Palestinian leader Arafat dies at 75

Celebrity Obituaries Forum

And that, as they say, is the end of that. Let's hope the next Palestinian leader is more moderate and able to negotiate.

I just hope he's not a terrorist and/or a supporter of terrorism.

Let's hope he knows the meaning of the word. "tolerance".
I won't get my hopes up. The Palastinian poeple don't want peace, they want revenge.

Bush and Blair will jointly try their utmost to mediate a peace pact between Palestine and Israel, I believe.


It would benefit everyone if they succeed.

Time will tell.

It would benefit everyone but Israel.

PARIS, France (CNN) -- The plane carrying the body of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived in Egypt Thursday, just hours after the leader died of a lengthy and unknown illness at a Paris hospital.

The body was flown from a French military air base to Cairo for Friday's state funeral.

News of the Cairo memorial service prompted national leaders and representatives from around the world to travel to Egypt for Friday's funeral.

The 75-year-old Arafat had spent his life seeking a homeland for his people but was seen by Israelis as a terrorist and roadblock to peace.

"The last two days were very painful, very difficult days," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, who confirmed Arafat's death Thursday morning. "And now, after these painful days of President Arafat, he is dead."

Arafat died at 3:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. Wednesday ET), days after suffering a brain hemorrhage and coma. He was admitted to the hospital October 29, with a blood ailment and digestive problems that were never clearly described.

As word spread of Arafat's death, Palestinians gathered in the streets in the West Bank and Gaza and at his former headquarters in Ramallah. (Full story)

Although his death leaves no clear successor in the often fractious world of Palestinian politics, Palestinian parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh has been sworn in as interim president of the Palestinian Authority.

Fattuh praised Arafat's leadership, calling him "a man of peace," and promised to follow in his footsteps.

Elections to find a permanent replacement for Arafat are set to take place within 60 days.

During Arafat's illness, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei was in charge of the Palestinian Authority, while Mahmoud Abbas led the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee.

Early Thursday, the PLO's executive committee unanimously approved Abbas, a former Palestinian prime minister, to replace Arafat as PLO chairman. (Full story)

A military funeral is scheduled to take place near Cairo's airport Friday at 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET), amid three days of official mourning in Egypt, according to a spokesman for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929.

Arafat's body is then expected to be taken for burial Friday to the West Bank city of Ramallah aboard an Egyptian military helicopter, the spokesman said.

Israel refused Arafat's request to be buried in Jerusalem, but agreed to allow his interment at his Ramallah compound, where he had been confined for nearly three years before falling ill. (Full story)

Israel has ordered a general closure of the West Bank and Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces, as the region prepares for the burial. (Full story)

Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, along with Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for their work on the Oslo accords, seen at the time as a breakthrough that could lead to an independent Palestinian state and a permanent peace.

Erakat called it "heartbreaking" that Arafat died before achieving his goal of an independent Palestinian state, "and the Israeli occupation of our land has not finished yet."

But he said Arafat managed to preserve Palestinian national identity during decades without a state of their own.

Erakat vowed that the grave in Ramallah would be temporary.

"One day, we will have our own independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responded to news of Arafat's death Thursday saying, "The recent events could be a historic turning point for the Middle East. Israel is a country that seeks peace and will continue in its efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians without delay.

"I hope that the new Palestinian leadership ... will understand that the advancement of the relations ... depends first and foremost on them stopping terror."

In a statement, U.S. President Bush called Arafat's death "a significant moment in Palestinian history.

"We express our condolences to the Palestinian people. For the Palestinian people, we hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors.

"During the period of transition that is ahead, we urge all in the region and throughout the world to join in helping make progress toward these goals and toward the ultimate goal of peace." (More reaction)

Across five decades, Arafat -- adorned with his trademark checkered kaffiyeh -- was the most prominent face of Palestinian opposition to Israel, first as the head of the PLO, which carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets, and later as the head of the quasi-governmental Palestinian Authority, after parts of the West Bank and Gaza were returned to Palestinian control.

Arafat is survived by his widow, Suha Tawil, whom he married in 1991, and their daughter, Zahwa, who was born in 1995.

