Yossi Sarid: I Should Have Criticized Arafat Sooner
Former Meretz leader Yossi Sarid admitted he was wrong to back Arafat as long as he did and should have abandoned the Palestinian leader when it became clear he would not honor his agreements.
“In the past I was wrong in not criticizing Yasser Arafat on time,” Sarid wrote in Haaretz last week. “Arafat was never a personal friend. For a while, Arafat seemed a reasonable partner when he was the first Palestinian leader to recognize the State of Israel and agree to a partition of the country.
“Eventually, he began to delude and deceive the entire world, and at a certain point it became clear we would not get very far with him. Or even close. That was the time to disassociate from him,” Sarid wrote.
Sarid added that the Left continued to support Arafat even as Palestinian terrorism spiraled out of control. “It was impossible to swallow the “chairman” but we also did not throw him up. He remained in office until he died. Politically, we died before him. Meretz paid dearly for that delay and with it the entire Israeli left.”
I truly believe we’ll hear more of these apologies as time passes. And most of them will be from folks who once praised Arafat as a peacemaker and Corrie as a martyr.
Arafat was perhaps our last best hope for peace and reconciliation. But before he could deliver, Barak lied and schemed our way out of a peace deal, and Sharon lit the match that ignited the recent Intifada. Sarid’s comments should be understood as a pathetic attempt to bring back some voters who migrated rightward, as opposed to a stand on principle.
Those who rejected Arafat will find themselves dealing with Hamas….
A country that elected Yitzhak Shamir and Ariel Sharon (terrorists and murderers) as Prime Minister has lost it’s ability to critique other national leaders.
Why is Corrie being attacked? For having the temerity to stand in front of a bulldozer about to demolish someone’s home?
Great parody by Charles of a hardcore Leftist. Well, I hope it was a parody…
As for Sarid, I’m pleased to see that he’s embraced reason and evidence on the peace issue. But he says ““Eventually, he [Arafat] began to delude and deceive the entire world, and at a certain point it became clear we would not get very far with him. Or even close. That was the time to disassociate from him”.
Exactly when was this? Or should I say, at what point was Arafat NOT deluding and deceiving? Sadly for Sarid, opening the door to clear-eyed thinking on these topics can only spell the demise of the Left.
We must bash Corrie, and claim she is a terrorist, generally with not one shred of evidence. The “Israeli left” lost credibility when it helped Barak lie about the generous offer. Charles is absolutely right that Hamas is karma for destroying Arafat’s reputation. Sarad should join Kedima.
BTW, the link to that article doesn’t work.
Charles
Sarid has been saying this for several years now – it’s not prompted by the coming elections.
Shtreimel
WTH does Rachel Corrie have to do with this?
Too little too late, Yossi.
Arafat was lying through his teeth from the get-go and you were a fool to believe him.
And now he’s worm food. Good freaking riddance.
Anybody who fell for Arafat’s “Apres moi le Hamas”/i> good cop/ bad cop charade is a damn fool. There was never any hope for peace with Arafat, and he was planning the intifada long before Sharon set foot on the Har Ha Bait. He was just Hamas in Fatah clothing. A distinction without a difference. And they were in cahoots anyway when it came to killing Jews.
Corrie was an ISM terrorist running dog. I feel sorry for her parents, but bad things happen when you wander around in a war zone. You can’t expect to be invulnerable just because you’re an American WASP “peace activist”.