In the Daily Telegraph (registration required), Barbara Amiel argues that getting rid of Arafat will not help.

The question isn't whether the killing of Arafat would be a moral act - I believe it would - but whether it would be a helpful one. It has taken many Israelis a long time to face the fact that Arafat and most of the region are rejectionists, not in search of a genuine two-state solution but dedicated to the annihilation of Israel.

If Israelis have been reluctant to face this, it is hardly surprising that the world should take longer. Indeed, a number of Israelis, including deeply patriotic leaders, risked their lives - Rabin gave his - for the illusion that, except for a militant minority who operated either under a quasi-Marxist banner or a fundamentalist one, the Arab Street, and not just Egypt or Jordan, would accept the notion of a Jewish homeland if they could get the same for the Palestinians.
.    .    .
One can never predict the consequences of an assassination, but I think it is too late to kill Arafat. Had Arafat been eliminated 20 years ago, the situation might be different. Now the conflict has a momentum of its own, whoever the Palestinian leader. What is so dreadful to face and was so comforting to deny is that the majority of Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East as well as in some other countries are by now rejectionists as well.

Thus, the cabinet concluded that Arafat's ongoing encouragement of terror and his obstructive machinations were preventing all progress in diplomatic negotiations. Although he was relegated to the sidelines, his malign shadow still hovered over the road map, leaving it no chance of advancing while the violence escalated.

I hope Yassir Arafat dies soon! Arafat is a lifelong thug, thief, serial killer, airplane hijacker, bank robber, and terrorist. Thousands of innocent people have been killed, robbed, maimed, and hurt as a result of Arafat's thuggery. When Arafat dies, he can join his comrades Nicolae Ceaucescu, Hafez Assad, Haj Amin al-Husseini (friend of Hitler), Abu Abbas, Abu Jihad, Abu Nidal, Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil (second Hamas leader), Sheikh Ahmad Yassin (first Hamas leader), and Adolf Hitler in an eternal trip to hell. I hope the French doctors perform "assisted suicide" on Arafat. Too bad Jack Kevorkian was not there to take care of Arafat. Arafat is the thug who advocates suicide bombing. I think Arafat should strap himself to a bundle of dynamites and grenades and pull the pin. Maybe Arafat can find out what it is like to be a martyr. I will be celebrating and partying on the day Arafat dies. When Arafat dies, there will be one less terrorist breathing on planet Earth. Ambassadors Cleo Noel and George Curtis Moore, Belgian diplomat Guy Eid, Israel athletes at Munich, Yoni Netanyahu, and the Jews, Christians, Lebanese, and children who died at the hands of Arafat and his Arab thugs will be celebrating in heaven when Arafat dies. when Yassir Arafat dies, Arafat can go to hell and kiss Satan's ass! (I just wish I could pour pig's blood all over Arafat's dead body.)

Yassir Arafat is the Godfather of modern Arab Terrorism. Arafat is a friend of Ceauscecu and Soviet KGB and he will do anything and everything to please his masters in Moscow. Arafat is also a Son of Satan. Arafat is the man who murders, steals, covets, and lies to people. Arafat is the man responsible for Munich Massacre, Khartoum embassy kidnapping, death of Amb. Cleo Noel and George Curtis Moore, Achille Lauro and death of Leon Klinghoffer, brainwashing of Arab children in Israel, suicide bombing and intifada in Israel, Lebanon Civil War, Lod airport shooting sprees, and many airplane skyjacking.

Arafat is a serial killer and has the same anti Semitic passion as his boyhood hero Adolf Hitler. Arafat kills Jews, Muslims, Christians, women, children, Israelis, Arabs, Americans, and even his own fellow terrorists. Arafat is a terrorist who finances and supports Islamic Jihad, Hamas, PFLF, al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, and his own al Fatah and Palestine Liberation Organization (a.k.a. Palestine Authority). Arafat also sodomizes boys, engages in homosexual relationships, and embezzles money into Swiss Bank.

Arafat is an Egyptian by birth and a thug who founded al Fatah in Kuwait, and became head of PLO in 1964. Arafat has one goal and that is to kill every Jew in Israel and create an Arab terrorist state for Arabs only in the land of Israel. Arafat is also the same man who trained and financed Abu Jihad, Abu Adoud, and Abu Abbas. Americans have captured Abu Abbas recently in Baghdad, but Arafat demanded that Abbas be released. That shows that Arafat will never renounce terrorism and that his fake commitment to Oslo Accords and his public announcement to renounce terrorism are lies. Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize award is an obscenity!

Osama bin Laden, Mohamed Atta, Bill Clinton, and Richard Reid should all pay homage to their godfather Yassir Arafat.

i think it`s real simple at this point, they see the writing on the wall and are taking advantage of the current times.arafat won`t relinquish power, "they`ve" put him into an altered mental status and/or poisoned him to give him a "respectable" death so their efferts can move on. he`s a relic, bury him already!!!!!!!!!!!!saddams gone-arafats gone, lets clean house.