Arafat is the key player in achieving Mideast peace

Arafat is the key playerin achieving Mideast peace
Editor:
They call him an obstacle to peace. They say he is an "autocratic leader." They accuse him of corruption. Israel claims he is in league with the suicide bombers.
But is it true? Has anyone ever examined Bush and Sharon's records? Is Sharon autocratic? Is Bush? Please, do I really need to go into it ... the war in Afghanistan, in which thousands of innocent civilians were killed by American bombs, followed by the crusade to invade Iraq against the opinions of the entire world, millions marching in the street, only to be dismissed by Bush with one sarcastic sentence.
I would say that is autocratic, and there is much more.
As for Sharon, the question now seems even more absurd. Even his allies will tell you the "Bulldozer" is a bully -- the way he baited the Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa shrine, the hundreds massacred in Jenin, mostly innocent people who could not get out of the way fast enough for the fascist bulldozers. Yes, I think we have autocratic.
As for corruption, only a few months ago Sharon's dirty dealings and election manipulations were exposed all over the Israeli press. They openly and correctly called him the most corrupt prime minister in the history of Israel.
As for Bush, the cover-ups and secret deals are just beginning to be investigated by those who dare to fight for truth, mostly in what is now called the "fringe media" since the major media in the United States no longer accept or comprehend the fundamental concepts of the U.S. Constitution.
But the big question is: Is Arafat truly an obstacle to peace? Or is he, as I believe, among the three leaders, the only one who is truly and totally committed to it?
No one can read another man's heart, but actions speak for themselves. Of the three, he is the only one who has not tried to forge false accusations against the others, nor indulged in spreading rumors, insisting that they be removed and that the people in their administrations disregard them, nor operate without their consent or approval.
For over three years he has been a virtual prisoner, cut off from his family -- he has an 8-year-old daughter who he longs to hold in his arms again, who now barely knows him. His offices and accommodations have been wrecked by Israeli shelling and destruction.
This is an old man who longs to retire. He is not hanging on to power for himself but for the dream of a free Palestine for his people. The Palestinian people have an instinctive sense of his worth, the sacrifices he has endured, his unbending will to attain a complete and just freedom and not the compromised and humiliating concentration camps that were proffered by Barak.
For decades, Israel has inflicted cruelties upon them. We should all speak up and shout "Stop." But our government undermines us, and everyone is terrified of being accused of being "anti-Semite," so they say nothing, even though they know in their hearts that something is wrong.
Arafat is not the obstacle to peace. Rather, he, as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, is the key to its success.
ROGER LAFONTAINE
Youngstown
First teach, then administer
EDITOR:
I am a high school teacher in the Youngstown City School District.
Regarding the search for a new superintendent, my No. 1 criteria for a superintendent is that this person have experience as a classroom teacher and all that it entails: children all day, every day for 178 consecutive days, a constant flow of papers to grade, grades, parent conferences, lesson plans, etc.
Nothing repulses classroom teachers more than administrators who tell them what to do and how to do it, without ever having done it themselves!
To quote an old spiritual, "Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes ... "
DIANE T. MURPHY
Canfield