Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak, watched by a beaming President Clinton, graciously jostle each other to be first to enter the room. Needless to say, this is not how everyone, especially those living inside this conflict, saw things. To some Israeli Jews, Yasser Arafat remains the same monster 'inside' but has changed his social identity into someone human enough to do business with, even live beside. For many Palestinians, Barak is yet another duplicitous Zionist leader and Arafat a servile old clown, getting ready for another sell-out. Neither side takes too seriously the notion of a US president as an even-handed 'mediator'.
Moral passages are always partial and fragile.
Robert Mugabe conveniently follows this script. Mundane monsters are becoming easier to make. In an age of 'in-depth' profiles, investigative journalism and intrusive biography, public figures of unblemished or even saintly status can be vilified instantly. It appears that 'all along' or 'under the surface' they were ruthless and cruel, dishonest or sexually depraved. Well, it turns out that just about everybody does.