..yet any condemnation or criticism of Arafat in lefty circles...

..yet any condemnation or criticism of Arafat in lefty circles (read progressive liberal) is met with cries of Palestines 'Israel problem'.

Never is there ever any condemnation or criticism in any of the lefty circles of any Islamic government yet there are plenty when a churchman expresses an opinion on western democracy.

For Kofi Annan to make Arafat a statesman, put UN flags at half mast and for Chirac to attend Arafats deathbed reeks of a compromised dysfunctional political system, the secular democracy of the French and the UN.