Palestinian leader Arafat dies at 75

[Fluffybunny]

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who passionately sought a homeland for his people but was seen by Israelis as a ruthless terrorist and roadblock to peace, died early Thursday at a Paris military hospital. He was 75.

"The last two days were very painful, very difficult days," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, who confirmed Arafat's death Thursday morning. "And now, after these painful days of President Arafat, he is dead."

Arafat died at 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), a hospital spokesman said.

The speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Rawhi Fattuh, has been sworn in as the Palestinian Authority's interim president.

Fattuh praised Arafat's leadership, calling him "a man of peace," and promised to follow in his footsteps.

Elections to find a permanent replacement for Arafat are set to take place within 60 days.

During Arafat's illness, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei was in charge of the Palestinian Authority, while Mahmoud Abbas led the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee.

Early Thursday, the PLO's executive committee unanimously approved Abbas, a former Palestinian prime minister, to replace Arafat as PLO chairman. (Full story)

Arafat's medical condition began to deteriorate in late October, and he was flown to Paris on October 29 for medical treatment and tests.

A diagnosis of his illness has not been disclosed. The PLO's spokeswoman in Paris, Leila Shahid, said he was suffering from an abnormal blood count, and she said tests also showed "persistent abnormalities" in his digestion.

Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, along with Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for their work on the Oslo accords, seen at the time as a breakthrough that could lead to an independent Palestinian state and a permanent peace.

Erakat called it "heartbreaking" that Arafat died before achieving his goal of an independent Palestinian state, "and the Israeli occupation of our land has not finished yet."

But he said Arafat managed to preserve Palestinian national identity during decades without a state of their own.

After a funeral hosted by the Egyptian government in Cairo, scheduled to take place Friday, Arafat will be buried outside his headquarters compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Israeli troops kept him confined for most of the last three years of his life. (Full story)

Arafat's family had wanted him buried in Jerusalem, but the Israeli government ruled that out.

"Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried, and not Arab terrorists," Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said last week.

Erakat vowed that the grave in Ramallah would be temporary.

"One day, we will have our own independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital," he said.

Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath is en route to Paris Thursday to accompany Arafat's body to Cairo ahead of the funeral in Cairo and interment in Ramallah.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said: "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."

In a statement, U.S. President Bush called Arafat's death "a significant moment in Palestinian history.

"We express our condolences to the Palestinian people. For the Palestinian people, 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.

"During the period of transition that is ahead, we urge all in the region and throughout the world to join in helping make progress toward these goals and toward the ultimate goal of peace." (More reaction)

Across five decades, Arafat -- adorned with his trademark checkered kaffiyeh -- was the most prominent face of Palestinian opposition to Israel, first as the head of the PLO, which carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets, and later as the head of the quasi-governmental Palestinian Authority, after parts of the West Bank and Gaza were returned to Palestinian control.

His death leaves no clear immediate successor to his role in the often fractious world of Palestinian politics.

At the time of his death, the Israelis, in retaliation for terrorist attacks inside Israel, severely restricted Arafat's movements, having confined him to his compound in Ramallah in the West Bank since December 2001.

Continuing violence, corruption and economic problems had raised questions, both at home and abroad, about his ability to lead the Palestinian Authority.

In 2003, under pressure from the United States and his own Cabinet, Arafat appointed Abbas to the new position of prime minister, a move designed to decentralize power. But Abbas resigned less than six months later, saying he did not have enough support to do the job.

Last July, Arafat announced a new reform program designed to unify security forces and tackle corruption, after his frustrated second prime minister, Qorei, also tried to resign.

Arafat is survived by his wife, Suha Tawil, who he married in 1991, and their daughter, Zahwa, who was born in 1995.

Israel has ordered a general closure of the West Bank and Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces, as the region prepares for the burial. (Full story)

Link

[+joc]

...could you pass the sweet potatoes please....

[Erikl]

Arafat's biography in short:

HERE

[Erikl]

Germany: Condolences on 'great loss'

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offered his condolences Thursday on the death of Yasser Arafat, describing it as a "great loss" to the Palestinian people.

"Yasser Arafat strove during his lifetime to lead the Palestinians to independence and establish a sovereign, viable Palestinian state," Schroeder wrote in a message to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. "It was not granted to Yasser Arafat to complete his life's work."

Schroeder expressed Germany's condolences on "the great loss that the Palestinian people have suffered."

His foreign minister, Joschka Fischer called for an orderly transfer of power, adding that "a leadership legitimized by swift elections which remains committed to a just peace settlement is of central significance."

"Yasser Arafat's life stands for the varied and tragic history of the Palestinian people and the Middle East as a whole," Fischer said in a statement. "In it were reflected many people's hopes for peace, but time and again also their disappointments and setbacks."

