The Fatah Party Conference today decided unanimously to declare that Israel is responsible for the death of Yasser Arafat and to open an investigation into what they see as his assassination. Fatah asked for international aid in getting to the truth.
Oh, come on. The guy got sick and died. His own doctor said he had AIDS, though he blamed Israel for injecting him with the virus (how, with an AIDS rocket? Israelis weren't in physical contact with him during the Second Intifada, except for a few far left wing activists, who I wouldn't see as prime suspects).
How is this resolution blaming Israel and calling for an investigation constructive in any way? This won't bring peace to anyone. It will not even give the Palestinians peace of mind regarding the death of Arafat, since they will not except any conclusion other than the one they've already come to.
Farewell to Steve Silberman
20 hours ago
While I'm not enormously predisposed to believe in the murder theory, it's not so easy to dismiss out of hand. The 'AIDS theory' seems to have been thoroughly debunked and the exact cause of death (even if natural) is now strongly disputed.
ReplyDeleteThen there the Cui Bono? principle: with hindsight Israel had much to gain from Arafat's death and it wouldn't be the first time Israel resorted to assassination of political opponents (Khalid Mechal, anyone? Yes, embarrassingly he survived the attempt).
Galloway has pledged to hold a 'public tribunal' on the Arafat case. While this has no legal value whatsoever, it would allow those believe they have evidence to come forward and present it. Not necessarily a bad thing... leaving this business 'unfinished' isn't conducive to Palestinian peace of mind either.
On the other hand, the number of controversial 'celebrities' whose death is alleged to be 'suspicious' or 'mysterious' grows with every celebrity death (in the case of Michael Jackson, the autopsy is likely to have been a whitewash - sorry, couldn't resist!)
Yes, Israel is willing to assassinate enemy leaders. That's not the part that makes the conspiracy theory hard to believe - it's the cirmcustances. Arafat was isolated for months. I don't see how Israel would be able to poison him. It seemed like a regular illness of an old man, except for the secrecy, but secrecy is quite common with leaders (and not just autocratic ones).
ReplyDeleteNo matter what Galloway's tribunal or any other investigation would find, Palestinians would be enraged. If Israel is found not guilty, or that there isn't enough evidence to support its guilt, Palestinians will claim it is a cover-up. If the verdict is guilty, Israel won't admit to anything and instead claim the tribunal was biased and the evidence tainted. Palestinians will want revenge.
I don't see how bringing this up could lead to anything but anger.
"Palestinians will claim it is a cover-up. If the verdict is guilty, Israel won't admit to anything and instead claim the tribunal was biased and the evidence tainted. Palestinians will want revenge."
ReplyDeleteHmmm... some will and some won't, depending on the quality of the evidence. I doubt that even at the present state of play every Palestinian believes he was murdered: opinion will be divided, methinks...