The End of an Era – The Legacy of Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

November the 12th 2004 is a date that will definitely go down
in history, especially here in Israel. During the last week of
Yassar Arafat’s life, there was a story going around that
Arafat would die on a Jewish holiday. It was not a prophetic
statement, but a statement that any day that Arafat died would be
Jewish holiday. The leader of the PLO for the last 40 years was
responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Israeli men,
women, children and even babies. His death would not be mourned.
There was even some debate from the Old Testament as to whether
it was permissible to rejoice when your enemy dies.

On November 12th the man whose life mission was to murder as
many Jews as possible and to see a Palestinian State totally
replace the nation of Israel died. In the hours following the
announcement of his death, the world’s media began to
report the statements being made by world leaders. Incredibly
most of the statements affirmed Arafat as a leader of great
repute, rather than remembering the thousands of people who have
died at the hands of this arch terrorist. Not to mention the many
more thousands of people who are living out their lives,
physically and emotionally scarred by acts of terror initiated
and paid for by Yasser Arafat, who is more accurately described
as the father of modern terrorism and the world’s No 1
terrorist, ahead of Osama Bin Laden.

Arafat’s Record Concerning Israel

• 1970 - Palestinian terrorists murdered 12 children and
3 adults, and left several others crippled in the Nahariya/Avivim
school bus attack.

• 1972 - 11 Israeli athletes murdered in cold blood at
the Munich Olympic games

• 1972 - the Lod Airport Massacre, an operation planned
by PLO faction PFLP-GC, killing 26 and wounding 78.

• 1974 - 22 Jewish children brutally murdered in a school
hostage drama in Maalot in the north of Israel

• 1974 - Kiryat Shmonah apartment building attack in
April 1974: PFLP-GC terrorists killed all 18 residents they found
there, including 9 children.

• 1975 - the bus that was hijacked on its way to Haifa.
The driver is a personal friend of ours. His 12 year old son was
shot dead. The terrorists fired on passing cars from the bus, and
when they were finally stopped, they began firing missiles. The
massacre left 35 people dead and 100 injured. A baby thrown out
of the window by its mother to save its life was thrown back into
the burning bus by a female terrorist.

• 1985 - The hijacking of a cruise ship and the
subsequent act of throwing into the sea of an elderly wheelchair
bound Jewish man.

• 1993 - A thousand plus Israeli men, women, children and
babies murdered in Arafat

• 2004 - directed terror during the Oslo Peace Process
years and the current Intifada.

Arafat’s Record Concerning the
Palestinians

• Every opportunity for peace lost - from Camp David to
Oslo & beyond, where Arafat failed to live up to the promises
and the peace treaties he signed. In 1999 he turned down Israeli
PM Ehud Barak's generous 95% offer of the territory he
demanded.

• Instead more than 3000 Palestinian children, young
people and others, killed in the Arafat inspired insurgence
against Israel.

• The average Palestinian lives in abject poverty in
spite of the fact that the nations of the world have given
billions of $

and Euros for the improvement of their lives. Where has all
the money gone? Could it be connected to the fact that Arafat was
listed as the 9th richest world leader on the official Forbes
list. Or to the money with which his wife Suha supported her
extravagant lifestyle in Paris.

The Washington Times reported that "shortly before Arafat
was flown to France, Suha "received $60 million in her Paris bank
account And that's on top of an alleged $11.4 million deposited
in her accounts between July 2002 and September 2003." As
events surrounding Arafat's demise unfolded on November 11th, the
seemingly endless accolades for this evil man became unbearable
to witness. The hypocritical French government bid farewell to
Arafat by providing what amounted to almost a state funeral. Have
these people forgotten the fact that Arafat was a cold blooded
killer who has paid for and trained others to kill in cold blood.
Since when do cultured, intelligent people lavish such adoration
on a mass murderer?

Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe gave a much more realistic
view of the proceedings... "In a better world, the PLO chief
would have met his end on a gallows, hanged for mass murder much
as the Nazi chiefs were hanged at Nuremberg. In a better world,
the French president would not have paid a visit to the bedside
of such a monster. In a better world, well-wishers would not be
flocking to the hospital grounds to create a makeshift shrine of
flowers, candles, and admiring messages. In a better world,
George Bush would not have said, on hearing the first reports
that Arafat had died, "God bless his soul." God
‘bless’ his soul? "What a grotesque thing to say!
Bless the soul of the man who brought modern terrorism to the
world. Who sent his agents to slaughter athletes at the Olympics,
blow airliners out of the sky, bomb schools and pizzerias,
machine-gun passengers in airline terminals. Who lied, cheated,
and stole without compunction. Who indoctrinated his people with
the vilest culture of Jew-hatred since the Third Reich."

Israel refused the request to bury Arafat on the Temple Mount.
Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, put it very clearly: "Jerusalem is
a place where Jewish kings are buried, not Arab terrorists."
Washington took exception to Lapid's statement, and objected. But
would America consider burying Bin Laden in Arlington National
Cemetery?

What does the post Arafat future hold for Israel and
the Palestinians?

The short answer is most probably more of the same. Ultimately
the Arab/Israeli conflict is really a battle between Jehovah and
Lucifer over the Temple Mount. Satan will find it very easy to
find a replacement to continue his age old plan (Isaiah 14:12-13)
to permanently occupy the only possible location of the Temple of
God. (2 Chronicles 7:12, 7:16). Sadly the Jews and Arabs, two
very closely related peoples, and now the rest of the world are
caught up in this ‘mother of all battles.’

Just one day after Arafat’s demise, recently reelected
George W Bush was visited by British PM Tony Blair. In an effort
to salvage his own political career, Blair once again pressed
President Bush to employ the might of the US influence on the
Israeli government to force a peace plan. The plan or map of the
Middle East that the world leaders have in mind requires a major
sacrifice at Israel’s expense. The sacrifice of land given
by God in a covenant promise to Abraham, the forefather of the
Jewish people. This covenanted territory includes all of Gaza
(Gen 10:19), all of Judea and Samaria, erroneously called the
West Bank, and Jerusalem as the undivided capital city of
Israel.

The minimum demand of the Arab world is a return to the pre
1967 Six Day War boundaries that would include most of Judea and
Samaria, including East Jerusalem. Unless Israel’s leaders
totally buckle under the intense pressure that will surely come
upon them in the days ahead, this is unlikely to happen. Surely
God Himself will ensure that His covenant promises to Abraham and
his seed are fulfilled.

The short and medium term situation doesn’t hold much
hope for the Middle East or the World.

It seems that the ‘Great Tribulation’ is almost
upon us. As Christians, the people called to colabor with the God
of Israel, let us continue to watch and pray over His nation and
the Jewish people. Recognising the true legacy of the Arafat
reign, let us encourage as many as possible to function in the
opposite spirit, and get involved in the restoration of Israel,
thus hastening in the ‘good news’ era. The era of the
Millennium reign of the Son of God from the Throne of David - in
Jerusalem.

For further information about David Silver and Out Of Zion
Ministries: www.out-of-zion.com