Friedman on Arafat

by Cliopatria

If and when the news comes down that Arafat has gone to meet his maker (and if his maker is just there will be a reckoning I would bet) Rebunk will likely have more commentary, but this Thomas Friedman piece from yesterday's Times really gets it right. I do not want to celebrate a man's death. That does not, however, mean that we cannot judge, and if necessary condemn, his life. The time will soon come when the Palestinian leadership has to decide what it wants to be and the people have to decide if that leadership will be acceptable. Arafat undermined Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) when the latter became Prime Minister in the charade that has been PLO reform in the last year-and-a-half just as he undermined any hope for cooperation in the Middle East for the last four decades. It will be interesting to see what will happen if Abu Mazen, his sock puppet successor, Ahmed Quria, or anyone else can step to the table as an honest broker and bring the Palestinian masses along with them.

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Richard Henry Morgan - 11/16/2004

What do you guys make of the French silence on the cause of death, and the stories floating around of Arafat dying of AIDS?

Derek Charles Catsam - 11/16/2004

. . . but what a 66 days!

Lloyd Kilford - 11/16/2004

I believe that the canonical precedent is the auctioning off of the Roman Empire to Didius Julianus in 193 AD.

Not that it did him any good - he lasted 66 days and was executed by the orders of Severus - but it is a precedent.

Derek Charles Catsam - 11/10/2004

Richard --
Responding to your points: (1) Yeah, sure. THAT's gonna happen. (2) Yeah, sure. THAT's gonna happen.
dc

Richard Henry Morgan - 11/10/2004

The only way things will get better is if (1) the EU and other bodies only give money to the PA if it is accountable for it (2) the bloody mess that will result from Arafat's death ends up with one person in charge, having defeated Hamas, and having been democratically elected head of the PA. Until that happens, there will be no progress.

Derek Charles Catsam - 11/10/2004

Richard --
While yours is (I think) a fgacetious proposition, it does deal with an obvious question: What happens in the wake of Arafat's death? The speculation seems to be breaking down along two views: 1) That things will go to hell. Or 2) That there will be a calm as the PA tries to figure out what's next.
I could be wrong, but I'd say #1 is more likely. You just know some propogandists will be out blaming the Jews for his death, and that his martyrdom (dying in a Paris hospital room seems to me to cheapen the sacrifices traditionally associated with martyrdom, but no matter) will lead to chaos. Arafat never wanted peace. I guess he'll go out as he lived.

dc

Richard Henry Morgan - 11/10/2004

Since Arafat's wife is, essentially, selling off the rights to the Palestinian Authority to pull the plug -- she gets $100,00k+ a month from the Palestinian authority to support her lifestyle as a Parisienne boulevardier -- why doesn't she just open up the auction to all and sundry? It could be a real win-win situation. Somebody could get to say they killed Arafat, and his widow could suck even more money out of the winning bid than she could ever get from the PA.

Derek Charles Catsam - 11/9/2004

Chris --
Good to hear from you. But . . .
Nope. Sorry. Once again your attempts to parallel legitimate heads of state with murderous supporters of terror are going to fall on deaf ears here. The "Friedman as bigot" trope is just simply absurd. he is hardly a right-wing pro-Israel supporter, as anyone who has read his columns and books regularly would know. Disagree with him if you'd like, but if someone as reasonable as friedman (this is a man who lived and worked in Lebanon for goodness' sake) qualifies as a bigot in your mind, then once again we really cannot have a reasonable discussion on this issue. Calling someone a bigot who is not simply cheapens the accusation when appropriately used against those who are. Israel has been reactive to terrorist atrocities. When the Israelis were prepared to yield 94-96% of the territories, Arafat and the rest of the PLO scuttled talks.
dc

chris l pettit - 11/9/2004

I know...I know...the site is a bit off at times, but it was the easiest search to find what I wanted. DC, I expect you to understand...i am sure the nationalist crazies will not. Common sense can permeate sometimes...maybe this is one of those times.

http://www.counterpunch.org/chuckman0410.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/christison10262004.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/alamfriedman.html (high quality)

http://www.counterpunch.org/alam06182003.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/kchristison0903.html (high quality)

http://www.counterpunch.org/mickey03302004.html (funny and caustic as all hell...some would call it harsh, I prefer terming it "making the point with a sledgehammer"...something that might turn people off and have no chance of bringing them to your side, but if they are not going to understand anyway and can't be reasoned with, why not tear them apart and show them to be the frauds and ignorant fools they are)

http://www.counterpunch.org/vidal0409.html (not Gore Vidal...I would never quote or cite him)

CP
www.wicper.org

chris l pettit - 11/9/2004

Hey buddy...

On these issues, Friedman works from a flawed fundamental base. I have an article that I am specifically remembering on this issue that breaks down his positions and their shortcomings. i will have to find it.

On the comments...I agree that Arafat is a war criminal and has no legitimate claim to being an honest broker, true representative of the Palestinian people or their rights, and is nothing less than a terrorist. That being said, so are Sharon, Bush, Clinton, Netenyahu, and most of the leaders on the US/Israeli side. If only true honest brokers could get in and stop the atrocities committed on both sides...that have much worse results for the palestinian people than they do for the Israelis in terms of deaths, economic oppression, and cultural genocide (whether premeditated or through recklessness and gross negligence).

None of the "successors" seems all that great to me, being either tools that Israel and the US can manipulate and blackmail, or handpicked terrorist successors to Arafat. When will the madness ever cease?

CP
www.wicper.org