Yassar - He’s Dead

After much confusion earlier this week…. with news reports like, Arafat is still clinging to life, the funeral’s on Friday… it looks like Yasser Arafat is going to make his own funeral. But what happens next? And how will the political fight for his seat of power (and money perhaps)… play out. My guess is we will see the struggle go on for… oh… maybe a generation or two. While it is tempting, i will do my best to not speak ill of the dead, after all - Arafat did win the Nobel Peace Prize, which alerted even the casual observer to question what the heck the Nobel Peace Prize means anymore, and a reminder that the peace prize was set up by the guy who invented dynamite.

For those who might be young in years and short on history - you might try a search for terrorist - and see how long this battle has been going on. As far as i can tell… the struggle has been going on my whole lifetime (and I am an old man, my Budweiser born on date - 1959). Also odd, in that it is ironic - that this transpires on Veteran’s Day - the day Americans honor the men who served in the military and helped secure the freedom we enjoy today. It is fascinating to watch the old WWII documentaries - and compare the tone (honor and reverence)… to what we get today. Yes… it was not always accurate - but i think we were a lot wiser to understand that the people who fought on our behalf had mothers, sisters, brothers sons and daughters - and that maybe, it was wise to show some respect. With that in mind - I hope Mr. Arafat is shown mercy, and that he finds himself in a beautiful place - where there’s no need to blow up innocent people to make one’s point.

And for those who love irony - check out this 15 year old news clip, This Day in History (Feb 4)… the day Arafat founded the P.L.O. The clip ends by calling Yasser - a survivor. web page -Watch Video. Clearly - a lot has changed since the video clip was created. And though i disagree with Arafat’s methods (an understatement… vehemently disagree, ok)…. i do hope that he rests in peace. Which reminds me of a great quote from Golda Meir (who like me, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)…. “We will not have peace as long as they hate us more than they love their children“. The converse is also true.