Send Page to a Friend Boston Jewish Community Relations Council Reacts To Death Of Yasser Arafat (Boston, Nov 4)  Susan A. Calechman and Nancy K. Kaufman, President and Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, released this statement today in response to the death of Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat: "Yasser Arafat's death ends a long chapter in Israel's struggle for peace.  We are hopeful that now, new Palestinian leadership will emerge that will reject violence and embrace negotiation.  Chairman Arafat exercised authoritarian control over the Palestinian national movement for more than four decades.  He could have seized historic opportunities presented to him at Oslo, and most recently at Camp David and Taba for a contiguous Palestinian state.  Instead he compromised the future of his people and destroyed the region's hope for peace by choosing terror in the place of negotiations.  Clearly he seemed more intent on destroying Israel than on creating a viable state for his people. With Arafat's death, we are hopeful that new Palestinian leadership interested in negotiating an end to the conflict will take hold.  Once Israel has a true partner for peace, Palestinians and Israelis can move forward toward building a civil society based on peaceful coexistence.