# Should they take away Yasser Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720 "2002-04-09T20:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/1 "2002-04-09T20:38:50Z")
My brother-in-law just sent me this e-mail: > [@](#): > > It has been seven years since Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize and in that time it has become abundantly clear that Mr. Arafat is far from the peacemaker that the world believed he would be. Israel made a fair, good faith offer to Mr. Arafat for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; rather than accepting or making a counteroffer, Mr. Arafat answered with violence. His constant pledge to achieve a Peace of the Brave has proven to be mere words, belied by his failure and unwillingness to take a public stance against organizations committed to acts of terror. We have no voice in who the Palestinian People recognize as their leader, but we do have a voice in who the world recognizes as a peacemaker. Yasser Arafat received a Nobel Peace Prize based on his promise to work with Israel to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has been seven years since he received the prize and his promise has not been kept. It is with these considerations in mind that we appeal to all people of morality and good faith to stand up and express their anger and disappointment in Mr. Arafat by calling for the revocation of his Nobel Peace Prize. Your signature below will be forwarded to the Nobel Committee with our collective demand that they revoke Yasser Arafat’s Nobel Peace Prize. > > Please go to [http://www.revoketheprize.org/](http://www.revoketheprize.org/) to add your name to our petition. Together we can take back the prize. This seems like another case of “e-mail activism” to me…but has the Nobel Committee ever revoked a Nobel Prize? Do you think they should in this case or in any case? ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/2 "2002-04-09T20:42:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tamex \* > \*\*My brother-in-law just sent me this e-mail: > > This seems like another case of “e-mail activism” to me…but has the Nobel Committee ever revoked a Nobel Prize? Do you think they should in this case or in any case? \*\* Moot point. The prize is not revocable. Go to Snopes, do a search on “Arafat.” Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/3 "2002-04-09T21:31:43Z")
Tha fact that a point was moot never stopped anyone around here from debating it. If we were going to start revoking Nobel Peace Prizes, I’d start with Henry Kissinger. Obviously Arafat was a controversial choice, but it’s not as if Nobel Prize winners are supposed to be saints. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/4 "2002-04-09T21:46:59Z")
If the OP is re-interpreted as, _“In the light of hindsight, does Arafat deserve his Nobel Peace Prize”_ then I would answer NO. Reason: Nothing he has done so far has led to peace. On the contrary, his leadership has led to more fighting and killing and a greater likelihood of major war. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/5 "2002-04-09T21:46:59Z")
If the OP is re-interpreted as, _“In the light of hindsight, does Arafat deserve his Nobel Peace Prize”_ then I would answer NO. Reason: Nothing he has done so far has led to peace. On the contrary, his leadership has led to more fighting and killing and a greater likelihood of major war. ---
**Author:** ![W.G.H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@W.G.H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/W.G.H)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/6 "2002-04-09T22:02:47Z")
“In the light of hindsight, does Arafat deserve his Nobel Peace Prize” I guess it depends on whether we listen to him in English or in Arabic. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/7 "2002-04-09T22:51:59Z")
Alfred Nobel’s will mandates the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses.” It’s an award for past conduct, not future conduct. So, whatever one thinks of Arafat’s actions since he was awarded the prize, it’s irrelevant. Sua ---
**Author:** ![barton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@barton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barton)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/8 "2002-04-10T03:18:17Z")
Believe it or not, but there’s some muttering to revoke not Arafat’s, but Peres’ award. This isn’t the original story I saw, but it’s the same folks, who think Arafat is just dandy: [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020405/ap\_on\_re\_eu/norway\_nobel\_peres\_2](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020405/ap_on_re_eu/norway_nobel_peres_2) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/9 "2002-04-10T04:31:04Z")
Arafat’s peace prize was disgusting when he got it. Remember, this is the guy who was partly responsible for the massacre in the athlete’s village in Munich in 1972. At the time Arafat won the prize, he was already a long-term terrorist who had murdered dozens or hundreds of people. ---
**Author:** ![kase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@kase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kase)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/10 "2002-04-10T08:27:42Z")
I couldn’t agree more \*\*Sam Stone \*\* I signed the petition. It’s the least I can do. This morning another suicide-bomber took the lives of more innocent people. I don’t know if anyone noticed on this board; Palestinians kill civilians in supermarkets, restaurants, busses etc. At least Israël chooses military targets. I’m sick and tired of reading pro-palestinian posts. These people are _terrorists._ Thank you \*\* Tamex\*\* no, I’m not jewish. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/11 "2002-04-10T11:24:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by käse \* > \*\*At least Israël chooses military targets. > \*\* I’m sorry but that really is quite funny. Do you honestly believe it? I am firmly on neither side. IMHO both the Palestinians and the Israelis have acted in a quite disgusting manner. Neither give a flying \*\*\*\* about human lives and thus no-one should support either side. In a choice between murderers and murderers I am going to have to abstain. