Arafat was a terrorist scumbag.
I also have no sympathy for his cause. While I think the whole Zionist program was a mistake, I don’t see any need there for a Palastinian state. They’re Arabs after all, and wouldn’t they be just as at home in Jordon?
But those poeple just seem totally hooked on violence and their own pathetic little cause. Bleh.
Unfortunately, people in real life do not have your excellent sense of opinion.
I don’t think there is any particular problem with Palestinians living where they are, its just those Hezbollah and Hamas fuctards who are succeeding in spreading militant Islam, which makes it so difficult.
We had a similar problem in Northern Ireland, whilst we were happy to make an approach to the IRA through backdoor channels, the provisional IRA took up arms and tried to disrupt the peace process. Israel should try and maintain constraint to give the Palestinian Authority, at least some air to breathe. It could concerntrate on attacking religious extremist groups, whilst leaving the PLO intact,or something along those lines.
Secularism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is on the wane because of Arafats blunders. If Hamas get in power, we’re all fucked, so to speak.
If Arafat had been a Gandhi and counselled peaceful protest among his people, and extended olive branches to Israelis, today there would be a thriving Palestinian state coexisting peacefully with Israel.
Instead, he counselled anger, hatred, and violence, and made the situation infinitely worse.
The Palestinians have chosen very poorly. Arafat is just the latest. They sided with the Nazis in WWII, with the Russians in the cold war, and with Saddam Hussein. They have embraced the use of their own children as suicide bombers, and have turned their backs on numerous olive branches extended to them. As has been said many times, the Palestinians are a people who have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
One of the biggest impediments to a Palestinian state is the fact that Palestinians are not currently capable of running their own state. A lot of blame for that lies at the feet of Arafat, who focused Palestinian energy on hating outsiders instead of building up their own country to make it viable. The Palestinian authority is full of corrupt scumbags who have siphoned off billions in foreign aid meant for their people.
The Palestinians had better start looking inwards at the sickness in their own society, because they’re going to have to fix it before they are ready to join the community of nations.
Perhaps Arafat’s death will be the catalyst to start that process.
I see the English are still very good at rewriting history :rolleyes:
Per Juan Cole Fri 12 Nov: Mark Levine; Why They Don’t Hate Us:
So while there is a steady torrent of misinformation about the Palestinian cause into North America, the diligent inquiry can do better.
Yeah, you poor Irish republicans :rolleyes:
I’m talking about the backdoor dialogue we had with the IRA during the very late 80’s and early 90’s.
But then again, explain to me what you meant by the statement.
For now. I’ve heard he was to be buried in a concrete coffin so that in the future he could easily be dug up and transfered to Jerusalem.
I mean your portrayal of the British Government as conciliatory peacemakers and the IRA as obstructionists is so ludicrously one-sided it’s hardly even worth bothering trying to refute. I recommend Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick’s book Endgame in Ireland for a more balanced overview of the process.
I ran across this somewhere on the 'Net:
*Arafat refused to address the United Nations unless he was allowed to wear his pistol. This is pretty much all you need to know about Arafat.
The United Nations let him. That is pretty much all you need to know about the United Nations.*
I didn’t mean all the IRA, apologies, I said the provisional IRA tried to derail the process. Remember they also go by the name of the ‘Real IRA’
Excellent editorial on this subject from Thomas Friedman.
What I can’t believe nobody is talking about is how the tremendous support for Arafat among the Palestinians says something about the majority of Palestinian people…says something really bad.
Many, many people condemn the South and Southerners wholesale for the fact that they overwhelmingly support Bush. The Palestinians, similarly, could be condemned for their overwhelming support of Arafat.
In fact, you don’t see many Southerners naming twin boys ‘George’ and ‘Bush’ (as an Arab woman has done with ‘Yasser’ and ‘Arafat,’ or Southnerners publicly kissing photos of Bush…
Defenders of terrorism claim the Palestinians are a desperate people who have embraced Arafat and his terrorism out of neccessity. How is this a valid argument, anyway? According to Dennis Ross, former envoy to Israel who I saw speak at Indiana University, there are Palestinian leaders who disagree with terrorism…where is overwhelming support for them?
I believe that pro-Terrorist Marawan Baghouti (or however his name is spelled) will be popularly supported among Palestinians. If this happens, how can anyone be able to say that “most Palestinians are not terrorist supporters?”
No. The IRA is the Provisional IRA. The Real IRA is a different group entirely.
You know, if you’re going to get in an argument with ruadh about Irish history, then a firm grasp of the facts is probably a good idea. Thinking that the Real IRA and the PIRA are the same thing doesn’t really represent a good start.