A rchive Date
[ 11-06-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Palestine ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/downing.html
30 years later, nothing's changed
Palestinian leader has been in charge since the 70s - except when civilians are murdered
By JOHN DOWNING -- Toronto Sun
May 19, 2002
Remember Paul Henderson's goal? (We're never allowed to forget.) Well, Kelly can remember who got the assists. He's a walking text on sports trivia and there are few in the world who have seen more of the great finals or cup games or test matches in every area of sport.
I borrowed the old magazine from this true fan, but soon found myself distracted by what also happened that September. Sadly, the time is burned into the world's memory for another reason because the XX Olympiad was being held in pleasant Bavaria. Remember the Munich Olympics, when eleven Israelis in the bloom of life were slaughtered by eight Palestinians who also should have been enjoying their youth?
The Olympics, and the world, have never been the same since that export of Mideast terrorism. The drama and the bungling were said by Time to be "yet another notch on an ever-rising scale of grotesquerie." An essay ended with the hope that the world gain an understanding of the more "intractable tribal conflicts," on how to deal with "fanatics who insist upon pursuing those conflicts all over the civilized world. Until then governments will be fumbling through other Munichs - and wondering sorrowfully afterwards how they all happened."
The world has been fumbling ever since with conflicts and terrorism, whether tribal, national or religious, and death tolls have dwarfed those sad losses that bloody September. What makes the old story on Palestinian terrorists so ironic - and frightening - was the questioning then about whether Yasser Arafat "knows what is going on" since many terrorists considered him a reactionary to be deliberately ignored when plotting. Arafat was said to be surprised and upset when he had heard months before that Palestinians had assassinated the Jordanian premier.
It's three decades later, and there have been many changes in the leaders of the world, whether elected or anointed by guns or oil. Yet Arafat continues as leader of the Palestinians, still in charge, but then, he claims, not in charge when it comes to murdering civilians. The more terrorism changes, the more it stays the same. Now even Arafat calls for elections and reforms in his Palestinian Authority, which is so corrupt I bet many Palestinians can understand why their hated foe, Ariel Sharon, wants reforms too before he would even think of a Palestinian state.
And I wonder whether the histories of these times will make people wonder in 30 years, as I do now reading about the supposedly out-of-touch Arafat of 30 years ago, why so many were fooled for so long.
Arafat has always looked like a weasel to me, but he must have charisma tucked in somewhere above his feet of clay to have lasted so long. For years I was distracted by the mechanics of how he always had the same week's growth of beard, but that even became fashionable a few years ago with a little shaver device to make it easy.
Met with Canadian MPs
Last week, he took time out from damage control and in celebrating that the Israelis were letting him wander, for now, to meet with Canadian MPs - four Grits, four Bloc-heads, one NDPer - on a tour provided by Palestine House in Mississauga. They are expected to make amateurish recommendations, such as more mediation and peacekeepers. Carolyn Parrish, the Mississauga Centre MP, told the Star she was impressed with Arafat's health, that people saying he was losing it are wrong, and "he was sharp as a fiddle." I've heard of "fit as a fiddle," but this is a curious expression. Maybe because her leader fiddles when the country burns?
I must confess to a stupid mistake. I have always confused the two Carolyns who are GTA Grit MPs and did so again last Wednesday. I said it was Carolyn Bennett who was in Israel, which wouldn't have been surprising since the good doctor from St. Paul's has often been there and is considered fair to Israel. But it's the bumptious Parrish, and she's much different and is much more supportive of the Palestinians.
In fact, she told the Star the Israelis are coming down "very,very hard on a large part of a very vulnerable population for the crimes of the very few."
I always find it infuriating when fat-cat MPs dismiss the agony of Israel when they will never represent a riding, thank heaven, where most people are deathly afraid to ride the bus or eat out.
Compelling premise
One of the most compelling ads I have ever seen appeared April 14 in The New York Times under the headline: "What if more than 21,000 Americans had died on September 11th?" In the full-page ad, paid for by major American Jewish organizations, it was argued that "since September, 2000, Arab terrorists have killed more than 450 Israelis and seriously wounded almost 4,000 in suicide attacks, a percentage of its population equivalent to the death of more than 21,000 Americans and the injuring of 200,000."
In March alone, the number of Israelis killed by what some now call "homicide bombers" was more than double, in American terms, the number that died in the U.S. on 9/11. After all, Israel is tiny, despite its huge problems.
Since the ad, the toll has increased. These "crimes of the very few" certainly add up, Ms. Parrish, although the way the Liberals act, I often wonder whether they can add when it comes to death and taxes.
Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com Downing appears Fridays, Sundays
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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