Allah Yeghama'lo

"May God bury him even deeper," according to a bitter Levantine curse. Arafat is dead.

Comments

[rox_publius]

yeah... sure...

like we haven't heard THAT one before

[matt]

Good riddance.

[Mr. Sun]

Ugh.

[Dynamist]

Mr. Sun: Indeed. Perhaps someone might make a fitting monument out of him by carving the names of PLO victims into his cold, dead chest.

[thoreau]

I'm kind of surprised that they aren't going to keep him around and pretend that he's still alive like "Weekend at Bernie's".

[Senescent]

The President is dead! Long live... um... ah...

[TWC]

Here's a quarter, call someone who cares.

There's a special place in the furnaces of hell for Mr. Arafat. Hope he enjoys it. Oh, wait, there ain't no hell.

Man, that's just too bad.

[Warren]

thoreau,
Actually, that's what they've been doing for the past three years. The fact that he's been declared dead must mean they've decided on a sucessor. I just hope they pick a new Pope soon.

[Rick Barton]

If there was a Hell, it would be poetic justice if he and Sharon wound up having to share a cell or something. Actually, that might be what Hell is for those two.

[Paul]

I'd burn the Palestinian flag, but I don't want ot waste my matches...

[Will]

I always remember the Hunter S. Thompson piece where Arafat, Nixon and Castro had a clandestine meeting (one of several) in Las Vegas... They all wore disguises, of course... but it sounds like they had a good time.

Love those guys.

[Jason Bourne]

Chevy Chase: "This breaking news just in! President Arafat is still dead."

Garrett Morris (Head of the New York School for the Hard of Hearing): "THIS BREAKING NEWS JUST IN! PRESIDENT ARAFAT IS STILL DEAD!"

[kevrob]

Oh, wait, there ain't no hell.

We can build one. We have the technology.

Kevin

[Trotsky]

Ha Ha Ha.

Goody bye Mr Arafat, I hope your final moments were clouded with visions of all your victims over the years.
Long Live Israel!

[Jason Bourne]

Trotsky,

Demographically speaking, I think Israel is screwed over the long run.

[Krank]

"Demographically speaking, I think Israel is screwed over the long run"

No shit? Why?

[Jason Bourne]

Krank,

Well, as I understadn it, the Palestinians are outstripping the Israels as far as population growth rate is concerned.

[Ruthless]

A jewish friend told me Arafat might have been bisexual and may have died of symptoms of AIDS.
??

[Todd Fletcher]

"Demographically speaking, I think Israel is screwed over the long run."

Then they need to ratchet up the PR with more pictures of the Tel Aviv love parade. Please?

[andy]

How on earth did the man win a Nobel Peace Prize?

[Derek Douglas]

andy -

He won the peace prize because the panel is composed of jimmy carters. Even he got one once he lambasted U.S. foreign policy. Just wait, Castro will probably get one, then Osama.

[Ruthless]

Imagine who might win the George Soros prize, if he had one!

[Jason Bourne]

Derek Douglas,

Please, whether we like Arafat or not, let's not distort the historical record. Arafat shared the Peace Prize with Peres and Rabin in 1994 after the Oslo Accords. Given their breakthrough nature, and in light of the fact that no one could predict that Olso would collapse after working relatively well for a number of years, the granting of the Peace Prize to these three made a great deal of sense at the time.

[R C Dean]

no one could predict that Olso would collapse after working relatively well for a number of years

That's funny. I seem to recall a great deal of skepticism from a number of quarters that Arafat would keep his side of the deal, which in fact he never did. In fact, I seem to recall some contemporaneous speeches by Pal notables (in Arabic, of course) in which they bragged about their plans to break the deal.

[db]

Please, whether we like Arafat or not, let's not distort the historical record. Arafat shared the Peace Prize with Peres and Rabin in 1994 after the Oslo Accords. Given their breakthrough nature, and in light of the fact that no one could predict that Olso would collapse after working relatively well for a number of years, the granting of the Peace Prize to these three made a great deal of sense at the time.

That's why the Nobel prizes in science are awarded many years after the winning discovery/research. To determine whether or not they had a lasting and profound effect. The Peace prize appears to be awarded on the same basis as the Oscar--transient popularity.

[Jason Bourne]

R.C. Dean,

Then I expect you to criticize the Israeli leaders that went along with Arafat as much as Arafat.

db,

Can you name me a few other recepients who you don't think deserved the Peace Prize? To me Kissinger springs to mind almost immediately.