Fischer told reporters that he would attend Arafat's funeral.

SOURCE

Fischer is a hypocrite. Quite disgusting that a country that slaughtered 6 million Jews is now giving such warm glowing condolences to a man who like them, also slaughtered innocent Jews; in fact Arafat murdered Jews in Munich, Germany. Arafat was the biggest Jew-murderer since WW2 .

[twpdyp]

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, You have got to be kidding me. The Chancellor of Germany says what!!!!!!!

Is it just me but he died in France, and German leadership mourns him. Sounds rather appropriate for a terrorist to be honored and supported by these 2 countries. The same 2 countries that fought so hard to keep the United States out of Iraq.

[lego jedi]

should'nt this thread read Yasser Arafat is dead at last lol ?

[Michelle]

Let's just thank out lucky stars...finally...we got lucky, 75 is not really that old.

[DC09]

What kind of idiot gives someone a Noble Peace Prize because they decided to stop killing people? That's like giving Hitler one if he had decided to end WWII peacefully.

[Guest Lottie]

Good...I hope the excuses and cover ups they have made about his death were because they were really covering up the fact that they were slowly and painfully torturing the evil swine.

[twpdyp]

Don't sugar coat it Lottie, tell us how you really feel. I agree with you whole heartedly.

[Guest Lottie]

No I rarely sugercoat anything.. As for this...

Germany: Condolences on 'great loss'

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offered his condolences Thursday on the death of Yasser Arafat, describing it as a "great loss" to the Palestinian people.

"Yasser Arafat's life stands for the varied and tragic history of the Palestinian people and the Middle East as a whole," Fischer said in a statement. "In it were reflected many people's hopes for peace, but time and again also their disappointments and setbacks."

Fischer told reporters that he would attend Arafat's funeral.

I am at a loss...Un****ing believable How quickly one forgets...

[AztecInca]

Well we are now rid of him , but there will always be others that in most cases will be even worse!

[wunarmdscissor]

I wonder did all you feel the same about Nelson Mandela???

Remember he was a terrorists?

[vimjams]

What kind of idiot gives someone a Noble Peace Prize because they decided to stop killing people? That's like giving Hitler one if he had decided to end WWII peacefully.

Nah...More like giving Henry Kissinger one for orchestrating the (carpet) bombing of Cambodia

Vimjams

[Erikl]

Wun how can you compare Mandela to Arafat??

This is nothing but pure demagogue!

Arafat is no Mandela nor Gandhi nor Ben Gurion.

He lived as a terrorist to his last breath.

[wunarmdscissor]

like i said before erikl , i did not say i liked him , simply stating one mans terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

I didnt like arafat much , i thought he was an obstacle , a major one at that, for peace in your region.

However the palestinains ARE opressed and like the IRA of four decades ago the PLO cannot be compared to Al queada.

I cannot EVER condone the killing of innocent Israelis EVER, however

I can also see the cause that they are commiting the acts of terror in the name of.

Like the Catholics of 50's & 60's N.Ireland who werent allowed to vote and were brutally supressed, by the protestant majority.

Whilst i can condone the actions of early 20th century IRA and cannot condone the actions of 70's , 80's and 90's IRA.

I am taking a similar view on the PLO and yassar arafat.

I can also totally understand your disgust at him and my opinion of him as well .

Edited November 12, 2004 by wunarmdscissor

[wunarmdscissor]

erikl i tried to pm u it didnt work, have u blocked me???

lol

[Erikl]

Wun, youre view stems from lack of knowledge in history.

The PLO was created way before Israel took hold of the disputed territories.

The Fatah, PLO's military wing, was created by Arafat in the 50s.

The PLO killed Israelis long before the Palestinians became oppressed.

In 1965 they tried to destroy Israel main water source by shifting it's sources.

They were shooting at Israeli villages from the West Bank before Israel too hold of those territories.

Arafat himself is not a Palestinian, but an Egyptian, son of an Egyptian taxtile worker.

He didn't even take part in the 1948 war.

He was a member of Muslim Brotherhood in the early 50s - the same organization that produced Hamas and Al-Qaeda.

The PLO is the founder of most terrorist methods used today by Al-Qaeda.

And if you could please tell me what is the ideological difference between Al-Qaeda and Hamas, I would appreciate it.

The fact is that there is no difference.

The PLO's aspirations is to destroy Israel and establish an Arab state from the Jordan river to the Med Sea.

Could you say the same for the IRA?

Does the IRA apire to destoy mainland Britain and create a Catholic Irish country in all of the UK?

There is also another proof that the IRA's aspirations are mainly national-motivated - when the pope denounced them in the 70s, they ignored his words and continued to use terror.

