The 75-year-old, who dominated Palestinian politics for 40 years, died at 0330 (0230GMT) on Thursday.

It has been a long couple of weeks for Arafat, the Palestinians, the Iraelis, and world peace as a whole. And now the wait is over. In a way, I feel sorry for the way the old man died, like an unwanted patriarch, his family squabbling over his fortunes, and his partners planning his burial before his heart stopped. Certain news reports I've been following over the last several hours had stated that the funeral would be set for Friday. The reason I found this sad is that I read these reports about two hours before he died. I admit to writing my father's obituary while sitting in the hospital with him the night he died, but I had the good graces to leave the time/date blank until he was cold.

That having been said, I didn't come here to romanticize a man who is responsible for some of the most heinous acts of violence against the Jews in the Middle East since Ramses II. The actions of the PLO and it's various factions have been despicable at best, and with Arafat's death, perhaps the world now has an opportunity to put this ugliness in the past. I will leave that kind of romantic gushing to CNN, who makes it sound like Mickey Mouse has died.

I am not the sort of person who would do a dance on his grave or anything, but I am glad that a miserable tyrant such as Arafat is no longer there to stir new generations to the kind of fever pitch of violence that we have seen over too many decades of his rule. I will not bid that he rest in peace, for there are too many lives burdening his soul. Too many people have died at his command for his soul to rest, wherever he is. There will not be 72 virgins waiting for him. Most likely there will be hundreds of dead Israelis, on a burned-out bus, waiting to cart him to Hell. He had a chance to make his peace with them, he was even given an award for thinking about it, but his actions led only to death and destruction. I don't hope that he rots and burns in hell, but somehow, I know that will be his fate. I wish him luck.