The "Respectable" Tyrant

Asaf Romirowsky discusses "The "Respectable" Tyrant":

Newsweek gave Yasser Arafat their cover this week. The Washington Post wistfully wrote that he "died having never realized his lifelong dream of achieving an independent Palestinian state." And CNN pointed out that he "was seen by many Israelis as a ruthless terrorist and a roadblock to peace." Really? Just by Israelis? The New York Times later ran a correction to his obituary, saying "it is not known whether Mr. Arafat personally ordered" the attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics, even if "[a] group under his authority has long been blamed for the killings." And rest assured, the terrorists who seized the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and executed wheelchair-bound American Leon Klinghoffer were only "loosely linked to Mr. Arafat's organization." How did a thug and terrorist become so respectable in death? ...

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Posted by Andrew Jaffee at November 19, 2004 08:38 AM