Abstract
The author argues that Arafat's political legacy is extremely controversial and practically irresolvable. On the one hand, he was an international terrorist and a dictator. On the other hand, he was a national hero and the father of the Palestinian people. That legacy, containing so many contradictions, as the author argues, is a reflection of Arafat's own incapacity to define his political aims and strategies; he often vacillated from one extreme to the other.

From the Paper
"Upon his death on the 11th November, 2004, Yasser Arafat became the subject of yet another controversy. That controversy was, specifically stated, over the nature of his political legacy. Some, as reported by CNN, celebrated his death, interpreting the event as the passing away of a "ruthless terrorist and roadblock to peace" ("Palestinian Leader"). This group interprets Yasser Arafat's political legacy as one of violence, bloodshed and corruption. However, if that group numbers in the millions even, there is another equally large group which mourned Arafat's death, perceiving of it as the passing away of a great political leader and symbol of Palestinian nationhood. This group interprets Yasser Arafat's legacy as being that of a freedom fighter and patriot. However, the fact is that the issue is much more complicated than this black and white picture and a critical analysis of Yasser Arafat's political journey illustrates that he left a mixed political legacy. As this paper shall try to argue, while Yasser Arafat had been involved in terrorist activities in his early life and had become the dictator and not the liberator of the Palestinian people in the last period of his life, he was not the obstacle to peace that Israelis and the United States have insisted he was and, after his death, his legacy will of national leader who, as a freedom fighter, restored the concept of the Palestinian people, made the dream of the Palestinian state an international goal, and achieved the independence of the Palestinian decision making from the control of Arab countries."

Tags:middle, east, palestine

Abstract
This paper discusses the book "Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography," written in 2003 by Barry M. Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin. The paper discusses the style and tone of the book and describes the book's analysis of Arafat's personal and political flaws, as well as his perseverance, intelligence, creativity flexibility and effective diplomatic ways. The paper concludes that it is a well-written, balanced and extremely interesting book.

From the Paper
"A key aspect of Arafat's long diplomatic success, especially in the latter decades of his career, the authors suggest, was the late Palestinian leader's successful cultivation of a particularly sympathetic public image. Perhaps ironically for one who publicly resisted any trappings of success or appearance of modern-day sophistication in favor of a humble if militant stubble-bearded look, Arafat used the mass media with enormous skill. He portrayed himself as a simple, no-frills man of the people, with his simple dress (usually a military uniform, as if he had come straight from battle), stubbly beard, and head-scarf carefully arranged to resemble a map of Palestine. Moreover, Yasir Arafat's disarming personal warmth, toward journalists and others, successfully masked his ruthlessness and perpetual propensity toward violence."

Tags:Palestinian, diplomat, Gaza

From the Paper
"Alan Hart, in Arafat: Terrorist or Peacemaker?, presents a well-balanced portrait of the Arab leader Yasser Arafat, demonstrating convincingly that he was indeed once a terrorist, using methods of terror to advance what he believed was a just cause, but who then became a true peacemaker. The author does not pretend to argue his case with an eye for objectivity, but instead is dedicated to urging the Americans to use their clout with Israel to persuade that nation to deal with Arafat and to understand the beliefs behind his tactics of the past. In any case, Hart is convinced (and gives the reader a powerful argument to share that convincement) that Arafat must be respected as a major player in any peace which emerges in the Middle East. His book is particularly relevant today as the peace process inches forward between the Palestinians and Israel, and as Arafat..."

From the Paper
"About some people there seems to be no middle ground of opinion: They are considered to be either demons or heroes. It should not be surprising that there is such polarization one way or the other, because indeed some people are so much better or worse than the average person, and as objects for study they are less than fascinating. The presence of excessive amounts of good or evil in a person is not on the face of it that interesting. Far more interesting are those figures from history that polarize opinion both ways, about whom it is alleged that they are both demons and angels, put here on earth to save us all, or destroy us all. Yasser Arafat - president of the Palestinian Authority from 1996 to the present, chair of the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969 to the present, and a Nobel laureate who has led the Palestinian people..."

Tags:BIOGRAPHIES

Abstract
This paper examines the founding, history, documents, beliefs, and actions of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. It describes the PLO's relations to the former Soviet Union, as opposed to Israel's relations to the USA. It uses these two comparisons to describe the PLO's involvement in the Cold War, while also describing its obstacles and goals in the middle east. The paper carries the reader through many of the PLO's failures and successes, all the way until the 1990's near peace agreement with the Israelis. The paper details Arafat's many ideals, those carried out in military actions and those carried out amongst his Arab brethren.

Tags:american, arafat, communism, east, foreign, israel, middle, peace, policy, process, refugees, soviet, union, zionism

Abstract
This paper explains that Israel's decision to build a security wall is controversial: Israel sees it as its best chance to reduce or eliminate terrorism and to solidify the border between the Jewish state and the Palestinian state; however, it is viewed by much of the outside world as a symbol of oppression against the Palestinians. The author lists alternative policies as (1) military incursions, which have not ended the terror in the past, (2) financial incentives similar to trade relations with Egypt, Jordan and Syria but there is enough money in the world to buy-off the terrorists, (3) withdrawal to the pre-1967 border and abandon the Jewish settlements on the West Bank, which meanings relocating massive numbers of Jewish settlers, and (4) end all military action, remove the fence and attempt to negotiate, which has proven to be very difficult even after the death of Yasser Arafat. The paper concludes that none of the alternatives presented have much chance to succeed; therefore, the building of the wall appears to be the best political choice especially since every nation has a right to protect its borders: The question is will the wall stop terrorism.

