As Drama Plays Out, Arafat's Neighbors Express Sorrow, Fear RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct. 28 -- No crowds of well-wishers massed Thursday outside the Mukata, the mostly ruined compound where Yasser Arafat has been confined for the past two years. Only a throng of reporters assembled, peering through the smoked windows of sedans carrying officials to a frail old man who still embodies the national aspirations of many Palestinians.