Death of Arafat

I claim no expertise in issues involving the Palestinian people and their quest for a Palestinian State. I do consider myself though a fairly perceptive observer of the accomplishments of leaders. Yasser Arafat led the PLO for 30 years, relying on guerrilla and terrorist type tactics, with an occasional foray into diplomacy, but he never accomplished what should have been the top goal of the Palestinian people, their own sovereign State.

Like so many leaders of revolutionary movements, he became an icon, and like so many such icons, he stayed in power too long and became an obstacle to accomplishing the goal. The prospects for the Palestinian people should be improved now that Arafat has died.