Sure, there is a religious element, but it's not the main objective of the IRA.

I never heard an influental Islamic leader tell Palestinians to stop with their terrorism.

Also, the fact that virtualy all Palestinian terrorists are muslim, although there are Christian Palestinians as well, proves that this is mainly religious motivated, thus connects it even more with Al-Qaeda.

You cannot compare what's happening in Northern Ireland to this conflict.

The situation in N. Ireland, as well as in the Basque land, is a result of European colonialism against minorities.

If the UK didn't took hold of N. Ireland, they wouldn't have any problem with the Irish there.

If the Spanish and the French would have given independence to the Basque land, all violence would stop.

I know this because all those groups do not wish to destroy the main country.

This is not true in this conflict - PLO's and Hamas aspirations is to destroy any non-Muslim and non-Arab presence in the middle-east. Israel is not a muslim-majority country, and it is not an Arab country. Thus PLO's aspirations are to destroy Israel and create an Arab country instead of Israel, not alongside it.

The IRA and the Basques do not want to create an Irish state in all of Britain or a Basque state instead of France and Spain - they wish to have independence in their own territories.

This fact ignored by many is the reason for why people do not understand the middle-eastern conflict.

It isn't a conflict of an oppress people for an independence and living in peace with others.

It's a conflict of people to destroy another country and to create their own country on the ruins of the first.

The fact that the PLO was created when the West Bank and Gaza Strip were under Arab rule, prove it's true intentions. The fact that the PLO didn't fight against those Arab countries at the time also proves it's intentions.

This is all related to Al-Qaeda because it stems from the fact that a group of people wish to destroy the presence of non-Islamic and non-Arabic groups in the middle-east.

In Lebanon it was the Christian Maronies.

In Israel it's the Jews.

In Iraq and Syria it's the Kurds.

In the Iran-Iraq war it was the Persians.

In Egypt it's the Christian Copts (the only true Egyptians left in the world, count for only 11 million people).

Al-Qaeda's aspirations is all the same - they are Wahhabists, meaning their enemies are Jews, Christian and Shiia muslims.

Hamas has the same ideology as Al-Qaeda, but is responsible for the "Jewish wing" of Al-Qaeda's objective.

In all this there is also the Pan-Arabic ideology that wished to eliminate any non-Arabic ethnic group in the region.

Their enemies are Jews, Maronites, Copts, Kurds and Persians.

They are secular quasi-fascist group.

The PLO holds such an ideology, but is responsible for the Jewish angle as well.

The Palestinian nationalism is only part of all this.

[wunarmdscissor]

Well i dont want to disagree with you but ..

The programme i was watching charted the history f the PLO and Fatah movements.

ARafat was born in egypt but lived in palestine all his life that makes him a palestinian.

He formed the PLO AFTER isreal was created and drove the palestinians into the refugee camps.

Then after israel destroyed the Arab armies in the 6 days war he was exiled in jordan where he began his terrorists campaign in ernest.

Then when he desroyed the three airliners and the king of jordan was enraged he was the sent to lebabnon where isreal decided to crush the PLO once and for all, but they only stopped short of killing arafat at the request of the americans.

He was then exiled again to tunisia and from there he visited the UN and gave the "olive branch, freedom fighters gun " speech .

It was after that the shook hands with rabin and everything looked rosy until he suddenly lost the plot afetr rabin's assasination.

As i recall around 20 years ago no he backed israels right to exist and as the leader of the PLO i wouldve guessed that meant the plo on general wouldve had to followed his lead.

Your take on the historical timeline of him is still onesided.

I have a decent enough knowledge of the middle east to make a decent , not perfect judgement.

Now to the IRA.

The IRA did aspire to destroy the UK , and yes they did want a unified Ireland and for it to be a catholic nation , however

The majority of people are of protestant like the majority of people in the UK.

We could not abandon those who did not want to be left.

Listen religion is the whole CRUX of the matter , thats what teh troubles revolve around, you drive down the shankhill rd in belfast and you see what i mean.

Even drive down the Royston rd here in glasgow on a saturday and you'll see religion is the main focus.

It is pure sectarianism nothing else, i understand your point of view but im telling you its religious, i live here i see it all the time.

I also defend israel's right to defend itself but does that mean that tehy do not have to follow the UN resolution on civil right s taht not only protects Isreal's right to exist but the palestinians right to be considered equal.

[vimjams]

Erikl...Arafat is now dead. Where do you think Israel and the PLO will go from here?

Vimjams

[Erikl]

Wun, the version of history you heared is unaccruate.

Arafat was born in Egypt. He spent some years of his childhood in Gaza and then Jerusalem. He then went back to Egypt and learned in the university of Kairo. He took part in the 1956 war of Egypt against Israel, as a soldier in the Egyptian army.

