LaraCroft01

From here

2 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), who triumphantly forced his people's plight into the world spotlight but failed to achieve his lifelong quest for Palestinian statehood, died Thursday at age 75. He was to the end a man of many mysteries and paradoxes — terrorist, statesman, autocrat and peacemaker.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat confirmed The Associated Press that Arafat had died. The Palestinian leader spent his final days in a coma at a French military hospital outside Paris.

Arafat's last days were as murky and dramatic as his life. Flown to France on Oct. 29 after nearly three years of being penned in his West Bank headquarters by Israeli tanks, he initially improved but then sharply deteriorated as rumors swirled about his illness.

Top Palestinian officials flew in to check on their leader while Arafat's 41-year-old wife, Suha, publicly accused them of trying to usurp his powers. Ordinary Palestinians prayed for his well being, but expressed deep frustration over his failure to improve their lives.

Arafat's failure to groom a successor complicated his passing, raising the danger of factional conflict among Palestinians.

Victoria Secret

Just heard the news right now. I wonder who will fill his seat...

Indri

OMG...OMG What can I said this is so sad and ironic for Palestinian People and Palestinian country

Maybe this is the way he finished his job for Palestinian

And Hope new leader will come.

LittleMilkJug

His wife will be getting 22million dollars a year. Umm a multimillionare freedom fighter? Don't get me wrong I believe in a Palestinian State but having seen poor oppressed Palestinians for years and find out their 'leader' lived in the lap of luxury dosen't sit right somehow.

Eddy

RIP

*Lauren

RIP my arse. I hope he's burning in hell right now.

As one of my friends said, its ironic that he sent thousands of young kids to their death strapped with explosives, and he gets to die an old man in his bed, apparently filthy rich. *******.

Jerry D

Yasser Arafat was a murderous terrorist who advocated death and destruction, so I don’t mourn his passing at all.

Avatar

Arafat was a terrorists, but he was the image of the Palestinian people's struggle for self-determination, so like what happened in Yugoslavia after Tito's death, I think and fear that it'll start a power-struggle in the PNA, and that's the last thing anyone would want. I won't mourn his passing, but it's in bad taste to celebrate it and hope that he's "burning in hell" and the like - according to his beliefs, he's in a better place now. Here's hoping he's correct - no matter what he did in this life, anyone's harmless in death.

Anabela

I hope he rests in peace now. I'm sorry he never lived to see a Palestinian State.
I'm sorry for the Palestinian people who lost their leader. Their fight for self-determination will go on but I don't think anyone can replace Araft. He was truly their spiritual and symbolic leader.

Drekkan

Are you people kidding me? Do you really not understand the situation that was going on in the Middle East? Arafat was the last great hope for Peace - he was the only one with the force and the credibility to try and hold a loose coalition together. He WAS the Palestinian Authority - and without him there will be no peace.

Why? Well, to begin with, we're going into a period of massive violence. We're going to have a power struggel that always fills a power vacuum. It's inevitable that some of this violence will spill over into the streets of Israel and harm innocent civilians - both Palestinians and Israelis. Then there's the fact that the most powerful factions - and those most likely to gain power - are Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other terror groups. You'll see an extremist emerge as the new representative of the Palestinian people.

Arafat at least wanted to develop a plan, he wanted peace. He was offered a deal that, if he had accepted, would have been rejected by both the Knesset and by his own people. Therefore, instead of being jerked around, he said no. Then a lot of violence happened - whether it was iniated by Palestinians or Israelis is up to debate (though the Palestinians that started it were terrorists, not members of the PA).

Because of this violence, and his lack of results, Arafat then began to lose some credibility - because the Israelis wouldn't budge on key issues. Therefore, Israel decided to do the stupidest thing possible - they made him a martyr. Instead of letting him fade away while he was still a relative pacifist and allow him the time and accomadations to create a successor they invaded. They blockaded him and turned him into an extremist. They upped his street cred remarkably, and forced him into an alliance with extremists. It also kept him from access to health care and the facilities necessary to construct a successor regime.

There can be no doubt that Arafat wasn't a saint. He also didn't do everything possible - but he did do a lot. He even managed to engineer various agreements that stopped all terror attacks for weeks - to which Israel responded with a big middle finger. Without him there will never be peace in our time.

Katis

I'm not going to mourn his passing one bit, he was a murdering terrorist; however, it does make me concerned for the state of affairs in the region.

Joie's here

I am sorry that Yasser Arafat did not live
to see the liberation of his people from the occupation.
His passion for his country is to be commended,
his cause was his life. He was a freedom fighter and
it's a pity that he was blamed for the acts of violence
from the slew of Factions that populate the Middle East.

Perhaps now the true Butcher/Terrorist in the Middle East
Sharone can stop hiding behind the inaccurate Arafat
judgements and be seen for the Butcher he truly is.

May he rest in peace and GOD Bless Palestinian Liberation from the Occupation.

pacifierrocks

Ugh, this is not a good thing. I don't mourn him, but i am worried about what's going to happen because of it.

*Lauren

Tito was also a monster. Just because a person is admired by his people, does not mean he is a good person.

Does that mean, that we accept that the 9/11 terrorists are currently whooping it up with 72 virgins and celebrate that fact?

I'll use another example, Hitler was admired by many German at the time. Were people supposed to mourn his passing?

Yes, consedering that's one of my majors at uni. If you think he was "the last great hope for peace" then you need to learn more about the situation. Peace will only come about when BOTH leaders want it, and I don't believe Arafat truly wanted peace. He did too many murderous things in his lifetime for that.

That's the only thing I'm worried about.

You have GOT to be kidding me! Freedom fighter? He was a terrorist! Next thing you'll be saying those men who flew the planes into the WTC were freedom fighters!

JohannafromIHJ

I'm not going to mourn his passing, but it will be interesting to see what hapens next. Arafat did work hard for peace, but every time he gave in just a little the Palestinians lost a lot of heir human rights in the process, because the other side (and by this I mean Sharon and his pals, not the Jews, or even the population of Israel) didn't play fair. I hope a strong leader replaces him -- hopefully one who will not use violence.