Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas vowed yesterday to continue Yasser Arafat's fight to create a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.

As thousands of Palestinians marked the first anniversary of Mr. Arafat's death, Mr. Abbas stood at the foot of his tomb, next to the wrecked headquarters of the Palestinian presidential office or Muqata in Ramallah, and pledged to follow his lead.

The spot where Mr. Arafat spent the final years of his life, isolated and encircled by the Israeli Army, now contains a temporary mausoleum, which is decorated with a Koranic verse that reads: "God will give victory to believers."

"We must continue the march together, in keeping with the principles for which Abu Ammar [Mr. Arafat] became a martyr," Mr. Abbas said.

"We will continue in the path of the late president until we fulfill all his dreams. We will continue until our people hoist the Palestinian flag on the walls, minarets and churches of the Old City of Jerusalem."

But a year after Mr. Arafat died at the age of 75 of a mysterious illness in a Paris hospital, the Middle East is still reeling with turmoil and uncertainty.

Israel and the Palestinians barely seem closer to settling their differences and few people speak of a "road map" to peace.

The United States, which used to claim Mr. Arafat was the chief obstacle to a peace settlement, is distracted from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by its own struggle to control war-torn Iraq.

Mr. Abbas, who has earned a reputation as a moderate, has won international support by unequivocally denouncing terrorist attacks against Israel. But Israel still complains bitterly he has done nothing but pay lip service to the concept.

On Wednesday, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian terrorist who was trying to lay explosives at the Karni border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

On Oct. 26, six Israelis were killed and 55 wounded in a suicide bombing in an outdoor market in the town of Hadera.

Earlier in October Israel broke off all contact with the Palestinian Authority after the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Mr. Abbas' Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the drive-by murders of two Israeli women and a 15-year-old boy, gunned down as they waited for a bus just south of Jerusalem.

When he came to power after Mr. Arafat's death, Mr. Abbas was immediately pressured by the United States and Israel to overhaul the Palestinian Authority and to rein in and reform the Palestinian security services.

Elected President on Jan. 9, he wasted little time holding a summit with the Israelis at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik and declaring a ceasefire with Israel in February.

But he has had less success convincing such terrorist groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to go along with his plans. The armed wings of the Palestinian factions agreed only to "maintain calm" until the end of the year and flatly refused to disarm.

Anxious not to derail Israel's promised withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of military occupation, the Palestinians have maintained a shaky ceasefire for most of the year.

Still, 29 Israelis have been killed in 10 terrorist attacks since Mr. Abbas came to power.

For the most part, the various Palestinian factions focused on jockeying for power as politics was transformed by Mr. Arafat's death.

The chief struggle has been between Fatah, the secular nationalist movement Mr. Abbas inherited from Mr. Arafat, and Hamas, a radical Islamic group that calls for Israel's destruction and the creation of a new Islamic state.

In the past, Hamas boycotted Palestinian elections. But after Mr. Arafat died it moved to establish a local base and won power in 23 municipalities.

Having turned its street power into institutionalized political power, Hamas is poised to challenge Mr. Abbas and Fatah in parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 25.

The vote will coincide with the end of the Palestinian groups' self-imposed "ceasefire."

If Mr. Abbas can cement his own hold on power, he may be able to claim greater legitimacy and establish a base for future reforms.

But if Hamas and Islamic Jihad do well in the elections, Israel could find itself facing a far more hardline Palestinian government than it did under Mr. Arafat.

© National Post 2005