Arafat the Monster? To whom?

I had no intentions on commenting on the death of Yasser Arafat. I believe Noah did a great job in his op-ed and nothing more needed to be written about it on Black Introspection. However on the way home I tuned in to the Michael Savage show as I do everyday on the drive home and he was in the middle of a tirade about the “Monster” Arafat. He reference and quoted an article written by Jeff Jacoby for the Boston Globe today entitled “Arafat the Monster”.

As I listened to Savage speak about Arafat and how life goes on after his death, I could not help but think back to a few months ago when the gates of hell were swung opened to receive the late evil memory less Ronald Reagan and how there was no talk about how life will go on, even with him being dead, although it was as apparent after his death as it is after Arafat’s death that life goes on. Savage went on to criticize the Media for what he said was their attempt at making Arafat the monster into a good man. Unlike Savage many in the media recognize that regardless of the religious right and the supporters of Israel belief that Arafat is a monster there are those who love him.

When we consider the viewpoint of the Palestinian people versus that of the religious right in America and the Rogue State of Israel, we are again faced with a differing viewpoint much like the different view point held by Black folk concerning American history. Many of the white right wing nuts in the media that are saying it is a good thing that Arafat is dead and that history should reflect he is a terrorist are the very same white folk that take pride in the having terrorist in American history that enslaved Black men and women, raped and colonized Africa and wrote the history of those events as triumphant victories for them and this same garbage is taught to our children. When there is mention that the framers of the constitution were men who held Black men and women as slaves in their homes and many of them raped the Black women that were owned by them, this history is seen as irrelevant.

Arafat is a hero to his people in the same way George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and all the other rapist and enslavers are American heroes. It is really strange how that beast Sharon is considered to be any different than Arafat. If history is to portray Arafat as a terrorist than I say it is about time we correct the revisionist view point taught to us as American history and write it as it should be written. However we all know in America only the heroes of those opposed to white supremacy and white imperialism are portrayed as monsters in history while the savage framers of this Nation are given a pass. Arafat is no more a monster than those who found this nation but many will face their own date with death before they realize it.