Posted on 11/18/2004 5:30:46 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
THERE is a world of papers and plans, politicians and policies – of grand schemes that work out perfectly in the clinical minds of the intelligentsia.
But then a helicopter carrying Yasser Arafat's body lands in the midst of a howling, shooting, screaming, fainting, cursing mob, and you glimpse the bloody beast behind that drapery. Anyone who fancies the terror war on Israel will be solved by yet another peace plan must watch a replay of Arafat's body arriving for burial on Friday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Palestinian officials knew they had to put on a show to reassure the watching world, remembering, perhaps, that we saw footage of mobs there ululating after the September 11 attacks.
And so Arafat's old office compound was tidied up. The wrecked cars were towed away, the rubble scraped up, the dirt hosed down, and the walls painted or covered with cloth.
Police were posted to keep out the crowds, and a simple graveside ceremony was organised. But Arafat's widow, grown fat in Paris on aid money meant for Palestinians, suspected enough to stay away. Wisely so.
You may have seen what happened. A horde of "mourners" stormed the compound, brushing aside the rabble that passes for a security force, too timid to stop even hooded extremists streaming in with guns.
The crowd pressed so hard against the helicopter which landed with Arafat's body that the doors could not be opened for 20 minutes. A top Palestinian official, Saeb Erekat, screamed from the doorway for the crowd to show respect and back off, but none would.
The police ran amok, and fired into the air so wildly that one had his ear nearly shot off by a colleague and fell to his knees. The mourners fired a barrage of their own, and two people were reportedly killed.
When the coffin finally emerged, police and rioters dumped it on a jeep, and tore off its flag. A few sat on its lid, as the jeep rammed through mourners who chanted: "With our blood and our soul we will redeem you, Yasser Arafat!"
Add other trimmings of Arafat's death – the official lies about his condition in hospital, the spreading of rumours that Israel poisoned him, the reports of his corruption, his wife's screams on television that his colleagues would bury him alive, the chaos of the official funeral in Egypt, the guest list there of tyrants from Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to Syria's Bashar Assad, and the murder of two guards at a mourning tent in Gaza when the PLO's new leader was confronted by gunmen.
Then dare say again Israel was wrong to build a wall to protect itself. Say again it needs only sign a paper to get peace. Say again how wrong it is that Israel, with just 6.7 million people, including more than one million Muslims, should grant some five million of these Palestinians the right to "return".
There is a sickness in Palestinian culture – and an anarchy in its government – that makes talk of peace with its people seem as grounded as the sweet dreams of a sleepwalker in a crowded minefield.
bolta@heraldsun.com.au
In the end they made sure they were paid before releasing the body and keeping the secret.
Aussies have a great belief in "mateship". Americans have been, are and always will be our best mates.
Bloody Frogs!
Can somebody explain to me why we bothered saving them...TWICE? (or even once, for that matter!)
Thank You...may your nation prosper as it stand along side of the USA. Congrats on John Howard........
Hey, I just read your profile too. I haven't seen you here before now. Welcome to FR. Your comment about mateship is right on. I have never (yet) been to Australia but I've become friends with numerous Aussies both here in the States and while traveling abroad. It seems that there is an easy kinship between our cultures and that's a thing to be cherished in all times but especially in "interesting" times such as these. Again, welcome!
Wow, yes, it really does. He is the only one who has really put this forward plainly. I watched US TV that morning, they really didn't know what to say. Even the FOX people were just stumped by the whole savage display.
This article makes me want to move to Australia, it seems your brains still function there.
They seem to operate in a three ring circus.
Trouble is, the ringmaster's gone missing.
Thank you for your welcome.
When are you coming down to see us?
This is more respect than Arafat deserves.
There is a sickness in Palestinian culture – and an anarchy in its government – that makes talk of peace with its people seem as grounded as the sweet dreams of a sleepwalker in a crowded minefield.
That sickness was nurtured by the PLO.
Yes, there is a sickness, but not in Palestinian culture. There is a sickness in Arab culture. The "nation" of Palestine DOES NOT EXIST. Therefore, there are NO Palestinians.
Indeed it is a two way street. It seems nowadays that Americans and Aussies are the only people left on earth that are not afraid to laugh at themselves.
When we lose the gift of self-depreciation, we might just as well pack it in.
The only thing missing from the Arafat funeral procession was a smart bomb.
And the frogs, as always, bite the hand that feeds them.
Perhaps a smart bomb might be the answer for downtown Paris, as well.
There is evil afoot in the world once again. Only the United States, Australia, portions of the UK, and a few other allies stand between world domination by the coming evil and the restoration of the values of truth and light!
You speak only the truth.
We must not lie down and let evil win.
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