Eshin Direct

What’s worrying about Yasser Arafat being let out of Israel for medical treatment in France is not so much that the Israelis won’t let him back into the country, but that he might actually die. I say this not out of any humanitarian sympathies, since the man was, is and will always be a terrorist, but more out of concern that his incompetence has left a Palestinian people who are factionalised and who’s only source of potential unity is himself. His own ego and stubborness only contribute to his failure to appoint a successor to himself.

Once there was a world that recognised terrorist leaders as the cowards and low-lives that they are and where no tears would have been shed at their loss – Gadhafi, Arafat, Adams – yet with the changing geopolitical landscape, we are apparently forced to recognise them as “civil” leaders. Should Arafat’s health fail and take a turn for the worse, I have a horrible suspicion we’ll be reflecting on his great contribution to the peace process while writing off his responsibility in the bombings, kidnappings and other terrorist activities as his “colourful” past in media-speak.

Tags: Political Rants