Yasir Arafat’s Nobel Peace Prize Stolen

Oh - you meant now?

Arafat, for all his many flaws,

terrorist, genocidal maniac, thief, - no wonder the left likes him so much

Arafat's return from exile was the worst thing for the Palestinians. He brought with him the corruption prevalent today.

Before Arafat's return there were a number of political parties and a vigorous debate on things other than the Israelis. The Palestinians had the highest wages of the Arab world (with the exception of the oil states, and even then the average Arab was not well cared for).

Arafat's return changed this. It was either be part of Arafat's party or be dead.

I repeat, Arafat destroyed any hope for the Palestinians. They are now living in the 10Th century.

Arafat, for all his many flaws, staked out a position that tried to bridge the enormous gap between the profound Palestinian anger at being dispossessed of their land by millions of people emigrating from the rest of the world (funny, but it seems that modern American conservatives with their obsessions regarding immigration should have at least some understanding here) - and the need to come to grips with the reality as it exists. Arafat did change the PLO consitution to reflect a recognition of the fact of Israel, and he did negotiate with them.

Whether it was through his own timidity at the last moment, or whether through his understanding of how far ahead of his people he could or could not go, in the end, as we know, he failed to take the final step. But the mindless commenters on the American right, who really seem not to want there to be an equitable peace, try to use those failures to discredit the entire notion of finding a peacful accomodation between Israel and the Palestinians.

I find those comments, and that mindset absolutely repulsive. It seems to be quite the pattern on the right these days - opinions that are all about making the bloviator feel good about themselves rather than any real willingness to deal with real problem in real world situations.

The international political naivete of dealing with a tenth century problem with a twenty-first century diplomatic response is setting yourself up to win the Nobel Dumb Prize. Somewhere down the road, maybe peace will come, just hope there are still some around in that area to enjoy it.