Here's a list of the laureates for you to peruse:

http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/index.html

[Merciless]

Arafat was a murderous thug who deserved to die and did. The less said about him, the better.

[Jason Bourne]

R.C. Dean,

And as I recall, many expected that Arafat would screw-up from the start; however, that did not occur; indeed, Israel and Palestine enjoyed 5-6 years of relative peace and prosperity following the Oslo Accords.

[a]

"Perhaps someone might make a fitting monument out of him by carving the names of PLO victims into his cold, dead chest"

That won't work for Sharon, Shamir, and their ilk, because their victims' list will be miles long and it won't fit in their chests even if written in a microscopic font.

[Eric]

Pity he didn?t die a horrible death the way many of his victims did, but I suppose mercy can trump justice once in a while.

[db]

Pity he didn?t die a horrible death the way many of his victims did, but I suppose mercy can trump justice once in a while.

It's actually better this way--he was not honored with the warrior's death he probably would have relished. Instead, he wasted away, dying in a hospital bed while his closest advisors and his wife wrangled over how much money she would get.

[Ruthless]

Merciless,
Would you consider a different screen name to avoid me confusing you with me?
How about "Ming the," or "Nastyful"?

... joking.

And now that the son of a bitch is dead is the best time to talk all about what a turd sandwich he was.

[Krank]

JB,

why would Kissinger spring to mind, in particular, as an unworthy Nobel laureate?

If I remember rightly, he and his opposite number Le Duc Do got the prize for helping the Vietnam war come to an end, didn't they? Well, the war pretty much ended then and didn't recommence yet, so I guess this special price was well deserved, dontcha think?

[Merciless]

Ruthless,

What can I say? You ain't got no ruth, I ain't got no mercy.

And now that the son of a bitch is dead is the best time to talk all about what a turd sandwich he was.

You're right - this is one of those times when "de mortius nil nisi bonum" can go fuck itself.

[Ruthless]

As usual: stuck with the evil of two "less"-ers.

At least we have one less "evil."

How about this?: Could his death improve the US position in Iraq?

[fyodor]

Re Kissinger's prize, I remember some old comedy skit, maybe it was one of the Ray Stevens parody tunes, that had an interviewer asking Kissinger:

Q: So what was your proudest moment?

K: When I won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Viet Nam War in 1973.

Q: And what was your LEAST proud moment?

K: When the Viet Nam War actually ended in 1975! [or 1976 or whenever it exactly was, after 1973 anyway!]

[Isaac Bartram]

db

Actually according to the terms of Nobel's will the prizes are supposed to be awarded for achievements in the year for which they're awarded. It soon became obvious that it took years for most scientific and medical discoveries of merit to be recognized. Like many bequests changes were made to reflect reality. Nobody has bothered to contest it, presumably because it was the sensible thing to do.

Peace prizes did not follow.

Up to WWII it appears prizes went mostly to diplomats and foreign ministers who concluded grand treaties. Like Kellogg-Briand. That was where if we scrapped some of our battleships we'd have everlasting peace. It only took the battleships that were left to scuttle that one.

Since WWII prizes have been more for social activism. Exceptions are Lester Pearson in 1957 for the settlement of the Suez Crisis, Kissing-Le Duc Do, Sadat-Begin, Mandela-LeKlerk and Arafat-Peres-Rabin. In the last three cases the winners made serious changes in conduct and attitude and took substantial political risks to conclude agreements that had seemed imposible only a few years before. It is a shame the Oslo accords fell apart so badly, especially since Rabin paid with his life for his part in them.

I don't think Arafat worked as hard as he needed to to accomplish the Oslo goals. He was an incredibly corrupt despot as Prez of the PA. It hasn't helped that Rabin has been in the pocket of the religious extremists either.

I tend to think Carter deserved to share the prize with Sadat-Begin or even to get one of his own for getting them to the table. I think he deserves jack for more recent efforts like his cockup in NK.

Otherwise I tend to concur; "The Peace prize appears to be awarded on the same basis as the Oscar--transient popularity."

On the whole though I tend to think the world would be a better place if had stayed with his original profession. At least more of the ME might have gotten good roads.

[thoreau]

I have it on good authority that Arafat is not dead. He is hanging out with JFK at the 7-11 where Elvis works.

[Isaac Bartram]

Has anybody heard of any conspiracy theories. The only thing close I've heard was an interview with a Palestinian women complaining about the secrecy.

My mother asked me the other day if I thought the Israelis poisoned Arafat.

She visited Ramallah in 1957 and 1978(I think) and met Quaker relief workers. They told her stories of assassinations of any Palestinian would-be politicians who were remotely likely to become popular.

