Of Snakes and Terrorism

With the passing of Arafat, the Middle East will take on a slightly different face, allowing the possibilities for prophetic fulfillment to speed up. The pathway is now open for renewed efforts to procure peace in the Middle East, using the avenue of the formation of the promised Palestinian State. But this window of opportunity may not remain open for long. Indeed pressure is now mounting from the United States, encouraged by Britain, to get on with the steps necessary to implement the terms of the "Road Map."

January 9, 2005 has already been scheduled for Palestinian elections. The emerging line-up of candidates all have questionable backgrounds harking back to their various roles during the Arafat era.

It goes without saying, the achievement of the Palestinian goals will be a power struggle fanned by the more radical insurgents and hard-liner Islamic regimes. Hamas has already stated it is planning to increase pressure on Israel by escalating their terrorist activity in Gaza and the West Bank, whereas Islamic Jihad, Fatah, and the Al Aksa Brigade ( now being referred to as the Arafat Brigade) have issued statements they are planning to halt all atrocities until the election is over.

And, while Egypt and many other Arab League countries applauded Arafat's apparent achievements on behalf of the Palestinians, Kuwait is appalled that anyone would be so short-sighted as to give any honor to an avowed terrorist murderer. So, the Arab world has many issues to address, if they are to appear to mount a united front against the West

But, will sane, cool heads prevail? Will Israel use this opportunity to take decisive steps to maintain hold on her Covenant Land, or will she instead doggedly continue down the destructive path Sharon is still insisting upon? Israel has the option of being strong in the face of her enemies, or giving in to international negative pressures.

To illustrate the trap Israel is in danger of falling into, I would like to share a letter I wrote to Ruth Matar of the Women in Green, in anticipation of Arafat's demise.

REJOICE, BUT DO NOT CELEBRATE!

Dear Ruth,

We cannot, and we definitely ought not to bring ourselves to grieve over Arafat's death. He was a terrorist -- a heartless butcher!! He was not just a criminal murderer. He went far beyond the criminal to being an avowed monster! Even Muslim regimes, (Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia,) ousted him from their countries because he was too evil to be allowed to remain within their jurisdictions!

Even so, we must not seek vengeance, because that is not within our mandate. In the Day of Judgment the L_RD will avenge. While a man is alive, there is hope for repentance, but once he has passed beyond this earthly realm, his fate is sealed, and G_d will deal with him in due time.

What is most amazing is the fact that Arafat, with his impassioned intent on annihilating Israel, was allowed to enter, let alone dwell within Israel's borders! What was Israel's premise? It is best to have your enemy where you can keep an eye on him? Great idea, but it obviously did not work overly well! Instead, he was a deadly snake in Israel's fields!! But unlike the reptile version which does not strike unless threatened, he actively, and with demonic glee, coiled against his innocent victims, effectively plotting to strike with deadly venom. And, as if that was not bad enough, his subversiveness, ideology, and methodology, was perpetuated by training and grooming slithery terrorist bands to multiply his evil schemes.

So yes, we must in all honesty rejoice that such an one has been silenced.

But Arafat was at least one venomous snake that was positively identified, and even caged for a time in Ramalla. What is more dangerous now, and deadly, is his serpentine ''offspring." Although he is now not just defanged, but out of the picture, we must not let down our guard for even an instant. His larger than life persona, and legacy, will with misguided religious fervor, fan the fires of Islamic radical terrorism.

We cannot allow ourselves the glee of celebration! If only it was a simple matter to free this world of evil by the demise of one man! Unfortunately, evil does remain. Evil breeds more evil, and the legacy of evil is multiplied evil. We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of uttering one sigh of relief, lest while we celebrate with even a hint of distracted abandon, the multiplied evil slithers in to destroy.

If only the likes of Arafat were simply an isolated anomaly! We must count on the fact that evil loves company, and when an ideology is invoked, the one who is behind the stated mission will make certain his goals are perpetuated until accomplished by those following in his wake. Arafat obviously applied this premise, but not in the usual manner. He did not groom a successor. In not making certain there was an identified leader to fill the gap, he would be certain to further his agenda of terrorism, hoping most of it would be channeled toward Christians, Jews, and especially the nation of Israel!

