Let's get one thing straight: Arafat was a thug. He was not a leader. He was the caveman with the biggest stick, and nothing more. He didn't have the support of his people, he had the support of their intrinsic investment in the conflict. Without the conflict, arafat was absolutely nothing. He had no knowledge of infrastructure, leadership, or statesmanship.
Arafat was a terrorist, and a traitor to his people because of it. Every dead Palistinian has Arafat to thank for his/her death, and every P-stain living in squalor has him to thank for their poverty.
For willingly following trash like Arafat, I daresay P-stains have earned their fate.
As for the media, I wouldn't underestimate the power of MTV, CNN (well, if it were ever pro-american, or even objective, that is), ESPN and internet porn. Hell, just look what it's done to America in the last 20 years; imagine what it'll do to a society based on conformity.