Arafat the Monster

In a better world, the PLO chief would have met his end on a gallows, hanged for mass murder much as the Nazi chiefs were hanged at Nuremberg. In a better world, the French president would not have paid a visit to the bedside of such a monster. In a better world, George Bush would not have said, on hearing the first reports that Arafat had died, "God bless his soul."

God bless his soul? What a grotesque idea! Bless the soul of the man who brought modern terrorism to the world? Who sent his agents to slaughter athletes at the Olympics, blow airliners out of the sky, bomb schools and pizzerias, machine-gun passengers in airline terminals? Who lied, cheated, and stole without compunction? Who inculcated the vilest culture of Jew-hatred since the Third Reich? Human beings might stoop to bless a creature so evil -- as indeed Arafat was blessed, with money, deference, even a Nobel Prize -- but God, I am quite sure, will damn him for eternity.

Arafat always inspired flights of nonsense from Western journalists, and his last two weeks were no exception.

Derek Brown wrote in The Guardian that Arafat's "undisputed courage as a guerrilla leader" was exceeded only "by his extraordinary courage" as a peace negotiator. But it is an odd kind of courage that expresses itself in shooting unarmed victims -- or in signing peace accords and then flagrantly violating their terms.

Another commentator, columnist Gwynne Dyer, asked, "So what did Arafat do right?" The answer: He drew worldwide attention to the Palestinian cause, "for the most part by successful acts of terror." In other words, butchering innocent human beings was "right," since it served an ulterior political motive. No doubt that thought brings daily comfort to all those who were forced to bury a child, parent, or spouse because of Arafat's "successful" terrorism.

Some journalists couldn't wait for Arafat's actual death to begin weeping for him. Take the BBC's Barbara Plett, who burst into tears on the day he was airlifted out of the West Bank. "When the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound," Plett reported from Ramallah, "I started to cry." Normal people don't weep for brutal murderers, but Plett made it clear that her empathy for Arafat -- whom she praised as "a symbol of Palestinian unity, steadfastness, and resistance" -- was heartfelt:

"I remember well when the Israelis re-conquered the West Bank more than two years ago, how they drove their tanks and bulldozers into Mr. Arafat's headquarters, trapping him in a few rooms, and throwing a military curtain around Ramallah. I remember how Palestinians admired his refusal to flee under fire. They told me: `Our leader is sharing our pain, we are all under the same siege.' And so was I." Such is the state of journalism at the BBC, whose reporters do not seem to have any trouble reporting, dry-eyed, on the plight of Arafat's victims. (That is, when they mention them -- which Plett's teary bon voyage to Arafat did not.)

And what about those victims? Why were they scarcely remembered in this Arafat death watch?

How is it possible to reflect on Arafat's most enduring legacy -- the rise of modern terrorism -- without recalling the legions of men, women, and children whose lives he and his followers destroyed? If Osama bin Laden were on his deathbed, would we neglect to mention all those he murdered on 9/11?

It would take an encyclopedia to catalog all of the evil Arafat committed. But that is no excuse for not trying to recall at least some of it.

Perhaps his signal contribution to the practice of political terror was the introduction of warfare against children. On one black date in May 1974, three PLO terrorists slipped from Lebanon into the northern Israeli town of Ma'alot. They murdered two parents and a child whom they found at home, then seized a local school, taking more than 100 boys and girls hostage and threatening to kill them unless a number of imprisoned terrorists were released. When Israeli troops attempted a rescue, the terrorists exploded hand grenades and opened fire on the students. By the time the horror ended, 25 people were dead; 21 of them were children.

Thirty years later, no one speaks of Ma'alot anymore. The dead children have been forgotten. Everyone knows Arafat's name, but who ever recalls the names of his victims?

