No. At least not yet. But if the Palestinians are to ever salvage their society and dreams of any kind of independence, they will probably need a Mandela-like figure to lead the way. And that sure ain't going to be Yassir Arafat. Barghouti has the popularity and the "street cred" to be that leader. Yes, he's a terrorist and yes his hands are soiled with the blood of innocents. The reality is that it's in Israel's interest to find a Palestinian who can make a peace deal on behalf of the rest of the Palestinians. And the ugly reality is that anybody who can unite and lead the Palestinians to make peace will have blood on his hands. Barghouti is still a relatively young man. Perhaps after a few decades in prison he can learn how to be a statesman. Or not. That would be up to him. There's no hurry. No leader can take his people to a place they're unwilling to go, and the Palestinians, as a whole, are not ready to make peace any time soon.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 14, 2002 07:02 AMThe Israelis are playing an interesting game with Barghouti. The could have killed him but instead captured him and are putting him on trial in a civil court instead of a military court. They had to know he would try to turn the trial into a forum, as he attempted today at his arraignment.
His brother Mustafa runs the Tanzim, Fatah's shocktroops.
The Palestinians are perhaps the newest people/culture/nation on earth, having not really existed as a distinct entity until about 40 years ago. They were created out of the Arabs of the Land of Israel who had mostly migrated in when the Zionist enterprise revived the economy. Created as a 'people' to be used as a weapon against the Jews, the uppity niggers of the mideast.
In 40 years the Palestinians have just about created the most bloodthirsty culture in human history.
Posted by: ronnie schreiber on August 14, 2002 05:11 PMboth of the israeli and the palestinian have the right to live equaly , justice is the only solution.neither the palestinianes nor the israelies had the choise of their birth.
Posted by: rez on January 13, 2005 11:17 PM