He wasn't in Israel when the 1948 war (War of Independence of Israel), he was in Kairo studying in the university.

His Egyptian Arabic dialect caused him grave embarassment when he spoke to Palestinians in the West Bank in the early 60s, and he needed a translator to speak to the people.

As for the refugee camps - Israel didn't put the Palestinians into those camps, they were put there by their fellow Arabs (the refugee camps were built in the west bank by Jordan, that ruled those territories from 1949-1967, and in Gaza by the Egyptians who ruled it in the same period. There are also refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon - I hope you understand that Israel had no part in the building of those camps as well).

They put them there so they wouldn't be integrated into the Arab societies of their countries, so they would be continue to be used as a weapon against Israel.

As a matter of fact, the Palestinians were asked to leave Palestine by their own leader Haj Amin Al-Husseini who asked the Arab countries to destroy te young Jewish state in 1948. They were aked to leave with a promise that soon they will be able to return when the Jewish state would be crashed by the Arab armies. Luckily that never happened. Many of the Palestinians actually never left - they were asked by their Jewish neighbors to stay and help build the new forging state. The Palestinians that stayed, now comprise 20% of Israeli population, have enjoyed democracy and freedom of speech - the only Arab population in the Middle-East to enjoy such conditions.

In the same war, the 1948 war, that the Palestinians were asked to leave by their leaders, 900,000 Jews from all over the middle-east were ethnically cleansed by the Arabs, and escaped into Israel. Those Jews lived in those countries for 2,500 years - well before the Arabs got there. Those "Arab" Jews completely integrated into Israeli society. Israel's foreign minister and defense minister are of middle-eastern origin. Israel's current president is a middle-eastern Jew.

This as opposed to some 600,000 Palestinians who left Israel and are held by their fellow Arabs in refugee camps in inhumane conditions since 1948.

Israel destroyed the Arab armies in the 6 Days War in a defensive war (even the UN in a rare move agreed that it was a defensive war).

The PLO was established prior to the 6 days war (before Israel took hold of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), and it's goal was to destroy Israel.

[Erikl]

Vimjams, I hope that a new leader who really want peace will understand that there is no point in terrorism. That he, unlike Arafat, will really fight terrorism, instead of aiding it.

If such a leader will rule the Palestinians, then there will be hope for the two people.

In the moment the PLO will stop using terrorism as a way of life, and will sease it's aspirations to destroy Israel, I will support a Palestinian state.

[Erikl]

Wun, as for the IRA - did the IRA dreamt of an independent Ireland with London as it's capital?

With all the Britons thrown into the sea?

I doubt that.

The IRA's aspirations were to free all of Ireland from British rule, not to destroy the entire UK and create an Irish country on it's ruins.

And let's get one thing straight here - any person who's main targets are citizens and not combatants, is no freedom fighter, but a terrorist.

This is why, as much as I respect the Northern Irish will to have a self-rule over themselves, the fact that they butcher innocent men, women and children, take away any right they might have.

If they only targeted military personal, with some "colleteral" civilian victims, then they might have been b*******, but they weren't terrorists in my criteria.

The moment a combatant group targets civilians, it stoped being any freedom fighter, and is a full-fledged terrorist.

This also true for the terrorists in Iraq - the fact that they mass-kidnap and execute civilians renders them to be terrorists. The fact that they bomb innocent Iraqi civilians also makes them terrorists.

It doesn't matter if they also kill combatants - the fact that they kill civilians makes them terrorists (also if we consider the fact that those Al-Qaeda members fighting in Iraq are part of an organization who attacked America and killed 3,000 of it's men, women and children, they are terrorists no matter if nowdays they are fighting against American troops).

[wunarmdscissor]

And let's get one thing straight here - any person who's main targets are citizens and not combatants, is no freedom fighter, but a terrorist.

This is why, as much as I respect the Northern Irish will to have a self-rule over themselves, the fact that they butcher innocent men, women and children, take away any right they might have.

Ahh but u see the IRA arent around nemore through negotations.

And the N.Irish dont want self-ruke, the majority want to be part of the uK.

And yes the IRA hated the british and you can bet if they got their hand on a nuke theyd have used it.

As for the refugee camps - Israel didn't put the Palestinians into those camps, they were put there by their fellow Arabs (the refugee camps were built in the west bank by Jordan, that ruled those territories from 1949-1967, and in Gaza by the Egyptians who ruled it in the same period. There are also refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon - I hope you understand that Israel had no part in the building of those camps as well).

Israel only drove them out of jerusalem , they didnt build the camps. Is that right lol?

An i agree the 6 days war was a defensive one.

[wunarmdscissor]

apart from who built the refugee camps which other part was i wrong with