(Untitled)

[gilesdancer]

Yasser Arafat is dead.

What will this do to an already troubled situation? Is this a good thing, or not? How do you feel about it personally: are you glad, sad, or just don’t give a f&*k? Inquiring minds want to know…

Comments

Dead?

[thebb73]

When? As of late last night he was in stable condition. Or at least that;s what they were reporting. personally I can't say that I necessarily liked the man, but I felt bad for him. He was undertaking a monumental task, and in the end all he wanted was to be allowed to be at home.

Re: Dead?

[gilesdancer]

The Palestinian authority reported it about an hour ago. Now French doctors are contradicting that report. But if he is alive, I doubt he will be for long. His condition is said to be “deteriorating rapidly”.

[pc75056]

Unless a true moderate fills his shoes, I see an increase in violence.

Unless a strong leader fills the office, I see splinter groups.

Unless the rumors of him being a KGB asset are true and exposed, I see him becoming a martyr.

Unless a strong negotiator steps in to the light, the PLO will continue to be seen as a terrorist organization and there will be no negotiations.

In short, the death of the man who claims to have invented airplane hi-jackings and suicide bombers will leave a significant power vacuum. The possible successors have big shoes to fill. Let's hope the shoes get filled with someone who can unite, lead, and temper.

And may God have mercy on his soul.

P

[smokin_man]

What PC said. Sums it up pretty much for me.

Next up...
Fidel castro!
Moammar Khadhaffi

(more fun with old, dead, or dying terrorists that the US Govt put into power, YAY!!!)
Thats right kiddies, take another bite of that shit sandwich!

I think it is an event of Mixed significance

[meamgrimlock]

The Good: Maybe he'll be replaced by someone who is better able to negotiate a peace process. Arafat was largely hampered just by being who he is. Is is almost like Israel has a personal grudge against him.

The Bad: He is the only one controlling a large number of the Palestinian idiots. Without him there, violence could escalate out of control, because the Israeli idiots certainly will not show restraint if it comes to it. Cooler heads on both sides will be unable to stop it, I'm afraid.

Arafat wanted peace in Palestine. He also would not back down on his desire to restore that which he feels was taken from him.

Unfortunately, this is an area of such religious significance to so many differing groups who seem to be unable to grasp the basic concept of Sharing (taught in Kindergarten) that I fear the area will never know peace.

Re: I think it is an event of Mixed significance

[pc75056]

Unfortunately, this is an area of such religious significance to so many differing groups who seem to be unable to grasp the basic concept of Sharing (taught in Kindergarten) that I fear the area will never know peace.

Religously, both the Arabs and the Hebrew (culture, not country) can stake a claim to the land. (From Sinai to Lebanon, from the Med to the Euphrates)

Both are children of Abraham. Both want their inheritance.

And that is the Crux of it.

[meamgrimlock]

Inheritances have divided families. Brother and Sister. Mother and Child.

Is it any surprise that it divides cultures, who are a lot father apart from one another to begin with?

Barring some sort of Cultural blending necessitated by a global climate shift, or further tectonic action, I do not see the middle east ever being a peacful region.

We will have a true World Government in place, and the middle east will still not know peace.

Re: And that is the Crux of it.

[arbiter_of_cool]

Unfortunately that is absolutely correct. The two sides don't just want the same land, because that could eventually be settled. They want the same land AND the other side all dead. It makes it much harder to compromise.

Personally I say we buy a few thousand square miles in Brazil and offer it to one side for free if they will just move and shut the hell up...

[renfairegirl03]

From what I've been studying lately about the succession of the English crown, a leader dying with no clear successor tends to just open the gate for major turmoil of some sort. This could get sticky...

[arbiter_of_cool]

I've not been a fan, certainly not of his early work. But in the last several years he has made more sense and more effort than Sharon to try to come to some terms of peace. But if Hamas and the assassination of Rabin have taught us nothing else, it is that the two sides like killing each other and will not let one leader get in the way of it on either side.

The PLO needs a strong leader who understands the difference between becoming a country and "getting back what was ours". If the PLO could continue to mature into a political organization it will put more pressure on Israel to act.

Unfortunately, as always I don't see a clear way ahead. And the death of one of the few men that the Palestinians could agree on will not help.