quote:
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, 75, the leader who passionately sought a homeland for his people but was seen by many Israelis as a ruthless terrorist and a roadblock to peace, died early Thursday in Paris.Arafat had been sick with an unknown illness that had been variously described as the flu, a stomach virus or gallstones. He flew to Paris last week seeking medical treatment and was hospitalized with what Palestinian officials said was a blood disorder.
For five decades, Arafat -- adorned with his trademark checkered kaffiyeh -- was the most prominent face of Palestinian opposition to Israel and the push for a Palestinian state, first as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which carried out attacks against Israeli targets, and later as the leader of the quasi-governmental Palestinian Authority after parts of the West Bank and Gaza were returned to Palestinian control.
His death leaves no clear immediate successor in the often fractious world of Palestinian politics.
The Palestinian constitution provides that the speaker of the Palestinian House of Representatives assumes temporary power if the president dies or is found to be unable or incompetent to rule.
The constitution calls for elections within 60 days to fill the post permanently.
The president holds office for five years and can stand for re-election once.
Arafat was first elected head of the PLO in 1969, and by 1974, Arab leaders recognized the group as "the sole legitimate representative" of the Palestinian people.
In 1994, Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for their work on the Oslo accords, seen at the time as a breakthrough toward an independent Palestinian state and a permanent peace with Israel. Yet a decade later, Arafat died without seeing his dream of a Palestinian homeland come true.
At a summit at Camp David, Maryland, in 2000, Arafat decided to turn down a U.S.-brokered deal offering Palestinians control of most of the occupied Palestinian territory. Three months later, intense fighting broke out between Palestinians and the Israeli army.
Israel -- in retaliation for increased terrorist attacks on Israeli civilian targets -- severely restricted Arafat's movements, confining him to his West Bank compound in Ramallah in December 2001.
Continuing violence, along with corruption and economic problems, raised questions at home and abroad about Arafat's ability to lead the Palestinian Authority.
In 2003, under pressure from the United States and members of his own Cabinet, Arafat appointed Mahmoud Abbas to the new position of prime minister, a move designed to decentralize power. But Abbas resigned less than six months later, saying he didn't have enough support to do the job.
In July, Arafat announced a program designed to unify security forces and tackle corruption after his frustrated second prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, also tried to resign.
Arafat is survived by his wife, Suha Tawil, whom he married in 1991, and their daughter, Zahwa, who was born in 1995.
So what happens from here on out? Any predictions on what may happen in the next month or two?
What does this mean to the world at large? Vorbis fucked around with this message on 11-10-2004 at 11:25 PM.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
Dr. Gee obviously shouldn't have said:
He comes back to life. There have been all kinds of reports on him being alive, then dead, then alive, then dead. I'm not believing it till i see the funeral on this one :/
Regardless, he's effectively dead. I don't see him coming out of this one.
Callalron fucked around with this message on 11-11-2004 at 12:45 AM.
quote:
Callalron had this to say about John Romero:
And Drys, FIX THE FUCKIN' EDIT FUNCTION. I've tried to correct a typo FOUR times and it didn't take.
It's the "t eh" censor. He got pissed at the overuse of the word so it now autochanges to the. Mr. Gainsborough fucked around with this message on 11-11-2004 at 01:07 AM.
But then again, I know absolutely nothing.
But it's still massively retarded that I can't use the word 'state hood' as one word because of some l33t speaking hammerheads.
Yep.
On a more serious note, the fact that there were three separate envoys all assuming they'd be Arafat's successor there wanting to know what's up is fairly indicative of the situation. You'll have a full-blown bicker-fest for succession and then they'll do what Call said.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:This is what Mightion Defensor is doing. This is what I want Mightion Defensor to do
:
All I know is, if I lived in Israel, I'd be real reluctant to get on a bus next few days, weeks, months...
As opposed to beforehand when you'd ride them everyday, right? 
quote:
Mahmoud Abbas Elected Chairman of PLOThu Nov 11,10:04 AM ET
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Mahmoud Abbas, a former prime minister and a veteran peace negotiator, was elected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (news - web sites) on Thursday within hours of Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s death, putting him on a track to become the next overall leader of the Palestinians.
The 69-year-old Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen and who long worked in Arafat's shadow as the PLO's No. 2 official, takes the most powerful of the three titles Arafat held president of the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites), leader of the Fatah (news - web sites) movement and head of the PLO.
