WTH? (Sorry, I don’t use overly strong language…) Talk about people living in glass houses…
I think we can all agree that a person’s life is more important than any building, whether it be a church, synagouge, mosque, etc. Under Jewish law (and I’m willing to bet the same would apply in most, if not all world religions) one is allowed to knock down a building (provided, of course, it doesn’t kill others) to save a life.
Yet, here is this person with more Jewish blood on his hands than any person since Hitler saying that a fire in a church (and there’s no evidence that the Israelis started it-- if they really wanted to destroy it, they wouldn’t need to set fire to it) is an “atrocious crime” and a “crime that cannot be forgiven.” Puh-leeeeeeeeez! How about showing some compassion for the victims of your terrorist bombers and calling their deaths a “crime.” But no… a fire in a chuch is an “atrocious crime” that “cannot be forgiven.”
And, of course, this is also from the same person who allowed his goons to destroy Joseph’s tomb and the yeshiva that was there. But that’s not an “atrocious crime” to Arafat.
[sub]Calm down, Zev. He’s not worth getting upset over.[/sub]
Sorry, just the idea that Arafat would run off and sacrifice himself with no second thoughts or hesitation for the Church of the Nativity is kinda silly.
He seems to want to express some kind of solidarity with the Christians, but… come on. Laying it on a bit too thick, methinks.
100-story buildings full of people, those are OK to start fires in. And crowded shopping malls, those are OK to blow up. And public busses. And pizza shacks, those are OK too.
You got to hand it to him, though, Zev, he knows how to play PR. Remember, he’s the guy who engineered so much sympathy for the Palestinians by arranging “photo-ops” of Palestinian children throwing rocks at Israeli soliders. Put the children on the front lines as sacrificial sheep, let them be photographed, the more pathetic the better, and you’ll arouse public sympathy.
Listen, as a Christian, if the Church of the Nativity goes up in flames, I’m going to seriously ticked at the lot of 'em. But I fully understand that if they (meaning Israelis and Palistinians) are willing to scorch the very land they are standing on – which they appear willing to do – they certainly won’t let something like a church stand in the way of their desire to kill one another.
And I don’t blame you. But even you would agree that it is better that the church go up in flames than people be killed. Arafat, however, thinks that a building on fire is a terrible crime, and cannot be forgiven, but blowing up innocent people in a pizzeria is nothing. I was just commenting on Arafat’s hypocracy, nothing more.
The whole thing is bullshit, and with Arafat playing the bleeding heart now, I’m nauseated. He’s killed so much, and for so long that the hypocracy is undoubtedly not apparent to him.
Besides, it was a fucking out-house*, not the friggin church.
The thing is, although we may not like to admit it, the building is the hostage here. The Israeli army can take out a building, easily, no matter how many enemy troops are inside; it has a reasonably good chance of rescuing hostages out of a building, too (after all, the IDF has some experience in hostage situations). However, it can do neither of these things without seriously damaging the masonry, which will look very, very bad. The world, like it or not, cares more about religious shrines than human lives. After all, the Taliban treated women like crap for years, but when did the world start (only start) paying attention to them? When they blew up some statues.
Umm, most people DON’T think he’s a weasel. Maybe most people on the SDMB, but around the world he’s regarded as something of a hero by millions and millions of people. In Europe he’s widely regarded as the second coming of Nelson Mandela. He’s a weasel, but a weasel who knows a lot about PR.
Suha Arafat is described as being his “Christian-born wife”. She was “born and raised as a Christian”, and apparently converted to Islam to marry Yassir.
I saw Arafat on TV just after the Israelis let him out. He was like a madman, frothing at the mouth, throwing invectives left and right. I understand he might be a bit miffed but leaders need to remain calm in the worst of circumstances and he appeared to be totally out of any self control. I would never follow a man like that. he seems carzy.
Hearing Arafat speak about Israel reminds me of that French quote: “Cet un animal très méchant; Quand on l’attaque il se défend” (It is a very wicked animal, when attacked it defends itself)
