Yasser Arafat Dies at 75; No Successor Set
Arafat, Father and Leader of Palestinian Nationalism, Is Dead
Before we get caught up in allowing Arab and Palestinian politicians to fall all over themselves in extolling the virtues of the late Yassir Araft, let’s keep one thing in mind. Arafat came to prominence as a terrorist whose express mission (and one that was written into the mission statement of the PLO) was to destroy Israel and drive it into the Mediterranean Sea. It was a past that Arafat never fully repudiated. He was a thug and a brutal murderer, more than willing to shed the blood of innocents to achieve his political ends. So, when you hear people lionizing Arafat as a “man of peace”, please try to remember that there was NOTHING peaceful about Arafat’s political career.
Then there is the matter of the millions, perhaps billions, of dollars that Arafat has succeeded in squirreling away. NO ONE seems to have any idea where this money is, and since dead men tell no tales…. While “his people” lived in squalor in refugee camps barely fit for human habitation, Arafat had access to untold millions. In the end, Yassir Arafat was just another politician who claimed to represent “his people” and yet did little except steal from them.
Good riddance to a murdering thug who, if there is any justice, deserves to be judged harshly by history.
Your opinion of Arafat is rather one-dimensional. It's true that he started off as nothing more than a terrorist, but he also spoke to the United Nations about his desire for peace (see the BBC's website). If he squirreled away millions, that's his deal and makes him no better and no less than any other self-serving politician in the world. Despite his guerilla tactics and approval of violence, he finally realized that peace with Israel was his only option. He is not the only terrorist in the region, though, and Israel is as much to blame for the current situation as is Arafat and the United States.
Did the Israelis ever pledge to drive the Palestinians into the sea. Did the Israelis ever conduct operations expressly targeting civilians?
"Did the Israelis ever conduct operations expressly targeting civilians?"
Yes
Do the Israelis have racist laws written to expressly discriminate agaist Palestinians and other Arabs? Yes. Sorry, Northstar, I'm not going to agree with you 100% in your assessment of Arafat as nothing more than a crafty terrorist. The Israelis bring much of their trouble upon themselves, and the US and Britain are some of the few countries who wholeheartedly support Israel. I'm neither Israeli nor Palestinian, but I simply can't see that anyone in that region is blameless for the current situation. I will not place blame solely on Arafat's shoulders.
I have to agree with northstar here folks. And I think this (along with his feline laden F-150) distinguishes him from (at least a stereotypical depiction of) the typical liberal/left/progressive kind of person.
Arafat addressed the UN with a loaded weapon at his side. If he personally backed away from the fundamental Palestinian goal of genocide for Jews, good for him. When the rest of them achieve that grasp of reality, good for them too.
In the mean time, we have to put up with the liberal left elitist media literally drooling over a dead terrorist.
There's an OFF button on your remote... USE IT!
Northstar's right, as usual. Screw Yassir Arafat. Despite his pathetic attempts to don the mantle of "statesman," Arafat was never anything better than a two-bit thug. The man was a scumbag.
Hm, interesting comments. But you're missing the point I was trying to make, which is: "I simply can't see that anyone in that region is blameless for the current situation. I will not place blame solely on Arafat's shoulders."
Come on, people, use your heads. Nowhere did I say that Arafat is not responsible for much of the mayhem currently going on in Israel/et al. What I WAS tring to point out is that the blame should not ever rest only on his shoulders. Israel, the US, Britain, etc., are equally responsible. Read your history, boys and girls. The US isn't in the region out of the goodness of its little imperialistic heart.
*walks off muttering*