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Killing Arafat

13:02 / 14.09.03

Figure's in the Israli governement are openly discussing the option of killing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

personally i've always viewed Israel's policy of targeted assassination to be A)Morally dubious and B)entirely ineffectual, not to mention C) usually botched.

But it seems to me that killing Arafat could not have anything other than disasterous consequences for the people of Israel and the palestinian territories. I have often heard it claimed that current Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon does not want peace, and I'd really like to believe that is not the case, so what I am asking is what could possibly justify an assassination bid against Arafat - what is the realistic best case scenario?

And is there any realistic possibility of the US doing anything to prevent this continued 'strategy'?

13:48 / 14.09.03

What I pulled from cnn.com:

"The Bush administration -- concerned the expulsion of Arafat would crush efforts to make peace in the Middle East -- is pressuring Israel not to expel him, State Department officials said.

"We worry this would blow up wide open," one official said. "It would have serious repercussions, not only in the Palestinian territories, but also throughout the region and with efforts to make peace."

The U.S. officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell worked the phones Friday, speaking with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab foreign ministers."

The US has been fairly vocal with their displeasure concerning Isreal's decision to do away with Arafat one way or the other. Actually, I think this is a great opportunity for the US to improve its strained relations with Arab nations. Maybe by siding with the Arabs on this issue the US can give itself some good PR.

16:03 / 14.09.03

I don't think it's a serious desire - I think it's a combination of bluster and bargaining position. They certainly want to get rid of Arafat and replace him with someone more amenable, but I'm sure they realise just killing him would be an incredible mistake.

On the other hand, I think there are some people who actually think they can "win" here without negotiation, so I can't be too sure.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

20:30 / 14.09.03

'morally dubious'?

If Israel does kill a head of state, can even the right-wing government of George W. Bush survive doing nothing or nothing more than a 'tut-tut'? I suppose they'll try to link the Palestinian Government to the Saddam regime if Israel do kill Arafat. I think it would be difficult for anyone to claim that the Israeli Government want peace but why should Israel try when they've got access to the best toys on the planet?

22:09 / 14.09.03

I think they would have trouble playing it down, even given the "Arafat is a terrorist" idea that has been going around for a while. There's already a lot of anti-Israeli sentiment about in the US from what I can see - nowhere near the level elsewhere, but it is growing. People are saying "what the hell are we doing defending these guys when it's causing us difficulty and they're not trying?" (quite apart from the US citizens who are concerned about the morality of the situation).

I expect spin would be possible but it would be difficult and damaging. The Bush administration will therefore push for this not to occur.

Not, as I said, that I think it's a serious threat anyway.

23:11 / 14.09.03

it would also be an inconvenience for the a government that had previously described Arafat as an 'irrelevant' to then make a concerted case that not only was he relevant but relevant enough to require him being killed.

00:38 / 15.09.03

The best possible case, I think would be disastrous in the short term with terrorist attacks after terrorist attacks, followed by a calm period. In this calm period, the structure of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be realized to have changed significantly without Arafat. The next effort at peace would have no Arafat working to undermine it (and possibly a new Israeli government ready for peace), and it would succeed.

Unfortunately, this presumes that Arafat really is the only thing standing between Peace and the people of the region. This is, of course, delusional.

08:08 / 15.09.03

I think it's awful that the Israelis are considering killing Arafat.

He is, beyond doubt, the true, elected, undisputed and popular leader of the palestinian people. Trouble is he is no-one's puppet and can't be slapped around, like Abu Mazen for example, in return for some re-heated crumbs.

With Arafat out of the way, Palestinian democracy, so fragile as it is, is beheaded, paving the way for a full-frontal attack on the remaining 10% of what used to be Palestine, but what is now just pocketed concentration camps full of the poor, children, elderly and ill - those who cannot escape like the middle class last year.

08:18 / 15.09.03

Personally, I think that targetted assassinations only make sense if one is trying to incite terrorism to derail peace and justify more land grabs and military action. I may be underestimating the blinding effect of hatred in this conflict, but I always assumed that the Israelis are pretty sharp and that the people taking the big decisions are able to realistically assess the consequences of their actions. Even if the public justification is at odds with that kind of rationality.

Anyone care to set me straight?

