Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Arafat Officially Dead

Tralls · 11-11-2004, 01:59 PM

Below is an excerpt from The Nation:

"We in the West too often ignore what no Palestinian will ever forget: After the Palestinians' catastrophic defeat of 1948, when some 750,000 were expelled from their homeland and began living in destitution in refugee camps scattered across half a dozen countries, forgotten by the world, abused and cynically exploited by Arab despots and demagogues, it was Arafat who, along with a few comrades, gave birth to the Palestinian liberation movement. It was the PLO, under Arafat's leadership, that restored Palestinian pride and helped to forge a nation out of a population that was geographically dispersed and politically divided. And it was Arafat who led the PLO, in the face of fierce internal resistance, into adopting the two-state solution in the mid-1970s. But his conciliatory peace offering at the UN General Assembly in 1974, and numerous subsequent peace feelers, were met with persistent rebuffs from Israel and the United States.

The caricature of Arafat as a rejectionist obscures his real failures. In a bid to regain the leadership role that he saw slipping away during the first intifada, when he was exiled in Tunisia, he signed the deeply flawed Oslo Accords. That may have won him a Nobel Peace Prize and grudging acceptance from the Israelis and Americans, but his people got very little in return: no end to the occupation, massive expansion of Israeli settlements, accelerated expropriation of Palestinian land, and economic strangulation."
-End

He did some great things initially for Palestine when his people needed him most, but ultimately Arafat proved to be too human (too Bush-like)...he craved the power that his heart-felt intentions had helped cultivate. Once he tasted that power, he did not want to relinquish it and he allowed his own selfishness and greed to infiltrate his decision making (absolute power corrupts absolutely). We shouldnt rush to judge this man too harshly, for what he did for Palestine in its darkest hour will never be forgotten by his countrymen, but ultimately his failures, due to his desire to retain power, will shroud his legacy. Hopefully, elections will take place to determine the next leader, just as it was for Arafat initially, but honestly people, until Israel truly desires to see a true compromise it wont happen. Sharon needs the PLO and Hamas to retain power and control just as much as Arafat needed Israel...and this current Gaza Plan is no peace process, we are witnessing the next apartheid.

11-11-2004, 01:59 PM	#39 (permalink)
Tralls Crazy	Below is an excerpt from The Nation: "We in the West too often ignore what no Palestinian will ever forget: After the Palestinians' catastrophic defeat of 1948, when some 750,000 were expelled from their homeland and began living in destitution in refugee camps scattered across half a dozen countries, forgotten by the world, abused and cynically exploited by Arab despots and demagogues, it was Arafat who, along with a few comrades, gave birth to the Palestinian liberation movement. It was the PLO, under Arafat's leadership, that restored Palestinian pride and helped to forge a nation out of a population that was geographically dispersed and politically divided. And it was Arafat who led the PLO, in the face of fierce internal resistance, into adopting the two-state solution in the mid-1970s. But his conciliatory peace offering at the UN General Assembly in 1974, and numerous subsequent peace feelers, were met with persistent rebuffs from Israel and the United States. The caricature of Arafat as a rejectionist obscures his real failures. In a bid to regain the leadership role that he saw slipping away during the first intifada, when he was exiled in Tunisia, he signed the deeply flawed Oslo Accords. That may have won him a Nobel Peace Prize and grudging acceptance from the Israelis and Americans, but his people got very little in return: no end to the occupation, massive expansion of Israeli settlements, accelerated expropriation of Palestinian land, and economic strangulation." -End He did some great things initially for Palestine when his people needed him most, but ultimately Arafat proved to be too human (too Bush-like)...he craved the power that his heart-felt intentions had helped cultivate. Once he tasted that power, he did not want to relinquish it and he allowed his own selfishness and greed to infiltrate his decision making (absolute power corrupts absolutely). We shouldnt rush to judge this man too harshly, for what he did for Palestine in its darkest hour will never be forgotten by his countrymen, but ultimately his failures, due to his desire to retain power, will shroud his legacy. Hopefully, elections will take place to determine the next leader, just as it was for Arafat initially, but honestly people, until Israel truly desires to see a true compromise it wont happen. Sharon needs the PLO and Hamas to retain power and control just as much as Arafat needed Israel...and this current Gaza Plan is no peace process, we are witnessing the next apartheid. __________________ "I pledge my grievance to the flag" - Pearl Jam Last edited by Tralls; 11-11-2004 at 02:02 PM..