Will he be remembered positively? Did he do any real good for his people or did he keep them isolated for too long?
Irrespective of one’s thoughts on who is right, wrong or wronger in the Israel-Arab-Palestine mess, Arafat’s career must be regarded as a dismal and atrocious failure.
When Arafat became leader of the POL in 1969, the Palestinians were a stateless people without hope, locked on a dreadful and unwinnable struggle.
Today, the Palestinians are a stateless people without hope, locked in a dreadful and unwinnable struggle.
Arafat accomplished nothing of any value in 35 years. His people are destitute, landless, hopeless, led by a cadre of theives and killers, just the same as they were 35 years ago.
Okay, do the Palestinians realize this and accept it to be true? I presume that has been a motivation in the creation of so many splinter groups.
If calculated in dollars, somewhere between $500,000,000.00 and $1,500,000,000.00
If calculated in blood: Someone less lazy can do the calculation from pints to litres
A cold killer who never made the transition to ‘statesman’, really.
He did become a symbol of his cause, and I can respect that. But he never seemed to be able to lead the Palestinians. Any attempt to move towards a solution showed him to be unable to bring control to the other groups that didn’t want peace. And without that what was the point?
Either he didn’t WANT peace and therefore negotiations could go no where or he couldn’t DELIVER peace and therefore negotiations could go no where. Either way you’re screwed.
I’m not really holding out much hope but at least now there’s an opportunity to see if a new leader (after the knives get played) who might be able to transcend the existing political realities of the conflict.
I have never gotten the image out of my head of the warrior/terrorist retreating in the dark of night wearing woman’s clothing to avoid capture. Diplomat by day, despotic-girlie-man at night? I’ve always held the opinion that when you lose a war you bow down gracefully or regroup. He did neither to the best of his abilities and managed to be a hero in the process.
A politician not much different than his Israeli or American opponets. The blood of others, even the innocent, really doesn’t matter. And power and money does.
Let’s see…
The murder of Israeli athletes at the Olympics.
Presiding over the rise of the suicide bomber as a tool of terror.
Pilfering billions of dollars from his own people while they live in squalor.
Not only turning down a good starting offer from the Israelis, but refusing to even negotiate further, instead starting the second intifada which has resulted in hundreds of deaths and a worse situation for the Palestinians.
Oh yeah. He won a Nobel peace prize, thus helping discredit the entire Nobel awards process.
His legacy? Fifty years from now, historians will be saying, “What in hell were the Nobel people thinking?”
Good riddance to a truly horrible man.
I think historians are already saying that, Sam. 
Take heart that the Nobel people OFTEN get it wrong: look at the literature awards over the years or how often Chicago School economists win.
Sam, you forgot to include some of his other accomplishments, like the concept of blowing up planes full of passengers as a “political statement.” He’s the one that STARTED the notion of modern terrorism based on hijacking planes, and so he’s the direct grandpappy of al-Quada and 9/11. Let’s give credit where credit is due.
Amazingly, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE this morning ran a “timeline” of Arafat’s life, and the heading “Terrorism” was about how it was all Ariel Sharon’s fault. Nice. Newspeak is definitely here.
I’ll give you all of them except that one Sam. Suicide bombs were a non-PLO innovation ( yes, I am aware of the former bodyguard-Hezbollah connection, but the suicide bomb tactic didn’t come from that direction ).
Which is trivial, really, as everything else on that list is sufficient to condemn the man.
- Tamerlane
So why exactly was he awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? I never knew that he was until hearing it on the news recently as everyone was speculating about his condition and I was shocked to hear it.
A biographer in an interview recently called him “the father of modern terrorism”. His acts and support of terror are common knowledge.
I mean, I take most award institutions with a grain, but if Encino Man won Best Picture there would be quite the outrage.
How does the panel of the most prestigous award in the world for peace possibly find Arafat even a barely remotely likely candidate??? 
He, Rabin, and Peres were awarded the Peace Prize for Oslo. The Nobel committee are suckers for a good treaty. You make a highly publicized peace with your enemy, you’re going to get the prize.
Kissinger and Le Duc Tho got one in '73, Sadat and Begin got one in '78, Mandela and de Klerk got one in '93, and Arafat, Rabin, and Peres in '94.
There’s really not much good that can be said of the man. He was a terrorist impersonating a minister, and a despot masquerading as a liberator. Perhaps more sad than the injustices afflicted upon the Palestinians by the Israelis is their elevation of a mass murderer as their hero and statesman. I hope they can find freedom under better leadership, but I’m not optimistic. Even the most sincere Palestinian must deal with Sharon and whoever comes after him. Sadly there are plenty of villains, and few heros on either side, with lots of dead innocents between them.
Nelson Mandela hailed Arafat as “an icon in the proper sense of the word” and “one of the outstanding freedom fighters of this generation.”
Just goes to show you how even the most revered people can be 100% wrong.
Arafat did nothing admirable…he was a despicable POS. And when Bush said God Bless Arafat…I do not think he spoke for the majority of us.
I’m a bit of a Pollyanna but I’ve been heartened by how (knock on wood) smoothly things have been running. Look at the compromise of his burial. PA says “He wanted to be buried in Jerusalem.” Sharon says, “Tain’t gonna happen. Hows about Cairo?” Impossible offer countered by impossible offer–par for the course, right? BUT, once that formality had been covered and everybody’s honor satisfied, they, and here’s a word you don’t hear often enough these days, COMPROMISED! I was surprised and pleased.
Hmmm,
Nelson Mandela or MadSam & assorted US media victims?
I think the former.
Speaking of reputable commentary, here’s someone who puts to rest the *“gave the Palestinians 90% of what they wanted” *myth.
Arafat’s legacy is a Wall.
If he had been a follower of Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Palestinians would have a State and would be welcome in Jerusalem.
Arafat’s legacy is the slaughter of innocents in the name of Allah.
These innocents are the martyrs that Arafat will never be.
rwjefferson
Peace through Liberty