‘The Price of Kings’: Yasser Arafat
Suha Arafat speaks about the sacrifices made by her husband as PLO leader and whether his legacy was worth the price.
The ongoing price paid by Palestinians is easier to measure than that of Yasser Arafat, the former leader of the PLO and one of the most controversial leaders of the 20th century. To many a hero, to many others a villain, Arafat remains an enigma. Arafat’s leadership continues to divide and polarise opinion, though there can be little dispute of its impact on the Middle East.
Frost Over the World looks at the first installment of a landmark documentary series on the price of leadership, which reveals the sacrifices made and the ultimate price paid, both personally and politically, in order to lead a nation.
Sir David Frost speaks to Suha Arafat, the widow of Yasser Arafat, and the creators of the documentary film series The Price of Kings to discuss the man behind the headlines, the husband and father. She considers his legacy, his role as father of modern Palestine and confronts the ongoing allegations of corruption.
“Now we know who the corrupt people are. The Arab Spring is revealing all the atrocities of the Arab world. I always tell my daughter: You have to be proud of baba, baba is the only leader in the Arab world who was not kicked by his own people,” says Suha Arafat.
Click here for more on The Price of Kings.
Sir David is also joined by Xenia Dormandy, Chatham House, to talk about the situation in Afghanistan. Is the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers in Kandahar by a US soldier a tipping point for the US in Afghanistan?
The response from Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has been the demand that all coalition troops are restricted to their barracks in rural areas, and that Afghan security forces will take over by 2013, not 2014. Meanwhile the Taliban have called off their talks with the Americans. So where does this leave the US?
| A portrait of life in London |
The controversial artists Gilbert and George take Frost around their latest exhibition in the White Cube Gallery, discuss their love for London’s East End and explain why their art continues to shock 40 years on. What is the inspiration behind their ‘unusual’ work?
Sir David is also joined by Luis de Guindos, the Spanish minister of economy, to discuss the eurozone’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis and how Spain plans to get the economy back on its feet.