Blasts From The Past, And Other Places Part 15

Yasser Arafat was what Osama Bin Ladin wants to be when he grows up.

With his long-awaited death yesterday Arafat’s transformation into Middle Eastern icon was completed. He was praised by Western leaders and media and his body was given a full military escort by the French to the airport. There was no mention of Arafat’s murderous past, that he was a terrorist and murder on par with the worst that humanity has ever spawned.

In his latest video escapade it is clear that Bin Laden is trying to court the same level of acceptance among Europeans and other gullible types around the world. He ditched his AK-47 and appeared in traditional Arab garb, stood at a podium instead of in a cave and attempted to speak like a national leader. He fully expects that with time his horrendous acts will fade from memory and he will be able to move among the world’s leaders at the UN.

How Arafat was able to fool people is hard to imagine. It’s not like his acts of violence took place 40 years ago. Until last month he was giving orders from Ramallah that sent Palestinian teenagers to their death in feeble attempts to hurt Israel. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is part of his PLO faction, on Arafat’s orders Leon Klinghoeffer was killed and dumped off the Achille Lauro cruise ship, wheelchair and all. The PLO killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Games in 1972.

For an excellent list of Arafat’s life of crime see this http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/mannes200411110933.asp piece

The Palestinians should be the happiest, and perhaps they secretly are, with Arafat’s removal from the face of the Earth. They now have the chance of getting a leader who is sane and capable of cutting a deal with Israel that will lead to something like real peace. Arafat’s actions over the years proved he was incapable of making the tough decisions a leader has to make. He refused the Bill Clinton-brokered agreement that gave the Palestinians 90 percent of what they wanted. Arafat refused to halt the terrorism that was creating Israeli retaliation thus making life miserable for the average Palestinian. He was stealing billions of dollars from his people forcing them to live in abject poverty, while his wife spent her time visiting Paris shops.

If the Palestinians had any sense each would take a trip to Arafat’s future grave site and spit on it.