Soccer Dad

Why A French Hospital?

We can expect a lot of this kind of coverage of the still living Arafat:

Regional analysts say Arafat became a leader who held on to power too long, and whose passing might provide a fresh opportunity to advance peace with Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Held on too long? Is that really his problem? How about that he was corrupt and evil?
At least there are those who call it like it is. Arnold Roth of Keren Malki has an excellent essay at his foundation's website describing Arafat very well (as well as the tedentious reporting that attends the Ra'is), in "The Media and Arafat". Working off a report from Khaled Abu Toameh, Roth highlights Arafat's massive financial corruption. And he notes (again quoting Abu Toameh) the an irony of Arafat's coming demise:

Arafat was flown to a French hospital for treatment because Palestinian hospitals can't cope with cases like his. "Had Arafat invested the $6 billion he received in international aid over the past 10 years for building new hospitals and buying advanced medical equipment, it's possible that he could have been treated at a local hospital in Ramallah or Gaza." The misery of the Palestinian Arabs' lives has far more to do with the corrupt man in that French hospital bed than with Israeli actions.

Under Arafat's leadership the Palestinian media spewed antisemitic propaganda instead of insisting on their leaders' accountability; Palestinian schools taught hatred instead of understanding; death was worshipped over life and violence over cooperation. Arafat created a society of destruction rather than one of construction. There was, of course, nothing in his record that suggested he was interested in anything other than chaos. He nearly destabilized Jordan and destabilized Lebanon. He attempted to do the same to Israel.
If there were hospitals in Palestine capable of treating Arafat; if there was a thriving middle class in Palestine; if newspapers were demanding results of their leaders, there would be peace regardless of the political maneuvering of the leadership. But that's not what Arafat was interested in. He was interested only in himself and, in the end, it may have killed him.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.

Posted by SoccerDad at November 9, 2004 5:58 AM