Posted on 11/11/2004 7:16:53 AM PST by SJackson
The Vatican has praised Yasser Arafat as a charismatic leader who struggled to win independence for his people, and repeated its support of a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Pope John Paul, who last met Arafat in 2001, retreated into private prayer when he was told of the death of the Palestinian leader earlier on Thursday in Paris, a Vatican source said.
The Pope, who made a historic trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2000, sent a message saying he was particularly close to the Palestinian people "in this hour of sadness".
The 84-year-old Pope's message said he prayed that the "star of harmony" would soon bring peace to the Holy Land and that both Israelis and Palestinians could live "reconciled among themselves as two independent and sovereign states".
Earlier, a statement by the Vatican's chief spokesman called Mr Arafat the "illustrious deceased" and asked God to grant eternal rest to his soul.
"The Holy See joins the pain of the Palestinian people for the passing of President Yasser Arafat. He was a leader of great charisma who loved his people and tried to guide them towards national independence," said the statement by chief spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
The official statement was bound to displease Israel because it made no mention of militant attacks, which the Jewish state blamed on Mr Arafat and insists must stop before the stalled peace process can get back on track.
In recent years the Vatican continued to recognise Mr Arafat as the legitimate leader of the Palestinians after Washington and Israel had written him off.
But Vatican officials privately criticised him for what one called "jumping off the peace train".
"There is no doubt that he was a towering figure for his people but his great mistake was not to sign on at Camp David," a senior Vatican prelate told Reuters.
"That was a great failure and a lot of problems stemmed from that," he said. "He missed his date with history."
At a US-brokered a peace summit in 2000 both sides came close to a final accord that would have established an independent Palestinian state, but the talks broke down over the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Washington and Israel blamed Mr Arafat for the failure.
Over the past four years, the Vatican's improvement in relations with the Palestinian Authority coincided with a deterioration of relations with Israel.
The Pope repeatedly criticised Israeli incursions into Palestinian territories and last November, the Vatican was shocked when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to Rome for several days but did not ask to see the Pope.
Oh I can't wait for the responses on this thread, not.
Uncomfortable, cringing, Catholic PING....
In a related story, The Pope gushed at the Socialist defunding of the Catholic church in Spain.
"We sure showed those war mongering Partido Populars" said EL PAPA
In a better world, the PLO chief would have met his end on a gallows, hanged for mass murder much as the Nazi chiefs were hanged at Nuremberg. In a better world, the French president would not have paid a visit to the bedside of such a monster...
How is it possible to reflect on Arafat's most enduring legacy -- the rise of modern terrorism -- without recalling the legions of men, women, and children whose lives he and his followers destroyed? If Osama bin Laden were on his deathbed, would we neglect to mention all those he murdered on 9/11?
It would take an encyclopedia to catalog all of the evil Arafat committed. But that is no excuse for not trying to recall at least some of it.
Perhaps his signal contribution to the practice of political terror was the introduction of warfare against children. On one black date in May 1974, three PLO terrorists slipped from Lebanon into the northern Israeli town of Ma'alot. They murdered two parents and a child whom they found at home, then seized a local school, taking more than 100 boys and girls hostage and threatening to kill them unless a number of imprisoned terrorists were released. When Israeli troops attempted a rescue, the terrorists exploded hand grenades and opened fire on the students. By the time the horror ended, 25 people were dead; 21 of them were children.
Figures.
To paraphrase InstaPundit, they're not against violence. They're just on the other side.
"That was a great failure and a lot of problems stemmed from that," he said. "He missed his date with history."
You can say that again about Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Castro, ...
Right now, the propaganda is all that Arafat was oh so good. When the whole world figures out that he died from AIDS/HIV and the Arab community absorbs that reality, the shame emanating from that will stink worse and worse. Afafat's death from AIDS will bring him down from the mythic figure he is now in the Arab world.
Fitting that he is probably the most famous figure to die that way.
Who is going to say that he died of aids.
Who is writing dialogue for this poor old man?
Are there muslims working in the Vatican?
Nah, probably a few French Catholic communists.
While, as Christians, we are supposed to love everyone, nowhere in my bible does it state that I must lie to honor the dead. This man was a known terrorist, a killer, and a thief of children's innocense and souls. I pray that he found the Lord in his last hours, but I refuse to believe that the world is not better off without this murderer.
Catholic ping.
Elegy for a Terrorist ping.
Pope John Paul, who last met Arafat in 2001, retreated into private prayer when he was told of the death of the Palestinian leader earlier on Thursday in Paris, a Vatican source said.
The Pope, who made a historic trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2000, sent a message saying he was particularly close to the Palestinian people "in this hour of sadness".
I'll reply to idiotic nonsense after I finish puking!! My God! I hope some mid level Vatican beaurocrat is making this shit up!
I'd hate to estimate how much Ararat's, "Get Out of Hell", Purgatory cost is? Greater than the GDP of the United States?
"Who is writing dialogue for this poor old man?
Are there muslims working in the Vatican? "
How many divisions does the Pope control ?
You think those Swiss guards would be able to really protect anything ?
Unbelieveable.
And other socialist Eurotrash masquerading as Catholics.
The Vatican honoring a terrorist!......Just another example of how the Vatican keeps its' head buried in the sand.
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