The godfather of modern terrorism's funeral is barely over and world dignitaries and media are rushing to offer their "condolences." As I opened the morning Los Angeles Times, I was startled to see that their resident pro-Arab resident had returned. Perhaps I should not have been surprised about the return of Tracy Wilkinson at this particular time, in light of the glorification of Yasser Arafat. Ms. Wilkinson was previously banned from writing about the Middle East because her rabid anti-Semitic, pro-Arab bias led to a wave of subscription cancellations by appalled and disgusted readers.



Yet, incredibly, dear Tracy has been resurrected. I would not be surprised if "Abu Ammar" has the same experience; his mosque and burial shrine is in a place only ten miles from Jerusalem.



Referring to his death, Ms. Wilkinson called Arafat the "iconic symbol of the Palestinian struggle for statehood and the embodiment of a revolutionary who could not make the transition to governance." Really? How totally silly of me to think all this time that he was an Arab reincarnation of Hitler. Instead of being revered, he should have been crushed like the cockroach he was decades ago. To call Arafat a "statesman", "visionary", "freedom fighter", etc. is a horrendous insult to such luminaries, dead and alive.



Somehow, Ms. Wilkinson also managed to convey how sad it was that this great leader was not quite able to make it because "Palestinian borders, airspace and economy remained under control of Israel, and the revolution is taking too long."



I believe I know why Arafat's followers had problems with the economy. The truth is out: it was wife Suha and her obscene shopping sprees in Paris that caused them so much grief and suffering, not to mention (but I will) billions of dollars and euros that were diverted from aid payments from the US, the European Union, the United Nations and Saudi Arabia in "support" of the Palestinians. It is rumored that revered leader Yasser managed to squirrel away between $3 billion to $11 billion in secret Swiss bank accounts. Now, who will win the race to the bank, Suha or her hubby's "advisors" (a.k.a. terrorist thugs)?



Actually, I think the impasse has been solved. The grieving widow is rumored to receive an annual income amounting to twenty-two million dollars. And that, dear reader, is in addition to the $60 million that recently made it to her Paris checking account.



Somehow, between all that crying and breast-beating while hubby was playing "Bernie" from Weekend at Bernie's, dragged around like the Night of the Living Dead, poor grieving Suha managed to meet with his French lawyers and strike a deal. She gave them the vault's access codes so they could grab their "share".



Pretty terrific for only ten years of marriage; what a widow's stipend! Even better, loving wife Suha managed this while spending half of that time living in Paris, away from her equally loving husband Yasser. Hats off to Suha - she makes Imelda Marcos look absolutely deprived.



Poor Suha. She will suffer in silk and caviar, maintaining the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed. Hey, with that kind of money she could even buy a new burka. Oopsie, I forgot, she doesn't need them in Paris. Well, she could always get her hair done.



The jury is still out regarding former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' (a.k.a. Abu Mazen - why do so many of them have a.k.a.'s?) eventual share. But for now, Suha has been muzzled, apparently has gone silent over the heart-stopping disgrace resulting from the rape of the poor, impoverished "Palestinians".



Interesting, don't you think, that, at least for now, no one dares mention the "plight" of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs effectively "imprisoned" in filthy "refugee camps". They are in these camps because, as mentioned above, Arafat and his thugs siphoned off billions of euros and dollars to their own corrupt pockets. So much for "champion" Arafat's "struggle" for his victimized people.



Wow! It boggles my mind at the unwillingness of the media, grieving compatriots, EU, UN or American taxpayers to appear even a teensy bit upset or to discuss the fate of all that money. Even I am a little upset that their heritage has and will continue to be squandered in the smart shops of Paris and the purchase of nearby villas; but it really does not matter. The average Gazan family lives on $7 per day, yet they still want to build a mosque above the pedophile monster's grave.



It was hardly surprising to me that the sub-human savages he trained in terrorism for four decades "reacted to the death of their leader by firing guns into the air and burning tires, sending a pall of black smoke over the city." Why am I not surprised? During several visits to the cesspool of Gaza over the years, that was the first thing I noticed. I saw too many young men lying around, smoking hashish, burning tires and, when they felt especially gleeful, firing guns into the air. Of course, those bullets eventually came down somewhere and killed passersby, but hey, why worry?



Hearing and seeing President George Bush blessing this Satan's soul was bad enough without seeing large photos in the Los Angeles Times of a dirty-looking Arafat kissing the hand of his good friend, the late Leah Rabin. I remember a speaking engagement Mrs. Rabin had in Pasadena, California. I was given clearance to interview her. However, upon arrival, I was told that my writing was not of the "tone" that they wanted from someone due to speak with Mrs. Rabin. Evidently, someone had told her that I was among the rare writers who dared to disagree with her late husband's policies.



Nevertheless, I stayed for her speech. How disgusted I felt as she told her audience of non-Jews in the packed auditorium what a good friend of Israel her blessed friend Yasser Arafat was, and how wonderful he was to her after the Israeli premier was assassinated; and how no one deserved a Nobel Peace Prize more than Arafat did. Folks, that was another time I wanted to gag!



I wonder, is it stupidity or anti-Semitism (or maybe both) that motivates world leaders and media to rush to Arafat's bedside, and later to his graveside, to grieve so copiously for the man who introduced modern terrorism to the world? It was at Arafat's knee that Osma Bin-Laden learned about airplane hijacking. Where is mention of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the '72 Munich Olympics? The slaughter and injury of dozens of people, almost all children, in the northern Israeli town of Ma'alot in May, 1974? Bombing a Swissair jet out of the sky filled with civilians?



The BBC and other media outlet cite the "accomplishments" of this monster. They even have the gall to ask about the "mysterious death" of this evil entity and would convince us he was a great man. That he died from AIDS is more than a rumor - Arafat's homosexual tendencies have been documented for years, but no one has wanted to hear or read of them.



Finally, I am bewildered - why would Israeli authorities even consider allowing Arafat to be buried anywhere in the area? His native Egypt wouldn't hear of interring him there. Jordan flatly refused to even entertain the notion. I cannot begin to understand why the Jewish State would want to make Ramallah another "holy city". How could Israel even consider allowing mobs of "pilgrims" to make a "haj" to Ramallah on each anniversary of their leader's death? The "pilgrims", I firmly believe, will plan is to bomb more innocent Israelis. They will be bringing in hundreds of thousands of terrorists, only ten miles from Jerusalem.



The savages we all saw shooting their guns into the air are just waiting to surge in and destroy everything in their path.



What could Premier Ariel Sharon and his government be thinking? Why? In the name of heaven, why?