Quote:
Originally posted by Agamemnon+Nov 11 2004, 06:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Agamemnon @ Nov 11 2004, 06:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-jonesy@Nov 11 2004, 05:52 PM
Out of curiosity, do you think it was ok for Arafat to be profiting from his people why they languish in filth?
Whether he spent it or not, it seems pretty clear that he was profiting from his people and showing no real concern for them with his left hand, while pretending to care and lead them with his right hand.
Leaving all the other political/terror issues aside, this really irks me. Think of the help he could have done for his people, simply by NOT stealing from them.
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Do you think its ok to wish for a man to be dead (and glad when it happens) due to embezzlement? Sharon has had two separate financial scandals the continue to plague his regime. One could argue that Israel's policies are no more conducive to peace than Palestine's under Arafat. I'm also not sure that the Palestinian people believe that he was 'showing no real concern for them'. I bet a Palestinian might have a lot to tell you about the positive things that the PA and PLO have done for them... that's a big part of why they're so popular.
Obviously Arafat was a terrorist and promoted 'terror'. However, with the term 'terrorist' being tossed around like candy these days, its my opinion that anyone who masterminds illegitimate violence that kills civilians is a terrorist. There are a lot of names that could be put under that definition, and not all of them are brown.
Should Arafat have stolen cash? No. Do I emotionally wish the guy suffers and goes to hell? No. I don't wish that on anyone. I guess I'm a little more soft than you pro-death tough-guys.
Arafat probably caused a lot of hate and death in the Middle East, just like a lot of other people. Isn't it our job to try to rise above the hate/death attitude? As casual observors, you'd think we'd at least have the decency to respect the humanity of both sides. Unless you think one side is inhuman (which many people I know do). [/b][/quote]
The difference in the 'financial scandal' issue is that the ones involving Sharon went to an independent court while the Palestinian people had no recourse for the gouging and theft of Arafat and his cronies and family members - with the exception of when Arafat tried to institute his nephew as the head of Gaza, the people violently revolted and he chose someone else.
And I guess you said it best when you say you are a "casual observer". That allows you a certin detatchment. I, on the other hand, do not feel so detached. I have no trouble wishing painful hell on someone who profiteers off the misery of others, who sanctions the killing of schoolchildren, and who killed just to get his point across. I do not think that Arafat was inhuman, he was inhumane.