?

In his press conference Thursday, President George W. Bush said that people who don?t believe in the applicability of democracy to the Arab world cannot really believe in a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict with Israel. That is, as long as the Palestinians remain governed by terrorists, there is no way that they will be willing to live at peace with Israel.

Is Arafat?s retreat from this world all that is required for the Palestinians to achieve a democratic transformation that will enable them to live at peace with Israel?

In answering this question, we should take an example from one of Arafat?s guiding lights throughout his career: Adolf Hitler.

Hitler?s suicide in his bunker in Berlin in May 1945 was not what enabled Konrad Adenauer to lead a democratic West Germany. Adenauer could not have led, and certainly would never have been a democrat, if all he did was take over the reins of power from Hitler in May 1945. Aside from Hitler dying, the Nazi regime he created was necessarily militarily vanquished to the point of unconditional surrender. As well, Nazi leaders -- both political and military -- were brought before war crimes tribunals and hung or sentenced to long prison terms.

Adenauer also presided over a German democracy whose borders were determined by the Allies; where the Allied Occupation Forces expunged Nazi propaganda from the schoolbooks; barred Nazis from positions of power and influence in all walks of life; forced the Germans to teach their schoolchildren the evil they had wrought in the war; and outlawed Nazis or anyone espousing a similar racist ideology from entering politics in Germany. That is, Adenauer?s ascension to power was only enabled as a result of the total destruction of the Nazi power apparatus.

This historical precedent for the death of a dictator is pertinent in the case of Arafat not merely because of his ideological affinity with Hitler, but because Arafat, like Hitler, has built an entire apparatus of power in Palestinian society in his own murderous image. All of Arafat?s presumed heirs ? from Mahmud Abbas to Ahmed Qurei to Muhammed Dahlan to Jibril Rajoub are terrorists.

Abbas and Qurei owe their prominence to the fact that they co-founded the Fatah terror group with Arafat. Abbas, who has been upheld by the US and Israel alike as a ?reformer,? wrote his PhD dissertation and later a bestselling book explaining why the Holocaust is a hoax. Abbas has overseen and facilitated terrorist attacks for the past several decades including in the now four year old Palestinian terror war.

Qurei, who also has a rich history of terror involvement and apologetics, has bee the PLO?s chief money man for the past three decades. From Tunis to Lebanon to the Gulf States to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Qurei has overseen a confidence operation that puts the Sicilian mafia to shame. He has managed to simultaneously shakedown Palestinian businessmen for hundreds of millions of dollars and to blackmail the international community into contributing billions of dollars in aid to the PLO. Qurei continues to overtly support and applaud terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and as recently as September has made open calls for terrorists to murder Israeli civilians.

Muhammed Dahlan, who with his Pierre Cardin suits and his flashing smile easily won the hearts of Israeli and American policymakers alike, is one of the architects of the current terror war. In 1994, Arafat placed him in charge of coordinating activities with Hamas. Dahlan?s militia in Gaza has taken an active role in carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians including the infamous bombing of an Israeli school bus in November 2000 in which three people were murdered and a half dozen school children lost their legs and arms. Since then Dahlan?s forces have retained their leadership role in terror attacks, as well as in the weapons smuggling and development in Gaza. For their part, Gazans hate and fear Dahlan for his strong arm tactics against businessmen and day laborers in Israel.

Jibril Rajoub, Dahlan?s counterpart and rival in the West Bank was responsible for setting up the PLO?s terror infrastructure in the West Bank from 1994-2000. Since the Palestinian terror war against Israel began in September 2000, Rajoub?s men have taken an active role in carrying out terror attacks in Israel while still retaining their salaries from his militia. Like Dahlan in Gaza, Rajoub is despised by Palestinians on the West Bank for his extortion of businessmen; confiscation of farmland; and raping of Palestinian girls. Continued...