NEWS: Yassir Arafat Officially Pronounced Dead

Arafat was a "terrorist" because he is the leader of a group not in control of a country ! When palestinian civilians die at the hands of isreali soldiers they are "unfortunate casualties". As far as the palestinians are concerned all Isrealis are occupiers of their land. Yes Their land. The state of Isreal only came about because the Americans aided jewish settlers into Palestine prior to 1948 in such numbers as to become a dominant occupying people who took over the country of Palestine and renamed it Isreal! For several hundred years, including the 20th century up and just after the second world war, jews were a minority in Palestine (~10%). This means that almost everybody in Isreal either is or is related to a living parent/grandparent who was a jewish settler responsible for the overthrow of the palestinians from their own country.

Imagine this : If a foreign power aided the influx of muslims into Britain such that they became the dominant force in England, renamed it Biroq, and annexed northern Wales and northern Scotland by shipping most people of christian origin into those annexed areas what would happen ? Would the christians do nothing....no way in hell. Would they view the "innocent civilians" in England as legitimate targets? Would this mean that the christian "fighters" are terrorists? If those christians killed a group of Biroq athletes competing in the
Olympic games would that be a terrorist act? How many anti palestinian readers here would be shooting Biroqis in that situation ?

I do not condone some of the actions of the palestinians but given their history and the way the Isrealis ignore UN resolutions with the backing of America and the treatment of the palestinians at the hands of the Isreali military, I can understand their desperation. Arafat was no saint (like all leaders !) but neither was he a "brutal terrorist". I don't think he ever chopped peoples heads off on video. Nor did he order the blowing up of foreigners in a nightclub in a foreign land etc etc.

In world war II the allies carpet bombed cities in Germany simply to demoralise the people. We won't mention the Americans and Vietnam...oh I just did. How about nuking Japanese cities. The actions of Arafat and the PLO pale into insignificance compared to the civilian deaths at the hands of the democratic western governments.