Category: GeneralNovember 12th, 2004
Another sign that the U.N. is broken
Kofi Annan has ordered U.N. flags to fly at half-mast.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised Arafat’s struggle to win international recognition for the Palestinian cause, as he ordered flags to fly at half-mast at the United Nations.
By signing the 1993 Oslo peace accords, Arafat “took a giant step towards the realization of this vision. It is tragic that he did not live to see it fulfilled.”
Arafat is responsible for the murders of countless civilians. If anything, the U.N. should be mourning the fact they will never be able to prosecute Arafat for crimes against humanity.
November 12th, 2004 at 4:56 pm
Not only was the Oslo accord ignored by Arafat (which should have resulted in a revocation of his Nobel Peace Prize) but without question he alone enabled and supported the use of terror by his ‘people’ against Israel. Any leader of substance would have recognized this as a sure way of defeat and rooted out those under his wing responsible for it. Instead he remained silent, hoarded millions of dollars that could have been used to help the poor in the West Bank and propegated nothing but hatred all the while smiling and befriending the West.
Those countries and groups that fell under his spell should be ashamed and appologize for being taken by a con-man thug. His death comes years to late to undo the damage done.
November 15th, 2004 at 9:26 pm
I’d like to share the following criticism of the Paul Martin government written by Ezra Levant off the canoe.ca website:
But what about Prime Minister Paul Martin? His official statement said “Chairman Arafat personified the Palestinian people’s struggle to see their right to self-determination realized” and praised Arafat’s “influence” and “efforts” for a “comprehensive peace.”
The word “terrorist” was nowhere in the obituary for the man who masterminded more than a thousand murders, from murdering Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics to an Israeli school massacre that was the template for this year’s butchery in the school in Russia. Martin did call the man “chairman.” For a statement issued on Remembrance Day, Martin didn’t remember much about Arafat’s 40-year terror spree.
Martin’s words are one thing. But Martin dispatched Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew to Arafat’s funeral. Who knows what Pettigrew said in private? We can guess, based on what Pettigrew says in public. His first utterances on the Mideast after his appointment were to condemn Jews for living in the West Bank, and to state Israel is the obstacle to peace. Not too different from Arafat’s point of view, actually.
Our foreign minister went to the terrorist’s funeral. No word as to whether or not he fired off a few AK-47 rounds into the air, or just nodded approvingly. With so many guns being shot and effigies being burned, it’s safe to assume Pettigrew didn’t inquire into the status of Canadian foreign aid, siphoned off to pay for Mrs. A’s shopping sprees in Paris, or why suicide bombing is taught to children in Canadian-sponsored Palestinian schools.
That wouldn’t show Canada’s famous even-handedness, though.
Speaking of even-handedness, Martin did not send a foreign minister to U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s funeral earlier this year. The man who ended the Cold War without firing a shot, the most popular U.S. president in a generation, the one whose free trade treaty with Canada is the main source of our current wealth, the rejuvenator of the greatest democracy in the world, did not earn that respect.
But a gangster, the thief of a billion dollars in humanitarian aid, the serial rejecter of reasonable Palestinian statehood, the murderer of children did earn Canada’s highest respects. That says more about our government than it does about Arafat.
November 17th, 2004 at 6:51 am
It must be frustrating to be Israeli. Democratic, close in disposition to the West, facing an enemy with no leadership, and wanting only for the bombing of innocent people to stop before commencing negotiations. Topping it all off, Jacques Chirac spends 10 minutes mourning over Arafat’s casket!
From an Israeli point of view, it must seem like a no-win situation.
An encouraging note on Canada’s position, however, is that — finally — we’ll be voting against Israel less often at the UN. It’s about time we started standing up for democracy and against terrorism.