So let us recall them: Ilana Turgeman. Rachel Aputa. Yocheved Mazoz. Sarah Ben-Shim'on. Yona Sabag. Yafa Cohen. Shoshana Cohen. Michal Sitrok. Malka Amrosy. Aviva Saada. Yocheved Diyi. Yaakov Levi. Yaakov Kabla. Rina Cohen. Ilana Ne'eman. Sarah Madar. Tamar Dahan. Sarah Soper. Lili Morad. David Madar. Yehudit Madar. The 21 dead children of Ma'alot -- 21 of the thousands who died at Arafat's command.

Source: Jeff Jacoby / Boston Globe

Thank you for this Marc.
My sentiments exactly.

And thanks for switching my account.

Indeed, I have full appreciation for the terroristic nature of the PLO and their bloody history. And while I expect that Palestinians could reach an acceptable diplomatic compromise if they were to really give it a go, I feel I must remind everyone that their angry response is not that just formed from thin air. It was the direct result of their home being taken from them in the 1940's at the hand of U.S. involvement of WW2 during the formation of Israel as a nation. I think they have a right to pe pissed off, but that they should not resort to violence to solve their problems. With such behavior, I'd honestly think that we have yet to actually evolve out of the animal kingdom and dignify ourselves..

The Israeli involvement in that land goes back over 3000 years. For a history of Palestine that is anything but brief, see here: http://www.palestinehistory.com/history.htm

Thank you Marc for your post, my feelings exactly.

D

Impressively stated, Marc.

You are right on target.......

Arafat was Egyptian born and raised with a relative silver spoon in his mouth.
What did he know of "Palestinian anger and suffering?"
Not a darn thing.
He merely profited from the hype.

Beats working for a living ala Sharpton and J. Jackson.

All cons in action.

Suha whatever has been away for four years and has access to the BILLIONS OF BILLIONS OF $$$$. How do I get a situation like that?
D

Marry an axdhole.
Live in Paris so you don't have to deal with him.

I had an opportunity such like this in college. In the late 70's, the Shah of Iran was ousted from power.
His advisors and staff fled into hiding.

I happened to strike a relationship with the eldest son of the Shah's chief advisor. He wanted to settle down etc etc. Live together during the summer and he would get me an excellent job at the hospital. We were both pre-med at the time.

His father sent him to America with a bunch of dough to become a doctor and to find an American wife.
I just didn't want to be part of a harem. So I broke it off further down the line.

Where in the world would I have been had I stayed with this man? Scary to think.

A filthy rich wife of a doctor.

T With that Avatar I am ROTFLMAO. Could you see it? A new person comes on here and sees your avatar and reads your post.

Why not join me in the Haram of Whiddens MeiPai ( may pie) He has a thread AND I am #1 Concubine, you could sit next to me if you change , but with your present persona I don no. Hee Hee.

D

D,

I am laughing so hard I am crying and my stomache aches.

I'd have to think hard on that one. As long as Whidden keeps his dogs away from me I would be fine. I don't like dogs much.

When I feel comfortable that Whidden would not have his dogs near me, I will change my avatar to a more suitable concubine type.

Funny Funny I laughed so hard too.

SIC
D

Sean said:
anyone who argues that Israeli Jews displacing the Palestinians was a just an good thing to do must also believe that Europeans invading North America with uncontrolled colonization and displacing all native Americans was a just and good thing to do. I don't buy it."

This kind of arguement just makes me crazy!

Displacing the arabs?
Hmmmmmm I can name off a few countries where these supposed "Palestinians" CAME FROM originally....and then I can name off the countries where they can go back to....namely,
Syria
Lebanon
Jordan
Iraq
Iran
Yemen
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
All the "stans" in former Soviet Union
Aghanistan
Pakistan
Qatar
United Arab Emerates
Bahrain
Kuwait
Oman

Just look at a doggone map for goodness sakes.

And why aren't they going back to or immigrating to these places? Because their Arab "brothers" only care about exploiting their plight so that they can take over the one and only tiny tiny slice of the pie that is Israel....owned by the Jews.

Talk about "uncontrolled colonization and displacement."

Give me a break.

Comparing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the plight of the Native Americans is highly illogical.

A true comparison would be thus:

Britains came to America where it was populated by indigenous tribes, later called "Native Americans." And they took over.