Table of Contents
Definition of Problem
Factual Background
Alternative Policies
Policy Evaluation
Policy Prescription
Maps

From the Paper
"The current structure being erected is not the first attempt to protect Israel from attacks by building fences. On May 29, 1938, the British under the leadership of Sir Charles Taggert began building a wall along the Lebanese border that was designed to protect Jewish settlers and British soldiers from attacks by Arab bands. This wall was called the Taggert Wall after the British counter terrorism expert who had gained his experience as a member of the British police force in India. He came to Palestine to coordinate the various security services, and erected a security fence along the northern border to prevent the infiltrations of terrorists. The structure managed to anger both the Jewish and Arab settlers, as it crossed pasture land and private property. After the threat from outlaw bands was over, the wall was dismantled. Later, in 1983, after the Israeli Defense Forces occupation in southern Lebenon was ended, a wall was built on the same border."

Tags:terrorism, palestinian, alternatives, incursions, negotiation

Abstract
This paper explains that the unprecedented impact of 9/11 on the consciousness of America and the international community is a new kind of globalized fear surrounding security, which is the product of shared cultural, political and technological factors characterizing the globalized world against another distinct culture, which aims to destroy rather than build or maintain life. The author points out the interrelationship of countries by relating that Arafat's Palestinian Authority documents unmistakably showed that the PA received money from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, which then was given to terrorist commanders for acts of terrorism against Israelis. The paper relates that the FBI categorizes international terrorism in the U.S. into three categories: (1) Activities of foreign sponsors, such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Cuba and North Korea, which used terrorism as an operational tool of foreign policy in the past; (2) formalized terrorist groups, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah, Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya of Egypt and the HAMAS of Palestine and (3) loosely affiliated international radical extremists who do not represent a particular country, such as those behind the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 in New York City.

From the Paper
"Developments in the international scene have enabled mass-casualty terrorism. Perceived and gross inequalities in economic resources and standards of living among nations in the world have motivated international terrorism and determined the level of ferocity and viciousness of attacks. Poverty was often blamed as the main cause of domestic terrorism, although there appears no "comprehensive correlation between" poverty and terrorism. But it is different in the international scenario. Free-market globalization gave the Islamic world access to Western values and institutions and this offers explanation for the growth of international terrorism, which is the weaker party's occasion to hit back."

Tags:funding, cyber-terrorism, inter-relationship, groups, fbi

Abstract
This paper traces the history of the Palestinians' bid for a homeland from the time that the land was ruled by the British. It shows how the tensions in the area have been exacerbated by such actions in recent times as the creation of the state of Israel, Israeli actions with regard to the Palestinians and the discovery and development of oil in the Arab countries. The paper also discusses the Palestinian question within the context of the Camp David talks which were held between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat in 2000.

From the Paper
"The Palestine question is a problem that has affected most of the countries in the region to some extent. Lebanon in particular has been faced with the refugee problem since the creation of Israel in 1948. The 1948 refugees constituted only the first wave of immigration from Palestine, however, and the numbers increased greatly as a result of the war between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Jordanian Army and the subsequent expulsion of several thousand Palestinian guerrillas from Jordan in 1970. What to do with these refugees has been one of the arguments between Israel and the Arab states."

Tags:middle, east, PLO, Jerusalem, Jews

Abstract
Examines violence and tensions of the area in 2001. Israel-Palestinian conflict. Background. The new intifada. Replacement of conflict resolution with crisis management as approach. Distrust on both sides of the conflict. Underlying problems. Uprisings and resistance. Mounting terrorism. Arafat's approach. Peres' approach. Role of the U.S. government. Sense of hopelessness.

From the Paper
"THE MIDDLE EAST IN CRISIS:
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

At no time since Israel was proclaimed a sovereign and independent state more than half-a-century ago has the future of the Middle East looked so bleak and deadly. Since new violence erupted last October between Israel on the one hand and the Palestinians on the other, a new intifada has evolved on a sustained basis. Thus, crisis management has replaced conflict resolution as the prevailing approach for dealing with trouble in this chronic hot spot (Simon, 2001, p. 31).
An underlying problem is the Palestinian unwillingness or inability to abandon its founding claim that Palestinians displaced by Israel in 1948 be allowed to return home (Zakaria 2001 2). Of course, Israel similarly has steadfastly refused to recognize the right ..."

Abstract
A paper which discusses the Middle East conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the urgent need for intervention by a third party due to the mistrust between the leaders of both sides. The paper shows that the true victims of this conflict are the innocent populations who are harmed because Arafat and Sharon cannot reach an agreement.

From the Paper
"BBC reporter Kathryn Westcott reports a chilling trend among young teens who emulate their elders and perform suicide bombings. The military action in the West Bank has had the effect that 600,000 children have been unable to attend school. Television propaganda enrages the children and they are now beginning to take part in the violence. We must remember that children learn more by our actions than our words and we can only blame ourselves when a 14-year-old runs into a crowded mall of other school children and pulls the pin on the grenade. Some so-called "Freedom Fighters" are even recruiting children to do their dirty work."

Tags:Freedom, Fighters, Elias, Tuma, West, Bank, terrorism