Why bring this up now? Why make fresh accusations that are sure to cause tensions with the Israelis instead of smoothing things over and playing the role of the cool-headed "moderate" faction that is open to peaceful coexistence? With Barack Obama in the White House, isn't Fatah on the brink of greater success than ever? Isn't it true that all Abbas and Company has to do is play the game, send the right signals about desiring peace, and all sorts of goodies will fall into their laps?
Maybe. But they're behaving as if they don't even have to pretend to want peace. They're behaving like people who know that a more belligerent stance will cost them nothing. And indeed, that does seem to be the case in regard to Barack Obama.
"Israel to blame for Arafat death: Fatah," by John Lyons for The Australian, August 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):
THE ruling faction of the Palestinian Authority has formally blamed Israel for the "assassination" of Yasser Arafat, one of the founders of the Fatah party.At the party's conference in Bethlehem yesterday, delegates unanimously passed a resolution blaming Israel for Arafat's death and setting up a committee to investigate the death.
The committee will be led by Arafat's nephew, Nasser el-Kidweh.
Israelis seized on the resolution saying it suggested Palestinians were not serious about negotiating with Israel for a two-state solution.
Indeed. Because they're going to get everything they want anyway, courtesy of the President of the United States.
Here is what I kept of the comments originally made to this article.
INFIDELAKBAR said - Fatah are doing everything they can to stop the peace process.
Fatah: *All* of Jerusalem must be returned before negotiations
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=124941...
No talks unless Israel frees *all Palestinian prisoners*
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=124941...
-BASEBALLMAVEN said - I'm tired of even using the term "peace process"--it pretends that there's actually a chance--whatever the islamists do to 'participate' only goes until they get the next big influx of our money, then all bets are off...to them, until they destroy Israel, there can be no peace, and that is why we all have to support Israel fully, especially with our current US administration doing everythign they can to aid and abet the enemy.
-BONESHACK said - From the first link (above):
The new resolution says that Fatah considers Jerusalem a "red line" that no one could cross. It defines Jerusalem as the "eternal capital of Palestine, the Arab world and the Islamic and Christian worlds."
True to form, the Ishmaelites who occupy the rightful lands of the Jewish people demonstrate their real intentions: A Judenrein Palestine.
IPSOFACTO said - (quoting Mr Spencer's headline) Peace-loving Fatah revives an old manufactured grievance, blames Israel for Arafat's death"
That´s old hat. They used to blame the Jews for the premature death of Adolf Hitler. Arafaths great-uncle Amin Al-Husseini, Hitlers best Arab friend and Nazi war criminal on the run, didn´t stop crying until Charles de Gaulle saved his ass and shipped him to Cairo so he could continue his jihad.
Blame it on the Jews - works every time for the fascists.
PULSAR - (quoting) 'Israelis seized on the resolution saying it suggested Palestinians were not serious about negotiating with Israel for a two-state solution.'
not hard to do considering everyone in the Palestian leadership has vowed never to accept Israel and has gone one step further and promised to eradicate Israel...
PULSAR said - Islam is the religion of alledged grievances....
CHICAGO TRANCE said - Here's today's BS from Fatah - now they demand ALL of Jerusalem, East & West, or they refuse to negotiate.
I mean, really, you have to laugh at these clowns.
I wrote a rather sarcastic comment in The Economist last night, they had the usual white-wash of the Fatah conference & it was a total piece of BS.
It only took them a half-day to delete my comment.
__The truth about Arafat is readily available from the French hospital where he died, if Fatah wanted the truth & not just some more propaganda.
__Pretty much, it doesn't matter any more what Fatah says, the phoney peace process is dead. It only exists in disturbed minds (like Obama) who have political reasons to keep up the charade, it's the process that matters, make-believe.
Even our own PM Netanyahu plays the game mostly because of the internal dynamics of Israeli politics & a desire not to make too many waves between America & Israel.
__Fatah is as much an obstacle to any progress as Hamas.
Why anyone ever thought that a bunch of terrorists, thugs, thieves, embezzlers, & corrupt politicians could ever be a "peace partner'' is beyond me.
SEYMOURPAINE said - If only the Israelis had had the balls to kill Arafat! And they should [have] used the Fatah meeting in Bethlehem to execute all the attendees.
While it may be true that the Palis perceive Obama's craven weakness to be their chance, the fault also lies with the Israeli government which pretends these are people you "might" do business with. Their stance should be: the PLO and all its members are terrorists.
NAKAL said - The greatest mistake the Israelis made was when Moshe Dayan was prevented from killing Arafat by Golda Meir when he wanted to.
I agree, on this point, Israel should be criticized...for being too altruisitc and letting Arafathead live.
PLO (Arafat)=>1984 (George Orwell)
"Peace is War and War is Peace".
CARTOONMOHAMMED said - It was Arafat's choice to die in France - a country where issuing a cause of death is optional. Arafat didn't want the reasons for his death to be known.
Add to that the book by a former Soviet intelligence officer called "Red Horizons" where he explains that the Soviets were able to control Arafat by blackmailing him with taped evidence of his homosexuality with his bodyguards and you have good reason to suspect the rumors that he died of AIDS.
When Fatah wanted to have Arafat buried on the Temple Mount, Hamas objected. They said it was because he married a Christian woman but anyone who follows this website knows that it's not forbidden in Islam for a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman. No, the real reason they objected was because Arafat was a homosexual.
-NAKAL said - Actually the she-camel called Mrs Arafat converted to Islam when marrying the Arafathead so her prior Christianity was moot anyway...but I agree with your comment about Arafat being a buggerer.
RAHMANBINRAHMAN said - (quoting) 'At the party's conference in Bethlehem yesterday, delegates unanimously passed a resolution blaming Israel for Arafat's death and setting up a committee to investigate the death."
That sounds just like them. Blame Israel for his death and do the investigation later. I'm sure it will be totally impartial and handled with the most objective, scientific forensics.
CRUE said - The man was 75 years old. How long were they expecting him to live? You'd think they would be proud of him for living so long, i'm sure most Palestinians don't.
Why does everything always have to be some huge western conspiracy? Are these people so weak willed and paranoid that they can't even see how stupid and backwards they actually look when they roll out statements like this once a week?
BEAUTYOFREASON said - "I seem to remember a story about Arafat that reminded me of his moral character. A young boy lost his father to Palestinian terrorists. After the funeral, Arafat placed a gun into the boy's hands and told him that Israel had killed the father and the boy should fight to destroy it.
Does the death cult ever stop?
Is there anything about the religion of the Palestinians that is not completely revolting from a moral point of view? Death, death, death. Not an ounce of respect for life."
END of my record of original comments made to this article - dda.