To: Suma who wrote (20758 ) 11/11/2004 9:45:11 PM From: Jagfan Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 90947 Arafat a terrorist? Why would anyone think that? Yasser Arafat is dead. Finally. Now we sit back and watch the nation's media sing the praises of this terrorist, murderer and thug who single-handedly stood in the way of the establishment of a true Palestinian state. boortz.com Arafat is dead ... finally. Now we're going to have to deal with the insipid spin on what a grand man Yasser Arafat was from the media for a few days. This will definitely not be a day to remember the Israelis who died, including innocent schoolchildren, who died in attacks engineered by this thug. One of the first people to offer his condolences was none other than UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who had this to say: "President Arafat was one of those few leaders who could be instantly recognized by people in any walk of life all around the world." Oh really? Hitler could be recognized around the world too. How big a deal is that? The media is hailing Arafat as a "peacemaker" and a proponent of a Palestinian state. The fact of the matter is that he wanted neither. Let's take a look at his life's "work," shall we? In 2000 at Camp David, in a last ditch attempt at resolving the peace process, Arafat turned down the best deal he would have ever gotten from the Israelis. It included a Palestinian state with most of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as well as a right of return for the Palestinians. Like any other activist that draws their money and power from a cause, Arafat didn't want to solve the problem. So he turned Ehud Barak down, and the fighting has raged ever since. Under Arafat's leadership, the PLO conducted airplane hijackings and financed suicide bombers that killed civilians. They were also behind the massacre of children in 1974, the deaths of Israeli athletes at the Olympics in 1972 and the killings of Christians in Lebanon. Even with all this, Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Not bad for an image makeover. The caption under Arafat's picture on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website says "The icon of Palestinian national aspirations, who had won the Nobel Prize, has died in Paris." Icon? Let's get rid of the spin. Arafat was an icon for violence, for murder and for terrorism. Rather than working toward the goal of an independent Palestinian state, Arafat spent the last two decades doing everything he possibly could to prevent one. Arafat knew that as soon as a Palestinian state became a reality he would become irrelevant. In addition to being a terrorist murderer, Arafat was a thief. He stole millions, perhaps billions of dollars that were donated to Palestinian causes. While Palestinians were suffering Arafat's wife was flitting around Paris spending her $100,000 a month allowance, money stolen from Palestinians. Arafat's death came decades too late. It's about time.