I hope A's widow put enough aside from the 100 Grand a month she was getting from the PA as an allowance. Looks like her gravy train just derailed.

thoreau, if what you say is true Elvis can quit his job if Arafat can remember the Swiss bank account numbers. Look for them in Monte Carlo next year. 🙂

[Jason Bourne]

Eric,

His death might actually have been horrible, though the closing moments of it were in a coma. He may have been sick feeling terrible and in a lot of pain for many months.

krank,

Because Kissinger undermined the efforts in Paris in 1968 that led to the same outcome as the 1973 agreement (the lone difference being the significantly increased body count, intervention in Cambodia, etc.), that's why.

[Stevo Threadkiller]

Isaac, you beat me to it! I was going to post something along the lines of:

It was the Jews! Cowardly agents of the Mossad murdered him as he lay in his hospital room! Do not doubt this, O my brothers! This man of peace will be avenged!

I wanted to be the first to post the inevitable. Just wait, more to come.

[x]

How on earth did the man win a Nobel Peace Prize?

Similarly, how on earth did Jimmy Carter?

[nikita]

It is clear Arafat died of AIDS. The MSM will of course not even raise the possibility, b/c they know it would do wonders to discredit him in the gay-hating Arab/Muslim world.

AP actually went out on a limb to say this:
"Zoning in on a diagnosis for Arafat should be a fairly straightforward task, medical experts say. Tests can diagnose the majority of diseases within 48 hours. Since no diagnosis has been revealed, the most likely explanation, experts say, is that doctors know what's wrong but aren't being allowed to disclose it. "
But of course no mention of the A-word in a laundry list of possible ailments.

So let me contribute this:

1978 conversation between Constantin Munteaunu, a general assigned to teach Arafat and the PLO techniques to deceive the West into granting the organization recognition, and Lt.-Gen. Ion Pacepa, the deputy chief of Romania's intelligence service under Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, recounted in "Red Horizons," Pacepa's memoirs, published in 1987:

"I just called the microphone monitoring center to ask about the 'Fedayee,'" Arafat's code name, explained Munteaunu. "After the meeting with the Comrade, he went directly to the guest house and had dinner. At this very moment, the 'Fedayee' is in his bedroom making love to his bodyguard. The one I knew was his latest lover. He's playing tiger again. The officer monitoring his microphones connected me live with the bedroom, and the squawling almost broke my eardrums. Arafat was roaring like a tiger, and his lover yelping like a hyena."

The Arafat I Knew
He hasn't changed since his days as a KGB-backed terrorist.
BY ION MIHAI PACEPA, the highest ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc.

The KGB's Man
By ION MIHAI PACEPA
September 22, 2003

[Jason Bourne]

x,

I think his Habitat for Humanity organization might merit such an award.

[SR]

Yes, of course Arafat must've had AIDS... I mean who ever heard of an obese 75 year-old man who was a smoker and led an extremely high-stress lifestyle dying suddenly?

[Isaac Bartram]

"... I mean who ever heard of an obese 75 year-old man who was a smoker and led an extremely high-stress lifestyle dying suddenly?"

That's pretty much what I said to Mater in reply to the Israelis/poison thing. I was just going to say what an old geezer he was, but she's 82 and still going strong. So I brought up the smoking bit. I figured that would work since she's been lecturing me about the evils of tobacco since oh about 1952. It did.

[Dan]

I tend to think Carter deserved to share the prize with Sadat-Begin or even to get one of his own for getting them to the table.

Eh, you can get anyone to sit down with anyone else if you promise them endless piles of no-strings-attached money for doing it.

[Isaac Bartram]

Dan

I've got to admit that's a good point.

[Dan]

You hear that, R.C. Dean? Jason Gunnels-O'Bart has flamed you not once, but twice! On two *different* subjects!

So take that, Mr. Smarty Pants.

[Pavel]

It's rather odd to see people disparage Arafat being awarded the Peace Prize while suggesting in the same breath that a former terrorist like Begin (former lead of Irgun) ought to have recieved it.

Furthermore it's rather ridiculous to solely blame Arafat for rejecting Barak's offer. Arafat was prepared to accept only 22% of what the majority of Palestinians felt they been entitlement to. And Barak wasn't prepared to sacrifice 100% of that 22% either, he wanted to retain control of 20% of its territory, its borders, its water resources and its transportation routes.

And while noting that Arafat didn't live up to the Oslo accords, it should be pointed out that neither did Barak. Going so far as to boast that he hadn't withdrawn from an inch of territory as the accords demanded (Bibi had incidentally) and both of them continued to expand settlements, whose prime objective is the prevention of a Palestinian state ever being established.

