(Times of India) Lalita Panicker - He may recover and come back to Ramallah, but Arafat will never again control the destiny of the Palestinians as he has done so far. And this is cause for celebration for the Palestinians. His record after returning to the West Bank and Gaza has been disastrous. Dressed in ridiculous battle fatigues, he has demonstrated that he can only work in a combat situation. He neither wants nor can he deliver peace. Arafat's lasting and most pernicious legacy is that he has contributed to completely changing the Palestinian psyche. The Palestinians were once the most secular, tolerant, and educated people in the Arab world. Today, Palestinian classrooms have become the hotbeds of recruitment for jihad. As a result, an entire younger generation has grown up on a diet of hate and fanaticism.
2004-11-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive