Funeral in Cairo tomorrow
3 Comments Published by Tom Gara on Thursday, November 11 at Thursday, November 11, 2004.
Dammnit I will be in Siwa, but Yasser Arafat's funeral service will be held in Cairo tomorrow. Would have been really cool to have seen the whole thing, although maybe the "public" part of the service - ie 50,000 Egyptians chanting and protesting etc - would not be the safest places for big white guy with a camera.
So, farewell Arafat. Yeah, he fucked up - missed lots of good opportunities, lost a lot of international support - but he also managed to make the issue of Palestine not just an administrative issue about a group of refugees, but a centrepiece of international relations in the second half of the twentieth century. Its amazing to think that when Arafat took power of the PLO in 1969, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was able to say, without a hint of controversy, that the Palestinian people did not exist, and this was not an unusual statement for the time. In just over 30 years, it is only crazies and fundamentalists would say something to that effect, and no-one of importance would take them seriously.
So, whether he deserves credit for it or not, the fact is that 35 years in power of the PLO have brought his people to the front of the line in terms or international challenges needing to be resolved. And although his actions in his final 5 years were incredibly irresponsible and a disaster for the short term chances of Palestinian statehood (the second intifatah should have been condemned and disowned officially, rather than used as a political leverage point), he still leaves a legacy of achieving a lot, for one of the worlds most fucked over people.
President Bush said in a statement "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,''
Peace and Fulfillment - now where have I heard that before?
So, farewell Arafat. Yeah, he fucked up - missed lots of good opportunities, lost a lot of international support - but he also managed to make the issue of Palestine not just an administrative issue about a group of refugees, but a centrepiece of international relations in the second half of the twentieth century. Its amazing to think that when Arafat took power of the PLO in 1969, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was able to say, without a hint of controversy, that the Palestinian people did not exist, and this was not an unusual statement for the time. In just over 30 years, it is only crazies and fundamentalists would say something to that effect, and no-one of importance would take them seriously.
So, whether he deserves credit for it or not, the fact is that 35 years in power of the PLO have brought his people to the front of the line in terms or international challenges needing to be resolved. And although his actions in his final 5 years were incredibly irresponsible and a disaster for the short term chances of Palestinian statehood (the second intifatah should have been condemned and disowned officially, rather than used as a political leverage point), he still leaves a legacy of achieving a lot, for one of the worlds most fucked over people.
President Bush said in a statement "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,''
Peace and Fulfillment - now where have I heard that before?
I saw on ABC News tonight an Israeli official saying that "Arafat was a terrorist and we're not sorry he's dead".
For me, that just reflects how fucked up the conflict is.
The guy is dead and they're still at it.
yeah he was a terrorist. but there are many other terrorists in the world. There are ones that say they dont do it and there are ones that say they do it but have a lot of money to prove otherwise. George W. is one of them.
There is a theory now that he was posioned, they are looking deeper into it but the French government has not allowed the body to be examined.