A NOBEL FOR DYING?

Man of Peace? (WSJ-Best of the Web)

Yasser Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, and it appears he has finally done something to promote peace: He stopped breathing. The Jerusalem Post reports that Arafat's death "has left most Palestinians optimistic regarding the future and opposed to the continuation of terror attacks on Israel, according to a public opinion poll published Wednesday by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center":

A majority of 51.8 percent of the Palestinians polled said that they were opposed to "military operations" against Israeli targets and consider them harmful to Palestinian national interests, compared with 26.9% last June. Only 41.1% of the Palestinians believe that terrorist attacks should continue compared with 65.4% last June.

According to the poll, a majority of Palestinians, 59.3%, feel optimistic regarding the future in general, compared with 45.3% last June.

Arafat is in stable condition after dying in a Paris hospital.