What is Arafat's true legacy?

[Behind the Aegis]

(A little indulgence...this is not really an editorial or article, but interesting nonetheless. If not appropriate, please lock. I am only posting the question, not the responses.)

At the weekend, the Palestinian Authority marked with muted ceremonies and pointedly little public reflection the first anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death.

In the wider Arab world, observances of the first anniversary of his passing have also been conspicuous in their modesty, if not outright absence.

The commemorations stood in stark contrast with the Tel Aviv rally in which a crowd of some 200,000 heard Bill Clinton speak of his love for, and awe of, Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated at the rally site 10 years ago this month. Hours before, Clinton had spoken of Yasser Arafat in very different terms, citing the Palestinian leader's "collossal historical blunder" in rejecting the peace plan offered at Camp David five years ago.

---snip---

What, then, is Arafat's true legacy? How will history judge him? To what extent will his life's work find expression in an independent Palestinian state?

source

[Coastie for Truth]

1. Mixed

From the viewpoint of Arab and Persian and Indo-Pak Muslim Techies in Silion Valley

Positive
He gave the Palestinian nation and people an identity.


Negative
He may well have sacrificed the Palestinian nation and people to his personal goals where they diverged.
Did not build the infrastructure of a nation.

[barb162]

4. that's good for a short answer

[Freedomfried]

2. He refused to sell-out his country.

Period.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Care to elaborate? n/t

[occuserpens]

5. CD-2000 / Arafat's legacy

Clayton E. Swisher. The Truth About Camp David

Aljazeera on Arafat's legacy

[pelsar]

6. the auther: swisher:

The primary reason for Arab and Muslim anger against America has been and remains unbridled support for Israel's oppression of the Palestinians

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560256230/002-2553447-4652805?v=glance&n=283155

i would say that simplistic sentence written at the beginning of the book, makes it clear not only does he have an "agenda' but that he will ignore the larger more complicated matters for his agenda.

and of course clinton also put the blame on arafat for camp davids failure

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39066

___________

his legacy is bringing the palestenian refugee status to the front pages, starting with fedayan attacks on israeli civilians, making intl terrorism a household word, instigating an uprising in jordan, taking over s. lebanon and have a large part in its civil war..and when given a chance to develop a society chose instead to concentrate on its 17 different security organizations, each competiting with one another, and keeping control of the finances all within his own hands.

in short he was a crafy coniving dictator that kept everybody off balance while he was alive and used violence as we a way of staying in power...as do all dictators.

[Englander]

7. Thanks for that, occuserpens

On the whole, I don't like books/articles/web-sites that claim to have
the *TRUTH* on any given topic, but I like the look of Swisher's book,
that's going on my to-get-list.

[occuserpens]

9. :-)

Yes, the title sounds strange. But, having looked the book through, I find it pretty reasonable.

[Coastie for Truth]

8. Read Swisher's book from the local library

compared it to Dennis Ross' book.

I think Swisher's book is much more of an advocate's brief - but it is worth a read "side by side" with Ross's book to "compare, contrast, analyze, exercise judgment."