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November 12, 2004
More on Arafat
I have been reading the news on Arafat's death and I find interesting. There are essentially three camps speaking out on Arafat's death. Those that believe that we (as in the whole world) are better off now that Arafat (usually referred to as Terrorist or Tyrant) is dead. Then there are those that are saddened by Arafat's passing and are praising his valiant efforts to help the Palestinian people. Finally there are those that are blasting the media for not reporting on who Arafat really was (again, a Terrorist or Tyrant).
Those in the second camp that are celebrating Arafat in his death often put the burden on Israel to now step forward and resolve the conflict. I find this quiet interesting as well. Doesn't Israel need to wait to see if the new leader of the Palestinian people will be a partner in peace, not a martyr in the making? Furthermore, the Palestinian Government has only appointed interim leaders. In 60 days they will hold elections. Shouldn't Israel wait until the newly elected leader is in office?
I also tend to agree with the third camp. The media seems to be ignoring the fact that Arafat stole millions of dollars from the international community and his 'people' over the course of his lifetime. He supported Saddam Hussein in his effort to invade Kuwait. He was the puppeteer of dozens if not hundreds of terrorist attacks around the world. He coined the term suicide bomber and supported a network that shuttled many a teenager to their death with a suicide belt strapped to their waist. Arafat was an addict. He was addicted to money and power. In order to keep it he could never make peace with Israel. If he did, he would have started a civil war between the right-wing fundamentalist Hamas group and the more moderate goups within the PLO.
Arafat needs to go down in the history books as a dictator and tyrant.
Posted by kermisch at November 12, 2004 01:15 PM