The PLO executive committee vote was unanimous, said Palestinian Cabinet minister Ibrahim Abu Najah. "That means no one will compete with him in the election for president."
Palestinian officials moved quickly Thursday to fill the leadership gap left by the death of Arafat, who held the unruly Palestinian political factions together during the four decades of his rule.
Rauhi Fattouh, a virtual unknown, was to be sworn in Thursday as temporary president of the Palestinian Authority, inheriting the title but not the power held by Arafat.
Under law, Fattouh will serve as caretaker president until elections are held within 60 days.
Ahmed Qureia, the Palestinian prime minister, heads day-to-day government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites). He is a key figure in what some Palestinians said would be a collective leadership.
Marwan Barghouti, a powerful figure in Fatah who has the popularity to inherit Arafat's mantle, is in an Israeli jail, sentenced to multiple life terms after being convicted of sponsoring terrorism.
In moving within hours of Arafat's death to fill the void, Palestinian leaders signaled their determination to ensure a smooth transition and allay concerns that the lack of a single strong leader could touch off factional fighting.
"We can be certain transition will be smooth, and the Palestinian people deserve to have free and fair elections," Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told The Associated Press.
Abbas was one of the first top PLO officials to recognize Israel and distanced himself from terror activities. He led Palestinian negotiators in peace talks in the 1990s and has met with Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), Israel's prime minister.
Abbas has also been a critic of the armed conflict that emerged from the Palestinian uprising that began in September 2000. He said what happened "is a complete destruction of everything we built."
Abbas was born in 1935 in the hilltop town of Safed, now in northern Israel. He is married and has two sons, both businessmen. Abbas and his family fled to Syria during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel's creation.
After helping found Arafat's Fatah party in 1965, Abbas managed finances for the movement and distanced himself from terror activities.
In a meeting with Fatah officials last year, Abbas said the outbreak of the uprising in September 2000 was understandable but should not have been allowed to deteriorate into an armed conflict.
Fattouh, 55, grew up in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. He left Gaza for studies abroad in the 1960s, joined Fatah in 1968 and returned from exile in 1994, along with Arafat and other Palestinian officials.
In the first Palestinian general elections in 1996, he was elected to the parliament on a Fatah slate. In 2003, he was appointed agriculture minister, and a year later was chosen speaker, replacing Qureia who became prime minister.
Fattouh is a mid-level Fatah activist, and was chosen as speaker after being offered as a compromise candidate during a power struggle between Arafat and his parliament.
Arafat managed to depose the previous speaker, Rafik Natche, who wanted to investigate corruption allegations in the Palestinian leadership, and hand-picked the loyalist Fattouh.
Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael fucked around with this message on 11-12-2004 at 09:34 AM.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael impressed everyone with:
Should they have let him be buried in Jerusalem? Israel's done a lot of stupid things of late with the Palestinians, but the Palestinians were given an offer at one point of a Palestinian state with part of Jerusalem in the deal a few years back, and Arafat was the one who declined.
If you mean the 2002 one, I remember that.
Some key features of said state included:
If you were in Yasser Arafat's shoes at the time, would you accept that?
quote:
Pvednes got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
If you mean the 2002 one, I remember that.Some key features of said state included:
- Less than half the occupied territories.
- Israel controls its borders and airspace.
- Forbidden from having a military.
- Israel can veto foreign policy.
- Yasser Arafat must step down.
If you were in Yasser Arafat's shoes at the time, would you accept that?
Depends. The man, as I recall, didn't even make any counter-proposals, then later told the press that his participation in the whole "roadmap to peace" was a trojan horse type deal. Plus he gave Hamas and Islamic Jihad declared support to continue the bombings in Israel.
Likewise, Arafat's been siphoning money off aid going in for decades. Conservative estimates place his PERSONAL wealth somewhere in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
So here we have this guy who's lifelong passion has been the destruction of the Israeli state, who's professed purpose is to stretch Palestine to the sea, who siphons aid money off into his coffers and admits publically he didn't really intend to follow through with the peace process, and who failed to even voice an alternative plan to what the Israelis offered. Plus it would have taken him out of power, which I think is probably the stickler point.
I'm not saying Ariel Sharon is by any stretch of the imagination the right guy for Israel, but pardon me if I don't exactly weep over the fact Arafat didn't get to be buried in Jerusalem. Back in the Day, people feared Arafat as much as they fear Qadaffi
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
