Quote:
| how Arafat - since he can't force Hamas to obey cease-fires - is a terrorist |
Arafat is a terrorist because he has acted as a terrorist in the past. The reasons are to do with links to him actively funding and possibly ordering and planning terrorist acts (including the attack on the Israeli teams at the 72 Olympics in Munich). His inability to get Hamas to do what he tells has nothing to do wtih the accusations of his terrorist activities.
This isn't recent (and, like most things on this topic, a search ends up with polarised opinions). I'm not accusing Arafat of currently being involved in terrorist activities, but it's very unlikely that he hasn't been involved in these activities in the past.
What I also admited was that Sharon was cut from the same cloth. The fact that Sharon used an army and an intelligence service doesn't make him any less guilty than Arafat. In either case,
both should be tried for their pasts. If the evidence doesn't stand up in court, then that's good enough for me. It should, however, be taken to that stage.
I also acknowledged that he was the elected leader of the Palestinians. When the Palestinians elect people like Arafat and the Israeli's elect people like Sharon, it is indicative of the distrust between the peoples.