Muhammad Al-Shibani, Arab News
The United States has so far effectively finished off two Arab leaders. The first, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, was destroyed by military force. The second, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was sidelined and slowly stripped of any effective role. Both leaders dragged their countries into their present situation. Both excelled at allowing chances to slip away, wasting opportunity after opportunity, stalling and failing to use the resources at their disposal to serve their cause. Saddam’s inept actions led his country being invaded and occupied by foreign forces while he simply disappeared from the scene. The other thought he held all the cards in his hand and set the rules for the game. The result was that the Palestinian cause now stands no chance of winning anything.
| Hmmm... An accurate summation in the Arab News. This guy'll probably be fired, too... |
During 35 years of struggle, Arafat continued to reject whatever was offered on the grounds that it fell short of Palestinian and Arab expectations. What amounted to treason and a stab in the back is now viewed as victory by a Palestinian government not even sure of the little it may finally get. It is indeed regrettable to see the main concern of the Palestinian leader being confined to proving he is still active and has not been sidelined or marginalized. Arafat is acting as if he embodies the Palestinian cause and that without him there will be no cause. Everyone, including the Arabs, knows very well the man has effectively been shelved and that all that can be done about this is to retain him as a symbol of the Palestinian struggle. A national cause requires a symbol.
| Along with the Paleostinian cause, Yasser symbolizes mindless, unrelenting murder, day in and day out. He symbolizes hypocrisy and narcissism. He symbolizes, with Sammy, large-scale corruption while his people starve. Nice symbol y'got there, Muhammad... |
Who will call Saddam to account for the crimes he committed? No one. Who will hold Arafat responsible for all the opportunities that were lost as a result of misjudgments and perceptions that in the end were proved wrong? Again, no one.
| Nope. The Arabs were too busy justifying them. Thirty or forty years from now, there will be Arabs — and their western apologists — telling the world that neither Sammy nor Yasser was all that bad. |
Almighty God will summon all leaders on the Day of Judgment and they will be held accountable for their actions. Those who believe in Divine judgment will work to save themselves and those who fail to understand what awaits them will wish they had never assumed public office. |