YASSER ARAFAT
(Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini)
This is a particularly ironic quote. Although Arafat verbally and officially opposed torture, but used it frequently within the PLO and its “law enforcement” efforts amongst the Palestinians.
This quotation illustrates one of the more bizarre aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Namely that many of the Arab leaders appear to be in complete denial of what is totally verified historical fact about the Jewish presence and at times rule of much of the Middle East. There were two Jewish Temples built in Jerusalem. The first was the Temple of Solomon of Biblical Fame. Even of one dismisses the Bible as a historical source, the Babylonian records describe the Temple’s destruction in 586 BC. The Jewish Temple was rebuilt by Herod and the governmental records document its construction and other records describe its use and dedication by the Maccabees. The Roman Records completely document the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 AD. Arafat, although ridiculed throughout the civilized world, ordered Palestinian Historians to never mention or write about the Jewish Temples. No one knows whether he just did this as a political ploy, or was trying to pander to radical Arabs, or actually believed his statements and was in denial about reality. Outside of some Arabs, no one else believed it.
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, popularly known as Yasser Arafat (Arabic: ياسر عرفات, romanized: Yāsir ʿArafāt) or by his kunya Abu Ammar (Arabic: أبو عمار, romanized: ʾAbū ʿAmmār), was a Palestinian political leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an Arab nationalist, he was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.