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/12 "2002-04-10T13:45:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barton \* > \*\*Believe it or not, but there’s some muttering to revoke not Arafat’s, but Peres’ award. \*\*From **Barton’s** link > [@](#): > > committee member Hanna Kvanmo said Peres was condoning violence by participating in the government of hard-line Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites). > > “If it had been now, he would not have gotten the prize,” said Kvanmo, a retired left-wing politician who supported the decision concerning the 1994 prize. Now, it comes out that: > [@](#): > > Hanna Kvanmo… **joined the German Red Cross at the eastern front during World War II** , and stayed there until the end of the war. For this, she was **sentenced to 5 years imprisonment**. Then she **joined the Socialist Left party** , and became a major political figure in Norway [http://instapundit.blogspot.com](http://instapundit.blogspot.com) This report raises several quesitions:[list=1] [li]How conld a person convicted of supporting the Nazis be selected for the Nobel Prize Committee? [/li][li]Is it appropriate that a peace prize be judged by a former Nazi supporter?[/li][li]What’s the philosophical link between her supporting Nazis and supporting Socialists?[/li][li]How much publicity will the main stream press in the US and Europe give to Kvanmo’s unsavoury background?[/li][/list=1] ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/13 "2002-04-10T14:03:02Z")
[/quote] German Red Cross [/quote] eh, am I totally misinformed but whey would the Red Cross be nazi sympathisers? Why would members of the socialist left be nazi’s? Socialist left != National Socialist. ---
**Author:** ![CLedet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@CLedet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLedet)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/14 "2002-04-10T14:03:50Z")
To answer the OP, Yes! Then shoot the ugly bastard. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/15 "2002-04-10T14:07:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*How conld a person convicted of supporting the Nazis be selected for the Nobel Prize Committee? \*\* How is joining THE RED CROSS supporting the Nazis? You do know what the Red Cross is, right? Being sentenced to jail by a Stalinist court doesn’t strike me as being proof you’re a Nazi. This is a country that starved POWs and routinely executed the innocent. > [@](#): > > **Is it appropriate that a peace prize be judged by a former Nazi supporter?** Where’s the evidence she was a Nazi supporter? Of course Yassir Arafat doesn’t deserve his Nobel Peace Prize. Neither do Henry Kissinger or Rigoberta Menchu. The Nobel Committee has made some turkey choices. Actually, I don’t think Arafat was nearly as bad a choice as Kissinger or Menchu; at least you could say it LOOKED like a peace deal had been struck and they couldn’t predict the future. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/16 "2002-04-10T14:10:41Z")
There has got to be more to the Hanna Kvanmo story than this. Why would joining the Red Cross, even the German Red Cross during WWII, be considered “giving aid to the enemy”? Unless the German Red Cross had broken its ties to the ICRC during WWII, which is something I’ve never heard before. My suspicion is that Norway was a mite overzealous in punishing “collaborators” after the war - understandably so. (BTW, this post **should not** be taken as an endorsement or criticism of Ms. Kvanmo’s statement.) Sua ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/17 "2002-04-10T14:11:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CLedet \* > \*\*To answer the OP, Yes! Then shoot the ugly bastard. \*\* sir/madam, this is the first post I have ever read by you, and it is easily the most ignorant thing I have ever read. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/18 "2002-04-10T14:12:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*Where’s the evidence she was a Nazi supporter? > \*\* She was convicted and sentenced to five years in the slammer. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/19 "2002-04-10T17:27:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*She was convicted and sentenced to five years in the slammer. \*\* What a pathetic response. So being convicted is the evidence? Gosh, what a neat way to run things; “You’re guilty. And since we found you guilty, that proves you’re guilty.” Allow me to ask again; where is your evidence this woman was a Nazi or a Nazi supporter? Working as a nurse for the Red Cross does not make you a Nazi, so do you have any other evidence or not, or did you just happen to pick up a vague reference on a Web site that you thought would look really good thrown into this discussion? Can you provide any cites of Kvanmo actually being a Nazi or espousing Nazi views? Or is it just good enough to brand anyone as a Nazi if you don’t like their position? Godwin’s Law strikes again, huh? I find it quite remarkable that working as a nurse for the Red Cross now makes you a war criminal and responsible for the decisions made by the political masters of the soldiers you’re treating. Perhaps American nurses working with the Red Cross in Vietnam should all be sent to prison for the My Lai massacre. Maybe Red Cross volunteers who have healed the wounded in Cambodia should be shot for the sins of the Khmer Rouge. Or perhaps Red Cross volunteers in Bosnia can be put on trial in place of Slobodan Milosevic. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720/20 "2002-04-10T17:41:37Z")
Fundamentally I am in sympathy with \*\*RickJay \* and **SuaSponte**. There must be more to this Hanna Kvanmo story. It sounds odd. The blog I cited above says > [@](#): > > I just got an email from an angry Norwegian who writes that “Mrs Kvanmo may have done something stupid in her youth, but she have earned the respect of most Norwegian through a long political life. In fact, when she resigned from political life she was arguably the most respected politician in Norway.” If I learn anything more I promise to share it here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-they-take-away-yasser-arafats-nobel-peace-prize/102720.md?page=2)