Pages

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Arafat the messiah

Firas Press just published a gushing tribute to Yasir Arafat that seeks to elevate him from being merely the symbol of PalArab nationalism into virtual sainthood, together with miracles.

It is a little hard to interpret in autotranslation because the author uses very poetic imagery but some of the more nauseating points he makes include:
  • The stones and trees are mourning Arafat
  • His birth was a miracle that highlighted the "cosmic struggle"
  • He was miraculously born during the Arab riots of 1929, when Arabs wantonly slaughtered dozens of Jews throughout Palestine, and the implication is that he was the reincarnation of some Arab "hero martyrs" who were hung by the British for their terrorist activities
  • The author tries to relate Arafat to the 1936 Arab riots as well (when he was seven), not sure I follow the logic there
  • He was friends with all the other "great leaders," like George Habash, and he had an "intimate relationship" with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
  • "Leader of liberation movements throughout the world"


A couple of days ago there was an article about a new push to name lots of Palestinian Arab boys "Yassir Arafat." It might get confusing when they get to school.