“Sources in the defense establishment believe tomorrow will be
the day on which the Palestinians will ask to disconnect Arafat
from life support and announce his death. Tomorrow night marks
Lailat al-Kader, the night Muslims believe God revealed the
Koran to the prophet Mohammed. The death of the Palestinian
leader on that day will, therefore, be symbolic.”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/498629.html

“The bill specifically forbids Arafat from being buried anywhere
in Israel. “Because of his disease,” the bill reads, “the State
of Israel allowed Arafat to leave for the sake of medical
treatment. This bill requests a ban on his return to Israel or
to the Palestinian Authority areas, whether to stay or to pass
through. The bill also wishes to prevent his burial in these
areas, lest the site turn into a pilgrimage attraction, a
symbol, and a source of inspiration for the war against Israel’s
existence.”" Arutz-7 news: Tuesday Nov 9, 2004

“”We chose Ramallah because it is close to Jerusalem, where we
are hoping to bury him in the near future,” said Hassan
Khraisheh, deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council
and member of a special committee entrusted with overlooking the
funeral arrangements. Palestinians said that after Arafat would
be buried there, a mosque and monument would be built inside the
compound.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/P
rinter&cid=1099973628375&p=1078113566627

“Sha’ath said there is no talk of removing Arafat from life
support. “We are not really believers in euthanasia. The man is
not suffering; he is in a coma … It’s out of the question that
anybody is thinking of taking any such decisions,” he said.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/09/arafat/index.html

Waiting till the Night of Power to pull the plug on Arafat’s
life support would have effectively placed him on the “highest
spiritual level” quoted above, and therefore, “in the divine
presence of” allah. However, as the PA officals didn’t remove
his life support, even his burial in Ramallah, complete with a
mosque and monument to boot, will do one of two things in the
minds and hearts of Muslims worldwide who revered Arafat in this
life.

1) Arafat will be elevated to prophet status, and his teachings,
sayings, decrees, etc, spread throughout the Islamic world, and
be followed even more devoutly than in his lifetime. Thus
ensuring PA leadership, that their goals to wipe out the Jews
and Christians wherever they may be found, will be carried out
in even greater numbers, dedication, and determination than in
the past.

In this situation, pulling the plug on Lailat al-Kader would
have been a ploy to ensure that policies, goals, ideology, and
commitment to Arafat’s cause is further entrenched and carried
out. Such a ploy would have taken advantage of Muslim thought
and desire on this day, and basically forcing what many call
“the new Islam” down everyone’s throat, as refusal to honor a
prophet brings harsh discipline.

Burial complete with mosque and monument will very likely do the
same thing in the minds of the moslem people, as not only will
they come to mourn, but also come to worship.

2) Arafat will receive the burial fitting for a prophet, and
many will come merely to mourn his passing, but no elevation to
prophet status will occur.

This is less likely to happen, as in order to have his death be
symbolic on the night of Lailat al-Kader, moslems would have to
admit that Arafat was spoken to by allah himself, and that his
death is a sign that his words are to be whole-heartedly honored
and obeyed.

It’s bad enough that the IDF is bracing for riots and increased
violence in PA-controlled areas following the news of Arafat’s
death. But to have millions of moslems suddenly claim Arafat as
a prophet will make matters worse for Jews, and Christians
around the world. It’s already bad enough that a BBC reporter
cried over his release to a Paris hospital. The added sympathy,
honor, mourning, and allegiance to his teachings will only
congeal supporters world-wide as well.

I see therefore, a potential polarization of East versus West,
of People of the Book versus Islam in the coming days. Saudi
Arabia is already treating the war in Iraq as a holy war.
PA-bred terrorists are already in Iraq killing Americans and
other national groups the same way they’ve been killing Jews in
Israel for years.

Arafat is not another Louie
Riel(http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Pa
rams=J1ARTJ0006837), to be decried, then enshrined, then
decried, then a statue built, repeatedly going from hero to
villain and back again. Arafat, plain and simple, is a villain
on a massive scale. He will be a hero to the strain of Islam he
revived and its sympathizers, and a villain to those who don’t
adhere or sympathize with his ways and teachings.

I say be watchful in coming days. Whether intended by the PA
leadership or not, Islam may have just turned a corner. Jews and
Christians beware.