Defending Arafat from foreign attack

Referring to the letter by K.B. Kale in The Jakarta Post on Nov. 29, 2004, it is intriguing to read the rhetorical litany of unbalanced, so-called observation, in his rather fervid diatribe, exhibiting a loose embrace of facts tinged with outdated superficial demagoguery.

It raises a compelling question as to how he could manage to eschew mentioning the background of the overall context, basically, the Israeli occupation and continuous aggression against the Palestinian people.

Mr. Kale effusively describes how he couldn't "forget the pictures of the three unfortunate aircraft ... waiting to be blown up" which was undoubtedly a regrettable act, but it is worth mentioning that no casualties resulted from the act. He conveniently overlooks the destruction of Palestinian cities, towns and thousands of houses by the Israeli occupation forces with a heart-breaking human toll inflicted on civilians.

The demure chauvinism with its searing breath was inescapably discernible as he expounded (on Arafat), "(he) did not succeed in keeping his people disciplined" as if they are a band of hoodlums that need to be restrained.

Arafat never claimed that he was behind the mentioned hijacking -- as Mr. Kale would have us believe -- and he was not, a rival group of that time committed that act.

The Palestinian people, who bravely stood up and resisted the Israeli military juggernaut, have a lively civil society in spite of the occupation. They have made their voice heard under all the circumstances, and the right is theirs to make a judgment about the performance of Arafat.

Mr. Kale's observations were flawed and disingenuous at best, and lacked the objectivity of balanced observation and fair criticism to advance the cause of constructive discourse.

RIBHI Y. AWAD
Ambassador of Palestine for Indonesia
Jakarta