What is not known, is whether the next generation of bred and groomed terrorist serpents will act predictably, emulating Arafat's pattern of behavior, or whether they will exercise their own wiley intellects to become more deadly through deception. Remember Eve was deceived by the serpent, and the whole world is still living with the consequences! Serpentine deception was absolutely effective in her day, and still is!! Beware! Examine even the apparent "moderates" carefully. Jews and Christians are still prey and targets as long as even one deadly serpent remains unidentified to roam the earth. And Israel can still be "bitten!"

Rejoice, but do not celebrate! Evil still lurks in the grass.

Sincerely,

Maureen Metcalf

Along with the above, I would like to mention the following:

It is a known fact that folk often present the memory of the departed in a glowing respectable light. This is an attempt to bring some positive closure and comfort to those who were close to the deceased. However, such falls short of reality when it comes to Arafat. It appears dignitaries from many nations who attended his funeral in Egypt, tried to cast a sympathetic shadow over Arafat, choosing to ignore his atrocities, capitalizing instead on his apparently noble struggles on behalf of the Palestinian people, as if he were a misunderstood champion of freedom and peace. Nothing could be further from the truth! The nations are kidding themselves by attempting to cause the masses to believe the lie that Arafat was really a good guy! Anyone who swallows their twisting of the truth, is opening themselves up to further misconceptions and manipulation. If a man committed murder, and/or incited, trained, armed, and funded others to plot and carry out atrocities against innocent, unarmed civilians, that man was a criminal!! A monster! How it was remotely possible for Arafat to have been awarded the Nobel Laureate for Peace is incredulous! Even post-humously, this award should be stripped from Yasser Arafat's legacy! The record of his "achievements" and 'exploits" indicate he was the embodiment of the opposite of peace and human decency!

If Arafat is being hailed as the Father of the Palestinian people and future nation, then he was not a very considerate "Father!" In fact, he was abusive! He claimed Palestinians were in need of humanitarian aid, but when that aid was sent by honestly well-meaning agencies and governments, he squirreled it away in such a manner that it is now difficult to separate out the humanitarian funds from his own obviously massive fortune, or from funds illegally acquired to support terrorism, leaving many of his own Palestinian "family"still impoverished. Since no one knew what he was doing with the money, he used the deceptive leverage to claim poverty to gain even more millions! In other words, like his friend, Saddam Hussein, he withheld funds and aid from his own people so he could use their "plight" as a bargaining chip to hoodwink and fleece other nations. He took advantage of their good will! He used the Palestinians for his own ends, to further his own agenda, all the while allowing them to believe he had their best interest at heart! They ought to be decrying him for that! What loving father withholds help from his own family, especially when the funds are ear-marked specifically to help him care for their needs? This is despicable!

But then, we also must remember, he is considered to be the "Father" of international terrorism, and he obviously took much of these humanitarian funds, and applied them to his terrorist agenda. As such, it seems he had no qualms about practicing humanitarian terror against innocent Palestinian families!

All Yasser Arafat's assets and accounts should be seized, analyzed by an impartial third party with expertise in international financial affairs, then every last penny (except for what his wife and daughter really need) distributed directly to each Palestinian family according to their needs. And, the use of these funds should be continually monitored to make certain they do not directly, or even indirectly, support terrorism. In fact, a great portion of his funds should be channeled into agencies which will assist the victims of his atrocities, especially Israelis who have been maimed and bereaved, or need rehabilitation or re-training!

Should Arafat be celebrated? Nope!! Not by the nations, and certainly not by the Palestinians!

Guest Editorial:

To highlight the danger of inappropriately capitalizing on the legacy of Yasser Arafat, I have included the following editorial comments submitted by Marilynn Dawson. We must not underestimate the power of religious piety to portray Arafat as a larger-than-life hero, whose now revered persona could be channeled to fan the flames of Islamic extremism.

Written by Maureen Metcalf, author of "The Final Schedule Revealed: In the Fall Feasts and Festivals"

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