Arafat's dead. Now what?

Great Debates
1

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/10/arafat.obit/index.html

So now he really is dead.

What happens next?

2

Celebrate and rejoice.

Zev Steinhardt

3

Seriously…
Until we know who’s in charge of the Palestinians, nothing. Israel isn’t going to deal with anyone until they have some reasonable chance of delivering on a promise of peace.

Now we wait to see who comes out on top of the power struggle.

Zev Steinhardt

4

What’s next? A glorious afterlife with his well-pleased Creator, don’t you think? Or are you one of those… elitists?

5

loses a lot of respect for zev z

6

… And now… WE DANCE!

7

Interesting you say that. Because after your screed on free-market non-intervention, freedom to fail, ideal politics one wonders why there is an exception in the case of the US having a pet welfare-state?

8

It’s perfectly plausible to oppose material aid to Israel and passionately despise Arafat at the same time, sevastopol. I know I did. No sense in mocking the dead, though.

9

I’m sorry sevastopol, but I cannot, in all honesty, feel any sadness for Yasser Arafat. I apologize if that offends, but that’s the case.

Zev Steinhardt

10

Edit: make that foreign aid from taxpayer money

11

Apology noted Z, still, rejoicing demeans you.

Listen, I won’t shed a tear for the man. Why? Because his death is a breakthrough and opportunity more important than an individual life.

The US/Likud is stripped bare of the “no-one to deal with pretext.” And I for one wouldn’t want to deny them an opportunity to:

a - do the right thing

b - show the world their naked bad faith.

I hold little real hope for (a) even though it could really help in the general middle east situation at the moment.

Also I’m not about to pass up the opportunity to ask uncomfortable questions, as of my query to sam s above.

12

sevastapol said:

I’m sorry… I tried parsing this every way I could, but I can’t make any sense of it.

13

Something to do with Israel. What about Israel, I dunno.

14

Ah. The lesser Satan.

15

Simple. Like father, like son.

US occupies Iraq and installs its own puppet leader/government there.
Isreal occupies Palestine and installs its own puppet leader/government there.

16

:rolleyes: or maybe Israel finds it can make some sort of approach to peace without it being internally sabotaged by Arafat.

17

Remembrance day. Does anyone smell a rat?

18

Killing Arafat as a tribute to WWI? Uhmmm, that is rather unlikely. (Not that I would mind. Kill Arafat as a tribute to Tuesday night happy hour, for all I care.)

19

Actually I was thinking, either:

  • prolonging life until the propitious day, or

  • concealing date of death by a day or 2: same reason.

No? Nevermind.

20

That’s right, it was already November 11th in Paris when he died, or was it? Was it 3:00 EDT or GMT?

<goes off to fool around with the date/time thingy in Windows XP>