This is similar to the fact that in the early part of the 20th century, Britain also "occupied" the Holy Land. British called the Holy Land "Palestine" after the centuries old nomenclature of the Roman Empire.

Your comparison would only be true if this were to happen:
These indigenous tribes formed two different "peoples" following two different "Gods." (God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Allah).

Both Jews and Arabs were indigenous to the Holy Land for centuries.

You cannot compare the Jews to the Brits or other Europeans who overtook and slaughtered the Native Americans.
Jews are just as indigenous to the Middle East as are the Arabs.

And I don't believe it's the business of the world to get in the middle of it. But they are and they will up to the point of near world destruction.

The pope's disgraceful tribute to Arafat
-------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 13, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

WorldNetDaily

From the way world leaders reacted to the death of Yasser Arafat, you could be forgiven if you had mistakenly believed that Mother Theresa had died. Kofi Annan, a man whose diplomatic career has been dedicated to friendship with tyrants and contempt for their victims, declared himself "deeply moved" by Arafat's death and ordered the U.N. flag flown at half-mast. This is not all that surprising given that Annan is the same man who overruled U.N. Gen. Romeo Dallaire in April 1994 and ordered him not to use his U.N. forces to disarm the Hutus and prevent them from hacking to death 800,000 Tutsis. Kofi Annan is undeniably one of the most corrupt (he is currently blocking all U.S. Senate efforts to investigate the U.N.-Iraq oil-for-food rip-off) and immoral men alive, and his leadership of the U.N. exposes it for the farce it has tragically become.

Then there was French President Jacques Chirac whose stomach-turning pronouncement on the death of the godfather of all modern terror – whom Chriac praised in death as a man of "courage and conviction" – was that he was all choked up and could barely speak.


"It is with emotion that I have learnt of the death of President Yasser Arafat." Of course, one wonders if Chirac was incapacitated by his devastation at Arafat's death or from ordering his troops to fire on innocent civilians in the Ivory Coast this week after unilaterally deciding, without any U.N. approval, to destroy the tiny country's air force. But then, the French were the ones who decided to collaborate with Hitler in deporting their Jews to concentration camps, so not too much decency should be expected from that quarter either.

Of course, the United States continues to be embarrassed by Jimmy Carter, a man who has devoted his entire career to protecting tyrants, from Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il of North Korea, to Fidel Castro of Cuba. The great humanitarian Carter extended his infinite affection to Arafat at his demise by saying that Arafat had provided "indispensable leadership to a revolutionary movement" and has been "a powerful human symbol and forceful advocate" who united Palestinians in their pursuit of a homeland. I would reserve comment on Carter's silly statement other than to acknowledge how most decent Americans regard the hapless Carter as a repellant buffoon whom they would rather forget once served as their president.

It is time that the world recognized these three despicable men – Kofi Annan, Jacques Chirac and Jimmy Carter – as constituting a western "Axis of Evil" – three leaders whose long careers have been devoted to apologizing for tyrants, propping up dictators, demonstrating contempt for their victims and, above all else, espousing an irrational hatred of Israel that would normally be called anti-Semitism.

But the most painful and disgraceful reaction of all to Arafat's death, from the quarter where it was least expected, came from Pope John Paul II's jaw-dropping comments voiced through his mouthpiece, Joaquin Navarro-Valls: "At this hour of sadness at the passing of President Yasser Arafat, His Holiness Pope John Paul is particularly close to the deceased's family, the authorities and the Palestinian people. While entrusting his soul into the hands of the Almighty and Merciful God, the Holy Father prays to the Prince of Peace that the star of harmony will soon shine on the Holy Land. ..." In a second statement, Navarro-Valls said in the pope's name that Arafat was "a leader of great charisma who loved his people and sought to lead them towards national independence. May God welcome in His mercy the soul of the illustrious deceased and give peace to the Holy Land. ..."

That the world's foremost spiritual shepherd could describe himself as being close to Arafat's family, rather than the thousands of murdered men, women and children who were Arafat's victims, is an astonishing act of sacrilege. That the most influential religious figure alive could describe the death of a tyrant as "an hour of sadness" and call a mass-murderer an "illustrious" soul is positively despicable. That the Vicar of Christ on earth could say of a man who stole billions from his impoverished and desperate nation that he "loved his people" is an affront to everything Jesus stood for, which was primarily a dedication to the oppressed, the poor and the persecuted.

