Arafat's death

[Ic3b3rg]

Israel, which has long accused Arafat of being the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East, did not try to mask its delight at his death.

?The sun is shining in the Middle East and around the world, as Arafat was not only the leader of terrorism against Israel, but also the founding father of the terrorism that is running rampant around the world right now, including that of al-Qaeda,? Justice Minister Tommy Lapid said.

Sharon himself said ?the death of Arafat could mark a historic turning point for the Middle East.?

?We hope that the new Palestinian leadership that succeeds him will understand that progress in relations with Israel and solutions to problems must come first and foremost through a war on terrorism,? the premier added.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/11/12/nation/9389615&sec=nation

the above article is from the malaysian newspaper

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responded to news of Arafat's death Thursday saying, "The recent events could be a historic turning point for the Middle East. Israel is a country that seeks peace and will continue in its efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians without delay.

"I hope that the new Palestinian leadership ... will understand that the advancement of the relations ... depends first and foremost on them stopping terror."



http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/11/arafat.main/index.html

the above article is from an American newspaper.

it seems to me that the former is emphasizing on the joy of Israelites with Arafat's death and the latter is emphasizing Israelites' sincerity for peace efforts. or am i biased? i am not saying that the news are mutually exclusive, i am just saying that they emphasize on different things.

[__earth]

Arafat was a deterrant to peace. Since the negotiation in Camp Davis collapsed, he was nothing my stubborn. Though IMO he was right in rejecting the terms of the agreement, the subsequent events, including the resignation of the first Palestinian PM, made the situation for peace almost impossible.

[pandaboy]

Sigh, I dont even know what is going on!
My knowledge in current affairs really :oops:

[theT]

i just heard about his death on Daily Show just now.

Still wondering why can't we go to Israel.

[hungwei]

A turning point? I guess that they meant "victory".
Israel had been trying to get rid of Arafat all this while, having failed to assasinate him a few years ago.

[littlebigone]

i agree with iceberg.

i think that it's media bias. in the US, arafat is generally viewed as a terrorist leader. back home, he's a freedom fighter.

people are simple beings who are attracted to polarization. give them a simple black or white explanation of the world and they'll be happy.

we'll see where things will go from here

[wawa]

Wouldn't things get rather chaotic now that Arafat is not around? He never mentioned a successor and there are quite a number of influential politicians vieing for power.

At least, when he was around, most people agreed that he was the leader of Palestine and hence any peace negotiations was done with his presence.

[__earth]

At least, when he was around, most people agreed that he was the leader of Palestine and hence any peace negotiations was done with his presence.

untrue for the latter part of the statement. peace negotiation had not been done in his last 3 years of power. Israel refused to negotiate with Arafat. In fact, all the actions in the last 3 years, including the withdrawal from various Palestinian-claimed lands were unilaterally done by Israel.

Israel insisted that the only way for the peace negotiation to continue was for arafat to go away.