November 11, 2004 12:00 a.m. ET

I offer my condolences to Yasser Arafat's family, his partners in the PLO and to the Palestinian people who are grieving the passing of the man who symbolized their hopes and aspirations for so long.

History will record that Yasser Arafat's greatest moment occurred on September 13, 1993, when he and Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, shook hands on the White House lawn and signed the Oslo Accords which led to seven years of negotiation, progress and relative peace.

However others viewed him, the Palestinians saw him as the father of their nation. I regret that in 2000 he missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being and pray for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a better life will be realized in a just and lasting peace.