# \[Thread for speculating on the state of Yasir Arafat's health\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 4, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993 "2004-11-04T16:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/1 "2004-11-04T16:40:07Z")
Well, Yasser Arafat [has apparently died](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20041104/ts_nm/mideast_arafat_dc). I wonder what people here think of the consequences for the Peace Process in the Middle East. I have yet to formulate my own take on this (plus I’m at work and can’t take too much time to post right now). I’ll join the fray later, when I get home… Dani ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/2 "2004-11-04T16:47:05Z")
About fucking time. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/3 "2004-11-04T16:48:29Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > About fucking time. For once, you and I agree. This can only help the peace process. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/4 "2004-11-04T16:49:06Z")
Far out. Sorry, nothing to add at this time. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/5 "2004-11-04T16:49:22Z")
of what? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/6 "2004-11-04T16:50:23Z")
I’m not seeing confirmation that he has died. Is this going to be one of those “Generalissimo Fransisco Franco is still dead” type of things? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/7 "2004-11-04T16:56:14Z")
The answer is obvious: NOW they bury him. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/8 "2004-11-04T16:57:21Z")
BBC says French hospital denies Israeli TV report. If it’s true, does anyone remember [ephraim](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4560359&postcount=131)? We could email him an invitation to contribute here. As for the peace process, I’m not sure his successor will have any more sway on those actually committing atrocities than he did. Unless Palestinians are given either the vote or a viable state of their own (which the illegal settlements preclude), what will have changed? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/9 "2004-11-04T16:59:09Z")
He’s not QUITE dead, apparently. And celebrating his death is really uncool. The man won a Nobel Peace Prize. How many of you can say that? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/10 "2004-11-04T17:03:24Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > The man won a Nobel Peace Prize. How many of you can say that? Well, there’s Henry Kissinger . . . :rolleyes: Apparently he’s alive, but in a coma. [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARAFAT?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARAFAT?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME) ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/11 "2004-11-04T17:05:57Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > He’s not QUITE dead, apparently. > > And celebrating his death is really uncool. The man won a Nobel Peace Prize. How many of you can say that? To the everlasting shame of Nobel and every other Peace Prize winner before and after him. ---
**Author:** ![Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humanist)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/12 "2004-11-04T17:06:25Z")
Sadly, I don’t think it will accomplish much in the end. I’ll clarify that a bit. I agree entirely that Arafat is a large impediment to the peace process. However, I think most reasonable people agree that for peace to move forward, the Palestinians need someone who fulfills two conditions. 1. Must be able to tell Hamas to stop and they will, in fact, stop, at least for a bit. 2. Must be somewhat moderate and willing to compromise on some issues that are less important than an independent Palestinian state. 3. Must not be percieved as a puppet controlled by Israel. If there is someone with these qualities, I’ve missed him and would appreciate being enlightened. Otherwise, I can’t see an end to violence until someone with these qualities steps forward and assumes leadership. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/13 "2004-11-04T17:09:45Z")
From discussions I’ve heard on the radio, it’s expected that henceforth the head of the Palestinian Authority and the head of the PLO will no longer be the same person. Will that cause the PLO to diminish in relative importance, or not? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/14 "2004-11-04T17:10:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Apparently he’s alive, but in a coma. Just like the Democratic party. 🙂 Short-term effect - more attacks on Israel as the terrorists jockey for position. Medium-term effect - this may help the peace process, as a more trust-worthy person moves into position to moderate the Palestinians. Long-term effect - who the hell am I kidding? There **is** no one who can moderate the Palestinians. More terrorist attacks on Israel, and the whole region goes on killing each other for the next fifteen hundred years. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/15 "2004-11-04T17:11:15Z")
Still, he’s in a coma apparently. I think we can assume that he’s not likely to be an active participant in politics anymore regardless of whether he dies or just camps out on deaths door for a while. And my impression was that his power amonst the palistinians has been on the wane for a few years now. So the question is whether the Palestinians will be able to unite behind a new leader who can negotiate with Israel or if Palestine will desend into fractitious infighting as Israel withdraws, walls them off (possibly taking a chunk of the west back with them), and they’re left with a small, impoverished, chaotic psuedo-state that gets leveled by the Israeli’s bulldozers every few years. Sadly I think the latter possibility is by far the most likely. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/16 "2004-11-04T17:23:25Z")
A question, especially for Dani (or **Alessan** ): _Who_ could realistically tell Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Al Asqa Martyrs to ceasefire? This to me seems a Catch 22. If they are ‘trustworthy’, these groups will not listen. If they have strong enough links that their word is sufficiently powerful, will they not be blown up by an Israeli rocket for being a terrorist? As the peace process in Northern Ireland found, surely one must eventually negotiate **with the terrorists themselves**? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/17 "2004-11-04T17:26:12Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > He’s not QUITE dead, apparently. According to Yahoo news, he wasn’t so much dead as “No longer alive”. …He’s getting better! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/18 "2004-11-04T17:33:39Z")
The guy ain’t dead literally, but is it safe to assume he is for all practical political purposes? Will his annointing a successor be necessary for that individual to have legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinians? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/19 "2004-11-04T17:50:19Z")
Apparently, the medical team just announced he was brain dead. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993/20 "2004-11-04T17:54:43Z")
Flip-flopper. When Bush dies, he’ll just die and never turn back. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thread-for-speculating-on-the-state-of-yasir-arafats-health/272993.md?page=2)