Looked at that way, killing Arafat would be a precursor to a particularly extreme Israeli action. Ethnic cleansing, for instance. But it probably won't make sense until Israeli control of the territories is a little more secure. After the security fence is finished, perhaps.

08:38 / 15.09.03

Lurid, with the current US neocon govt, Israel can get away with pretty much anything it wants - who can stop it? There is hardly any restraining pressure from Washington at all, especially with its occupation of Iraq going so pear-shaped, and the Israelis are openly contemptuous of the UN and the EU.

My guess is that the Israeli cabinet are simply gauging whether or not the timing is right to expell Arafat by debating it openly to guage the extent of international opinion, and any accompanying risks.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

11:32 / 15.09.03

There was an American commentator on late-night News 24 last night that I was half-listening to, who was saying something like "if you want to get rid of Arafat in the name of 'peace', then you also have to get rid of Sharon because he's the other major obstacle"

17:49 / 15.09.03

Well, Kissinger had Allende killed and the overall upshot was that no-one really gave a shit. Israel can do what the hell it likes. It's killed US and maimed British citizens recently with impunity and have we had an outcry? Have we fuck.
Now, when's Fame Academy on? That's much more important.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

18:09 / 15.09.03

Well, the UK has voiced objections, for whatever that's worth.

There's an interesting article in today's Guardian by Avraham Burg. It's a powerful counterpoint to the heartless crap usually written about Israel and Palestine.

18:41 / 15.09.03

Actually, Allende's family have not disputed that he commited suicide.

19:15 / 15.09.03

Hmm. Really? How many of them did Pinochet leave alive?

19:35 / 15.09.03

Wife and daughter, at the least.

20:06 / 15.09.03

OK, conjecture and received wisdom bows to apparent knowledge.
Until I've checked a few sources, I say only we shall meet again.
Kissinger is an asshole, tough. Agreed?

20:13 / 15.09.03

Oh, no argument there. Chile probably doesn't even rate the top five list of Kissinger's appalling actions. Definitely a Bad, Bad Man.

23:34 / 15.09.03

Kissinger killed John Belushi...I just know it. This site is really the shizzle nit. cheak it...don't wreak it.
www.guerrillanews.com/media/doc2925.html

Our Lady of The Two Towers

19:32 / 16.09.03

BREAKING NEWS: The US have vetoed a UN resolution condemning Israel's plans to expel Arafat.

19:47 / 16.09.03

If Sharon decides to kill Arafat let's hope it's a murder-suicide.

01:36 / 23.09.03

at the risk of unpopularity, isnt this all something of an illusion. is it really cold blooded murder or rather an act of an ongoing war involving two parties, israel and pan arabism, which is what funds the PLO and other terrorist(popular) organizations financially, miliatarily and ideologically. that and the european union, who in the battle for pretige and regognition (in a hegelian sense) sided wholely with the arabs against the new world (the US) that has so much displaced the proud old one (France Germany etc). Hegel says it all.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:26 / 23.09.03

killing Arafat would be a precursor to a particularly extreme Israeli action. Ethnic cleansing, for instance

It's the thin end of the wedge, isn't it? (Well, not for Arafat, obviously. For him it'd be a wide load of wedge up the wazoo.)

Having turned a blind eye for so long, the west has forfeited its right (or at least its ability) to suddenly give a shit. It's like what's happening with the status of torture and the US... first it refused to rule out using evidence obtained under duress, then decided unconventional interrogation techniques could be used at Guantanamo Bay, now it seems to be creeping over to anyone who MAY be a terrorist... or know one...

I hold no paricular love of Mr Arafat, but he WAS elected. (Because Israel ISN'T the only democracy in the Middle East, no matter how many times people claim it is. It's just the only one where the population get to exercise their democratic rights.) And killing him would be seen as- well, would in fact BE- a downright, straightforward, twice-on-Sundays act of aggression and war. Which would help the peace process how?

08:59 / 23.09.03

at the risk of unpopularity isnt this all something of an illusion. is it really cold blooded murder or rather an act of an ongoing war involving two parties - Ex-timite

I think you are right. It is war and little else. Cold and calculated. Calculated to disrupt peace, since no one can pretend that it will diminish terrorism.