In making these damnable statements, Pope John Paul II, whom I otherwise so greatly admire, has tragically proven himself to be walking in the sinful line of his immoral and cowardly Nazi-collaborator predecessor, Pius XII, a man who demonstrated an almost callous indifference to the value of human life and never once summoned the courage to condemn the Nazi Holocaust.

Like John Paul, who met Arafat on numerous occasions, Pius in 1943 granted a secret audience to Supreme SS Polizeifuhrer Wolff, who had served Himmler as chief of staff and was then serving as the chief of the entire persecution apparatus of Jews and Romans in occupied Italy. That Pius realized he was doing something that others would regard as scandalous and immoral is attested to the fact that the meeting took place in great confidence, and Wolff came dressed in disguise. Years later, Wolff had this to say about the meeting: "From the pope's own words I could sense the sincerity of his sympathy and how much he loved the German people."

On Oct. 16, 1943, the pope watched, quite literally, just 300 feet from his office window, as the SS rounded up more than one thousand Jews of Rome, nearly all of whom would perish by gas a few days later at Auschwitz.. John Paul II is now considering beatifying Pius XII, an action that would forever stain the church and be a sin against humanity. That is troubling enough. But to actually walk in Pius' path by associating oneself with murderers is positively abhorrent. I have long loved this pope for his devotion to the poor of the Third World. Why would he suddenly turn on all those who have been blown to pieces by Arafat's bombers over a 40-year career?

How ironic that only one world leader showed true morality and grit in condemning Arafat for what he was, and that man is not a priest or religious leader, but the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who savaged Arafat as a man whom "history will judge very harshly."

How ironic that the pope should have to learn his morality from Down Under.

SWTT I am speechless! How can we now believe our beloved Pope really;y said those idiotic things? I do believe he has not Had CONTROL OF HIS FACULTIES FOR AWHILE. There is a condition called Dementia as you know, and The Pope may be suffering from this.

Always in the past the words of the Pope have come from the Pope himself.

I would rather think they have been twisted. we know what a loving man he is in life, and saying he felt for the family;y of Arafat is congruous to the spirit of love he so stoutly represents.
I am drastically up set at the balance of his"Quote" Prefer to hear it from the Pontiff's own mouth so to speak.

Why is he using a go between unless he is so frail and failing in health others are moving in on him and Papal influences.

I find it totally distasteful and will have to find something else to convince me this kind man collaborated with Arafat the way you said.


I can see him saying he was in empathy for the family but to continue it to the remarks you quoted just don't ring true to his character.
Know what I mean.

Jimmy Carter is as Ass and should.d stay on his peanut farm as thats where he belongs. Habitat for Living is the only good thing I can say about him.
Later,
D

If the Pope didn't say it, his mouthpiece, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, allowed it to go out. Joaquin could have changed it. It's sad that this nonsense has to go out and characterize the Catholic Church. But if this is actually their belief, then there is something deeply amiss in the Catholic hierarchy.

No you don't understand the Catholi Church, The Pope is trying to bring Unity to the Palestineian peoples and Isreal and still look out for the Catholic Church at the same time. Sort of Politics on a Relgious scale bwhich neither you or I can cope with, I will give you a link to the whole stroy at the Pntiffs own website courtesty of my daughter Lisa. Read all of it SWTT and you will realize our Pope is a true Christian. Would you prefer him sayig ARAFAT sjoul.d burn in hell? Think not check this out. www.zenit.org look at 11/11/04 archives.

D
Wow what an exhaustive page. Never new it existed.
I'll check more out this pm when I can delve into it.
Thanks,
T

Wow right,I was in such a hurrry to have her post it for me I didn't correct my spelling. Delta
bad.

D

After reading some of the issues it is I that lacks the keen mind not the Pope.lol

D

Arafat's Nephew Says Cause of Death Inconclusive