Oh yea, great, way to go asshole. aint that gonna help your peace process. All we have to do now is wait for the inevitable power struggle.
Only time will tell how this will pan out. Depending on who takes power, someone willing to speak with Israel or a Madman, interesting times ahead. The consequences of this one mans death may very well effect us all.
One obstacle to peace out of the way at least - Arafat was a man hailed as a hero for some reason, despite being at least as beligerrent and stubborn as 'warmonger' Ariel Sharon. For one who cared so much about his people, its curious how he could justify his own personal wealth and the corrupt way he used it - his wife living it up in Paris with a $100,000 PER MONTH allowance and apparently for a few months she lived in a £8,700 a night hotel suite. She owns 2 large multi-million dollar apartments in France. All this while the Palestinian people struggle without proper sanitation and healthcare. Sorry to sound harsh but as far as I'm concerned, good riddance to bad rubbish - Arafat and his past as a terrorist leader made it hard for Israelis to trust him, hopefully now he's gone a moderate Palestinian will become leader, someone who is a more trusted and acceptable person for the Israelis to deal with than Arafat. Just as long as its not someone from Hamas/al-aqsa in which case things will only get worse for all concerned in the region.
Regardless of people's feelings for the guy, power abhorrs a vacuum. The worry is what will try to fill it. As yodasarmpit implies: we live in intersting times...
Let's face it, Arafat was a terrorist leader who found he couldn't control his followers even if he wanted them to stop fighting. He could negotiate peace with his enemies, but not with his own side.
I remember on 9/11 he was interviewed because his people were celebrating outside and when asked about what happened he said something like, "I was shocked" and then he gave blood. Hypocrite. But of course I give my condolences to his family.
Whats your point? That because other politicians are corrupt that its okay for Arafat to be? Of course a great many politicians are corrupt, but that doesn't make it right.
Arafat's passing will have a drastic impact on Israel's ability to restrain itself. His very existence really was one of the only things keeping them somewhat under control. I'll miss the scruffy little b*****d.
Ok, just because respect is major concept most of you guys here cant grasp into consideration. I remember the bible verse, "Love your Enemies" I try to at least respect those people for who they are and understanding that he wanted to keep his religion alive and I respect that, it's like the crusades except a little less organized.
Yeah, we're sure loving our enemies... --to death. I remember that verse very well, in fact. This is why I always have said that to approach this situation as a "war" is the wrong thing to do. Anyway, things are not as black and white as people suppose. People change. Arafat calmed down in his older years. First he was a terrorist (although he would have said then: freedom fighter), but later he attempted to achieve his aims through diplomacy, although his past reputation would always haunt him, and he was never able to control the people he was supposed to lead. It is hard to wag your finger at your people and say: "no terrorist actions, please , play nice!" when this in fact was what you did in the past and it was how you became their leader in the first place. His dillemma was that the reputation which made him a suitable leader in his people's eyes, made him an unsuitable one in everyone else's. It's a tough balance to try and keep. You try to meet the expectations of the rest of the world, you lose respect with the majority of your followers. You keep their respect, you're rejected by the rest of the world. However I also think that sometimes Arafat's past has been used by the West as a facile and easy excuse to dismiss the Palestinian cause outright, even when it did have valid points. Problem for the Palestinians is, that yes, he was a terrorist in his days, but hey, at least he fought their corner. The Palestinians feel so down trodden, such underdogs, that they will follow anyone who will fight their corner --because nobody else will. My concern is that some extremist wannabe ruler in search of a empire will recognise this. If we want the Palestinians to follow the right leader, and pursue their cause in a legitimate way, then perhaps we, the "Western Democratic World", should start fighting their corner a bit.
Step one would be for the US and UK to stop backing Israel (the biggest terrorist state in the world).
