The Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, flew to South Africa yesterday, following the induction of his controversial "new" cabinet, which does not enjoy the confidence of a majority of the Palestinian people.
Flight from political pressure is standard operating procedure for Mr Arafat, whose credibility and popularity have been seriously slipping since the Oslo self-rule process stalled 17 months ago. Slippage was most dramatic between July 1st and 31st when Mr Arafat's approval rating fell from 61 to 48 per cent.
According to a poll published yesterday, 77.5 per cent of Palestinians said they believe the Palestine Authority is corrupt and only 20.3 per cent said they were optimistic about its future performance.
Perhaps Mr Arafat hopes that photo sessions with President Mandela of South Africa will reassure Palestinians residing in the West Bank and Gaza that ultimately they, like the blacks of South Africa, will enjoy self-determination and statehood. But that would be self-deluding on Mr Arafat's part because Palestinians no longer believe the Oslo process will bring them statehood and a decent life.
Palestinians now regard the period of the occupation and rising, or intifada, "before Oslo" with nostalgia. While the five years "after Oslo" are identified with increasing suffering and humiliation.
Since the first Oslo accord was ceremoniously signed in Washington on September 13th, 1993, the number of Palestinians permitted to enter "Israel proper" has been reduced from 120,000 to 58,000 - 35,000 labourers, 18,000 businessmen and 5,000 officials and professionals.
As a result, unemployment has risen to 60 to 70 per cent in Gaza and 35 per cent in the West Bank, and living standards have plunged by 30 to 40 per cent.
The mayor of the Hebron area town of Halhoul, Mr Muhammad Milhem, said: "Since Oslo Israel has sliced up the West Bank by building settler access roads and declaring certain tracts of land closed military areas. Confiscating our vineyards." Halhoul, he stated, is now "surrounded by Israeli roads on three sides and a military zone on the fourth." Palestinians feel besieged in their own towns and villages.
Mr Khaled Suleiman, from the West Bank town of Hebron, asserted: "Since under Oslo Israel retained control of the water sources, one third of the West Bank has been without water for five months and must rely on polluted Ottoman era wells, while Israeli settlers swim in their pools and wash their cars. Many [Palestinian] children are falling ill with stomach complaints."
Israeli officials admit that as many as one million of the 1.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and a majority of the million in Gaza suffer from severe water shortage during this, the hottest summer in 35 years, with temperatures soaring to 39 and 40 Celsius.
A human rights group charged yesterday that a West Bank man who died in the hands of Palestinian security forces this week was killed by head injuries and not heat stroke, as reported by police.
Mr Walid al-Qawasmi (45), an insurance salesman from Bethlehem, died on Sunday while being taken to hospital from the jail in the Palestinian-run Jordan Valley enclave of Jericho, Palestinian Authority officials said.