Arafat Emerges From Compound a Second Time

[drdon326]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030912/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_arafat_3

Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) emerged from his office for a second straight night Friday and rallied hundreds of supporters. "To Jerusalem we are going as martyrs in the millions," he told the crowd. Arafat also recited a passage from the Quran.

He spoke one day after Israeli leaders announced they had decided to "remove" Arafat whenever they choose. The vague wording left room for several options: deporting Arafat, capturing him or killing him.


The crowd of hundreds held photos of Arafat and chanted: "With our blood and souls we will redeem you."

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martyr , huh ??.......be careful what you wish for, yassir.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[aneerkoinos]

2. re martyr

Do you even know what the Greek word 'martyr' means? Nope, it's not a 'dead person'.

[rini]

3. martyr

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek martyr-, martys, literally, witness... well,Arafat, can witness the end of his regime of terror

Date: before 12th century
1 : a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion...no one is asking him to give uo his religion

2 : a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle...his life (though I wish him a long one) is of no value to anyone but G-d

3 : VICTIM; especially : a great or constant sufferer <a martyr to asthma all his life -- A. J. Cronin>...he is a victim of his own hate, greed, and ego.

[newyorican]

4. right or wrong...

number 2 is the operative definition in the mind-set of groups like Hamas and IJ.

Not very confusing at all.

[drdon326]

5. Say it again ,newyorican....you might believe it.

Try....

1 : a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion...no one is asking him to give uo his religion

can you say ij ??

[newyorican]

10. "can you say ij ??"

Can you make some sense?

[StandWatie]

6. it still doesn't quite translate right

"shahid" pretty much means "martyr" in classical arabic but it has it's own definition in the West Bank and Gaza which means "getting killed by Israel" which to them includes the people who blow themselves to hell "fighting" Israel.

[newyorican]

7. 3 bets

1. Will Israel follow through or get punked?

I say they punk out.

2. In the event Israel follows through, Arafat dead or alive?

Dead as a door nail, he's in his mid-70s, he's not going anywhere on his feet.

3. In the event Israel follows through, what will be the corresponding level of support that will shift to Hamas?

I say Hamas support will grow between 4x to 5x it's current level. That doesn't include foreign FOU (friends of Usama) finally getting into the act.

[StandWatie]

8. not Hamas

to be honest, I don't care if they do kill Arafat, they need a stronger leader than him anyway but they don't have to look to Hamas, there are a number of other people who could fill the role within the PA.

[newyorican]

9. Hopefully not Hamas...

but kill the charismatic leader of the PA and the organization will have to survive the initial onslaught of the violent reaction on one side, while dodging Israeli assaults. I don't think the PA is so permanent a structure that it's survival is assured.

[sushi]

11. Why can't everybody just wait

He is an old man, and not in good health. Why make the situation worse than it already is. I think he has an agreement with somebody to shoot him if/when necessary, or he'll do it himself. I think Osama bin Laden, if he's still alive, has made the same arrangements.