Arafat's Legacy: Nothing to Speak Of

While the other Mod-Bloggers decided not to follow me on my moratium on criticism of Yasser Arafat until he was in the ground and the family/friends/people had a chance to mourn, I have pretty much held my ground. There is a time to mourn, and last week was it. Well, it is a new week and it is time to look at Mr. Arafat's legacy in the light of day. The best piece so far comes from one of my favorite commentators on the Middle East, Thomas Friedman.

You will pardon me if I don't join in the insipid chorus about how Arafat's great achievement was the way he represented the "aspirations" for statehood of the Palestinian people and, through terrorism and resistance, put the Palestinian cause on the world map...Excuse me, but Yasir Arafat put the Palestinian cause on the world map in 1974, when he was invited to address the U.N. General Assembly. What did he do with all that attention after that? Very little. There is a message in his life and his legacy for every world leader: If all you do is express the aspirations, but never produce the reality, then history will judge you very harshly. And any honest history of Yasir Arafat will judge him on his voids, not his visions.

Let us hope whoever the Palestinian people call upon to replace Arafat, is a statesman and a man (or woman) of vision. But so far all the rumors I hear are of nominating former terrorists and current convicted murderers. Not a good start. But then, you don't always need a good start to have a happy ending.