(New Yorker)David Remnick - After half a century of armed struggle and tactical diplomacy, the figure Palestinians called "the Old Man" died - not in Jerusalem but in Europe. After a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv disco, Arafat told the killer's family, and, by extension, the Palestinian people, that the young man "who turned his body into a bomb is the model of manhood and sacrifice for the sake of Allah and the homeland" - seven years after he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Rarely has a leader blundered more and left more ruin in his wake.
2004-11-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive