Was Yasser Arafat a good man?

Answer 1

He as the type of person that said all the right answers in one language to only turn around and say the exact opposite to his people. He did much more harm to Palestine than good, he had plenty of opportunities to get them on the right path but instead chose violence while playing dumb to a world community that knew better. Guess he thought no one else understood his native language...Wrong.

Answer 2

Yasser Arafat was a great leader of the Palestinian people. He was a freedom fighter attempting to restore his nation to its rightful place on the world stage.

Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, which is in Palestine. Jesus Christ was therefore a Palestinian, a freedom fighter and a revolutionary. His teachings lead ultimately to the complete destruction of the Roman Empire. Hurrah!

Answer 3

I don't know what you mean by "good man".
Everybody who met him except very few say he had lots of charisma and personal charme, despite not being good looking.
Most Palestinians still think he was a good leader.
He managed to get the Palestinian question on the agenda of world leaders.
A lot of people describe him as a terrorist.
Another lot describe him as a freedom fighter.
He got the peace Nobel price.
I don't know whether that makes a good man in your view.
My own is that he was a great man, but not better than other people.

Answer 4

All I can say is that I met him at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
I arrived from abroad and only wanted to check in but could
not get past the crowd of guards. When asked how I got past
the guards, before I could reply this small rather ugly man
seemed to know, so he approached me and said that it was
a pleasure to meet me and took me to the register counter
and insisted that I should register before him. After registering,
he smiled again and wished me a nice stay. I only found out
who this man was after the porter told me! This was quite some
time ago. So, all I can say of him is that he was a polite gentleman.

Answer 5

Arafat dedicated his life to fighting Israeli occupation, and his worth is only being seen now. He kept most of the Palestinian militants under control. He defied Israel for decades, and we saw how cruel and inhuman these damn 'Zionists' can be. (Lebanon)
I am convinced 'Honest George' and the stupid Israeli leaders are secretly longing for his 'stabilising' influence, though they will NEVER admit it!
History will judge 'Honest George' and Olmert much more harshly than it would Arafat.

Answer 6

He was democratically elected by the people, and therefore was a legal president. He must have been a good man for the people of Palestine to vote for him.

Unlike Bush who rigged the polls for him to become the US president.

Why are people blind. They like to critisice everyone else, but don't look at there own land.

Answer 7

Were the English and Isrealis who ran the Palistinians off their land good people? Were the Europeans who ran the Native People off their land good people? Some leaders only want justice for their people. At one time Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist.

Answer 8

Yasser Arafat was a terrorist, period. I'm sure he had his good side (even Adolf Hitler liked children),

Answer 9

Not really but he was respected by the Palestinians, he seemed to be able to keep the people under control, but I think he caused problems at times also.

Answer 10

I presume you are asking the question to good American citizens like you?