Posted on 11/11/2004 3:54:28 PM PST by Nice50BMG
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
While Yasser Arafat is being remembered by many as the father of modern terrorism, the United Nations headquarters in New York City is honoring the Palestinian leader by lowering its flag to half-mast.
![]() Yasser Arafat and Kofi Annan |
"Deeply moved" by news of his death, U.N. General Secretary Kofi Annan gave Arafat a "special tribute" before the General Assembly this afternoon after conveying condolences to his wife and daughter.
"By signing the Oslo accords in 1993 he took a giant step towards the realization of this vision," Annan said in a statement delivered by a spokesman.
"It is tragic that he did not live to see it fulfilled."
In a briefing in New York, spokesman Fred Eckhard said the secretary-general has asked Terje Roed-Larsen, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process and personal representative to the Palestinian Authority, to represent him at President Arafat's funeral in Cairo.
Eckhard said Annan was not going to the funeral because it was impossible for him to make the travel arrangements on such short notice.
![]() |
The U.N. chief, he noted, travels commercially and to get to Cairo by tomorrow probably would have required a private plane.
Annan was not sending any kind of message by not attending, Eckhard asserted.
He noted that the General Assembly, in a series of rulings over the years, had accorded Arafat a status equivalent to a head of state.
Annan decided Arafat should be accorded the same status in death as he obtained during his life, and the General Assembly president agreed, the spokesman said.
Was it lowered for Reagan?
Were the UN flags at half-staff when Reagan died?
I had the same thought.
Offensive - and lame.
Flags on BOATS are at "half-mast."
Flags on land are half-staff.
Everyone gets this wrong, and all the time.
One-half down, one-half to go....
They're just recognizing his embezzling ability, a skill they can respect.
Nice of them to show whose side they are on.
I will be deeply saddened when the UN has to relocate to Froggyville. Not!
"One-half down, one-half to go...."
Good observation! It's half of a good idea!!
If Clinton were President, US flags would be at half staff, too. If Kerry was President, the US flag WOULD be the UN flag.
Yup!
Kofi Annan never met a terrorist he didn't love. He 'feels their pain'.
I'm suprised the Great Stainmaker isn't going to the funeral so he can yuck it up with the dictators and communists, and then bite his lip and cry when the cameras are pointed his way.
Good riddance to a POS, every day earth is without Arafat the world is a little better.
Kofi Annan's words and actions are nothing less than an OBSCENITY. He is glorifying a mass murderer and terrorist whose goal in life was to destroy the state of Israel.
The UN is morally bankrupt.
Nothing new there, unfortunately.
Change that to U.N. flag is half-ast with Arafat and it is written correctly.
It'll probably be lowered for Saddam as well.
Annan did this to pi$$ us (U.S.) off!
No doubt.
Proving once again the UN is a terrorist organization that the USA has NO business paying for or supporting with US taxpayer dollars...
GET US out of the UN Now
President Bush....Please....
Not that I know of. ;o(
US out of the UN, UN out of the US. Simple as that. The UN has gone the way of the League of Nations.
Yu hit the nail on the head
So...is it the water in NYC?
Half-staff...for the world's greatest terrorist.
Words fail.
So the UN has respect for Arafat.
wonder what they will do when America whacks bin Laden?
"It is tragic that he did not live to see it fulfilled."
Ok I'm no history major by any stretch but isn't the reason the Oslo accords didn't work mainly cause this bastard was getting punks to blow up innocent civillians at every friggin bus stop known to Israel?
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm having a party this weekend to celebrate Arafats death. He is responsible for some of the most heinous crimes in history yet, the left wing of the world hold him up as some kind of hero. Once again my mind is blown about this (just as bad as Che Guevara), just you people wait and see, there will be t-shirts of arafat just as there will be of Osama that every wanna-be anarcho-fascist teenager will wear. How can liberals who proclaim to care SO DEEPLY about "suffering" and death, turn around and call Arafat, Ho-chi-min, Che Guevara heroes? You might as well stand up and proclaim the nobility of Hitler if you are going to call arafat a hero. Hitler may have died long ago but Arafat made it his lifes work to carry on Hitlers final solution. He instilled more powerful hatred for Jews in his people than Hitler ever could have dreamed. (because they also have their fanatical religion to fuel the fire) We call hitler what he was: an atrocity. Arafat was a blight on humanity and we are all better off with him dead. In the words of Ice cube: "today was a good day"
I just finished watching Brit Hume on FOX NEWS
The BULK of his show was on Arafat
The LEAD story was on Arafat
Arafat casket being carried by French soldiers
About 2 minutes, or less dedicated to Veteran's Day
I'll bet Hanoi Kerry was pleased that US Vets
took a 2nd place to Arafat on FOX
I skimmed the headline and saw US instead of UN. I was freaking out until I re-read it... phew.
I cannot imagine why everyone is making such a fuss over the death of a leacherous old terrorist.
When the heck will we get this money-sucking, diplomatic immunity invoking, parasitic cancer out of our country??
Amen.
This is sickening.
bump!!!
All US flags were at half-staff today, Veteran's Day, all over the country in honor of our fallen veterans.
The UN flag has probably been at half-staff ever since Bush was re-elected.
I purposefully avoided the news today because of the Arafat coverage. Watched the Arlington Natl Cemetary ceremony on Cspan.org while the kids watched cartoons, they had the day off from school. And we went to NAS Oceana's Flame of Hope Memorial today so we could pay our respects.
You really don't want to watch Chrissy Mathews. He was talking to Andrea Mitchell (who was IN Ramallah) and they were discussing how upset the Arab leaders and Palestinians are that US is ONLY sending Deputy Sec. of State William Burns, instead of Colin Powell.
Chrissy said "Well, you know that Bush ordered Powell not to have anything to do with Arafat. I just don't know if this is good move"..YECHHHHHHHHH!!!
The affection and honor they bestow upon a bloody murderer like Arafat says all anybody needs to know about it.
Does anybody know if the DU is broken up about Arafat as well?
I wonder if any enterprising journalist will ferret out his cause of death? His symptoms remind me of those of syphilis or AIDS.
Good riddance to a terrorist, thief, and murderer.
Yeah, the Arafat coverage has been pissing me off. It's Veteran's Day and there's big developments in Iraq, but every time I turn to the news they're giving a dead scumbag POS terrorist top-billing.
IMHO....I think that most of the MSM will treat this as an event on the level of Reagan's funeral.
The talking heads (minus a couple at FNC) will salivate over the crusty old Egyptian terrorist like he was some noble freedom fighter.
Then it should stay at half-mast.
Wouldn't it be more appropriate for a white flag to be flown at half mast or am I crazy?
The coverage of the POS today was and is disgraceful. Not to mention the Peterson trial.
A great big THANK YOU to all our veterans.
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