But let's keep on with the old "as soon as they stop throwing rocks and exploding in public, we'll withdraw" approach. I'm sure that'll bear fruit in my lifetime...not.

[Dan]

It's rather odd to see people disparage Arafat being awarded the Peace Prize while suggesting in the same breath that a former terrorist like Begin (former lead of Irgun) ought to have recieved it

Nobody in this thread has suggested that Begin ought to have received a Nobel Peace Prize. They've just observed that he DID receive a Nobel Peace Prize. But heck, I'll make the case for Begin and Sadat.

Yes, Begin began his career as a terrorist, just as Sadat began (and, for that matter, built) his career as a brutal and murderous fascist. But both men actually managed to achieve a lasting peace between their nations, albeit a lasting peace secured with generous helpings of American money. So even though both men had blood on their hands, they perhaps deserved a peace prize.

In contrast, Arafat not only began his career as a terrorist -- he ended it as a terrorist. He never achieved a lasting peace, or a temporary peace, or even attempted to achieve any kind of peace at all, with Israel. His sole "contribution" to the world was the mass murder of thousands of innocent Arabs and Israelis. Giving him the peace prize was ridiculous. A minimum criteria for a peace prize should be doing something to promote the cause of peace, don't you think?

[Jason Bourne]

Dan,

Actually, I didn't "fisk" R.C. Dean on the former matter, though a half-dozen other posters did.

And Arafat (or at least the Palestinians) did achieve a "temporary peace" with Israel; as I recall, in 1998 there were no terrorist-related deaths in Israel. Don't let your ill-disposition towards Arafat get in the way of reality.

A minimum criteria for a peace prize should be doing something to promote the cause of peace, don't you think?

And at the time (1994) it was felt that Oslo was this "something." You're slamming the award based on present, after the fact knowledge that the awarding party did not possess.

[yehud]

Fer shits sake, quit the gloating over arafat's death, you little putzes.

[Eamon Malley]

At this time, we should all recall the memory of a man named Folke Bernadotte. Does the name ring a bell with anyone?

[Steve]

Can we bury a few Zionists and their neocon allies as well?

[geo]

OK, so you'd like to bury him deeper. If you are an ardent jewish zionist, and arab-hating racist, then your desire makes a perfect sense.

Other than that, it looks like you work hard to identify yourself with your jewish media bosses, and probably please them, and show them that YOU know who's the man of the house.

Why is it, showing 0 respect to other nations (arabs, french, germans, russians, europeans) with possibly brits and 'merikans excluded would make an ordinary joe of your kind sound like a hero, and a filosofer, but just to mention a word 'jew' would create a maelstrom of ire and nonsense of accusations of someone being an anti-semitic RACIST?

I have an answer to the last one - because when one nation (jews) is self-defined as infallible as a nation of god, and the rest of the world is defined as a bunch of no-goodnik goyim (you too, unless you're a PURE-BLOOD JEW), it is a 100% pure and genuine racism. And nobody can do anything about it because it is the racism of their masters. Your masters', too!

That's what makes you dance happily on dead people graves - it is safe, and it is approved by your masters, and it pleases your masters.

[Juden Sau]

So...in the future, when I bring up the fact that Jews were dancing in the streets of Israel when Arafat died, will I be called an anti-Semite? Or I suppose it's OK to celebrate the demise of someone you dislike when you're one of God's "Chosen" People.

Anyway, when Sharon drops dead from obesity (he must eat two Palestinian children a day to keep up that weight) I'm going to secure the body with copious amounts of money (because we know everything is for sale in Israeli) and then make Sharon Soup, mixing in a good volume of pig fat for flavor (spite doesn't taste good), and serve it up on the Sabbath to all the wonderful extremist Rabbis. I'll also set aside a few bowls for the perfect little Zionists whose clever comments are littered above.

Last comment (and I swear I'll recede back to the wretched hole from whence I came) If you think you're special, remember this: Arafat will be remembered long after your worthless lives have been erased from memory.

Haha.

Death to Israel

[Dan]

Last comment (and I swear I'll recede back to the wretched hole from whence I came) If you think you're special, remember this: Arafat will be remembered long after your worthless lives have been erased from memory. Haha. Death to Israel

Looks like the left-wing blogs are linking to Hit&Run again.

[Juden Sau]

Left wing? Left wing!? Excuse me, can we please require retarded people to have a license to use the Internet?

Long live Arafat. Death to your mother. Fuck Israel.