Yasser Arafat is no more

Today Yasser Arafat died. While the world bemoans his loss I am suddenly filled with doubt about his greatness. I am no Israel supporter nor am I a supporter of Palestine though at times my symapthy lies with Palestine for the needless oppression they have to endure. Ariel Sharon is perhaps the worst thing to happen to Israel but then I am no expert on world politics.
Yasser Arafat was a soldier and though he died a diplomat I am sure he would rather be known as a soldier even in his death rather than a politician or a diplomat. According to me there are two types of soldiers: the ones who use violence and others who don't. Gandhi belonged to the latter. He fought the British with nothing in his hand and used caste and religion in a polarized nation to his advantage to motivate people to fight for freedom. Critics will argue that if it hadnt been for the 2nd world war India would never have got her freedom but then the fact remains that the major freedom struggle was led by Gandhi and it was that very freedom struggle that delivered independence.
Arafat beleived in the gun from the very beginning, he never apologized for it; in fact he glorified it and was a romantic hero with a gun in his belt and head cover with a benign smile firmly placed on his face. He never shied away from violence and endorsed it and beleived it to be right. I am not one for violence and fact remains Arafat has been behind some of the worst attacks ever. The end has been achieved, there is a Palestine state permanently under seige, however it can be seen that this was achieved after he shed the weapons and clad the garb of a diplomat. The means used to achieve an end are equally imporatnt and cannot be ignored. Arafat has died with a lot of blood on his hands and I wonder whether such a person should be glorified as a hero. According to me a violent hero while romantic and easily visible is an oppressor to another. Arafat may have obtained the land he desired but the price he has made innocent people pay can never be forgiven. I shall repeat again at this point that I am not an Israel supporter but then I feel the attention accorded to such a man should not make him out to be greater than he actually was. He was a terrorist and then a diplomat, let us remember Arafat as that and nothing else.