The Israeli-Palestinian tug of war has long fascinated me…and not just because there’s always a new intifada book at Border’s, I dated half of the activist Jewish South or that the latest kibbutz security solutions always represent the utmost au courant in the architectural vanguard of barbed and dangerous.

Every epic struggle needs a protagonist and one of the most legendary has left our world today, Yasser Arafat. The master PLO’er caught my eye as a teen, not due to his fiery rhetoric but because of his unique headgarb. Common sight in the outdoor Midwestern shopping plazas of the Debbie Gibson era? In a word, no. As my politco fascinations grew, I followed his ups and downs and Phoenix-like resurections for the better part of two decades right on through the Oslo accords.

Cunning, elusive, dangerous and wildly unpredictable, this man had one hell of life. And likely, one hell of an afterlife. Bets on how long it will take for the Ramallah compound to become a musee de liberation and key stop on the pilgramage trail? The contrast between the fates of Arafat and Sharon (master general in the Six Days War) is striking, is it not? Given their similarities in time of war and in deed? I leave you with this to ponder, as well as the interesting riff-raff the Arafat gift shop might carry. Security Wall bracelets, anyone? My sincere wishes for Arafat and the Middle East to finally rest in peace.

Signed,
TLRG, Agent of Global Diplomacy