Was Arafat assassinated?

Not that we'll ever be able to know for certain, but this little thought has lived in the back of my mind since Arafat took ill and has since died. He had many enemies in the Middle East, and both Sharon and Bush had repeatedly warned that Arafat was no longer "relavent". Sharon specifically threatened to assassinate him, and has occupied Arafat's compound in Ramallah for a few years holding him in a form of "house arrest".

This news article in Ha'aretz is a prime example:

WHAT IT MEANS: Politically, Arafat is a dead man walking


By David Landau, Ha'aretz Correspondent
Last Update: 25/06/2002 15:21

Bush's verdict: Arafat is the guilty party. "Today," he asserted, "the Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing, terrorism." The Palestinian Authority, he added, had "rejected [Israel's] offered hand and trafficked with terrorists."

Bush's sentence was brutal and unequivocal: "Peace requires a new anddifferent Palestinian leadership," he pronounced.

And in this Associated Press article, published in the Taipei Times (Taiwan), Sharon explains why he would assassinate Arafat:

Sharon: Arafat could be assassinated


AP , JERUSALEM
Tuesday, Apr 06, 2004,Page 6

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his pledge to the US not to harm Palestinian President Yasser Arafat no longer holds, declaring that Arafat and the head of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas are potential targets for assassination.

In an interview set for broadcast yesterday by Israeli Army Radio, Sharon said that three years ago he promised US President George W. Bush that Israel would not harm Arafat, but since then circumstances have changed.

"Arafat was given red carpet treatment everywhere in the world. Today it is clear to the US and to everyone just who Arafat is," Sharon said. Israel and the US are boycotting Arafat, charging that he is responsible for Palestinian violence.

In secret operations lore you sometimes hear of poisins that could undetectably cause sudden illness and death. In this case with Arafat, the illness came on suddenly, and apparently there was confusion over the problem in both diagnosis and treatment. Even when he arrived in Paris at the leading blood disease hospital. It would be naive to not consider this question, especially given the coincidental timing matching the U.S. Presidential election.

It's clear that the Palestinians themselves think Arafat was assassinated. Whether or not he really was, some of the palestinian "street" will think so and act on that belief. There isn't any evidence whether he was, or wasn't. The news articles provided on this page are the tip of the iceberg resulting from some google searching. There are many more articles suggesting that Arafat was in danger of assassination, but that direct action to make an obvious assassination would have "cost" too much in terms of reaction by the Arab and Palestinian "street".

What "good" does it do to entertain ideas that you can't prove? The mind likes to fill a vacuum, and if you can't prove something then that lack of proof creates a vacuum. What will the mind fill it with? In this case we can see in the following articles that the Palestinians are filling it with "Arafat was assassinated".

This article talks of concern by top Palestinian leadership that Arafat might have been poisined, and that they took blood samples for analysis in labs in Germany and the United States.

Aide alleges Israel poisoned Arafat
Nov. 8, 2004 0:25 by Lamia Lahoud

There is a series of interviews by MiddleEast.COM (Middle East Review) of a Palestinian political science professor, who describes the theory and beliefs from the Palestinian "street" point of view. To listen you'll have to visit

their page
.

Arafat Assassination Discussed on San Antonio KTSA with numerous quotes from MER, MiddleEast.Org, articles. (11/11/2004)
With many quotes from MER articles the assassination of Yasser Arafat was discussed on San Antonio, Texas, Radio KTSA the afternoon of 11 November, the day Arafat's death was finally announced. MER Publisher Mark Bruzonsky was invited to discuss Arafat's death and the realities of the new 'Palestinian leadership' and the Middle East 'peace process' for about 20 minutes. Bruzonsky, former Washington Representative of the World Jewish Congress, provided the live on-air commentary for Canadian national TV during the White House signing ceremony with Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in Sept 1993. He can be reached at Mark@Bruzonsky.com, (202) 352-5266 in Washington, and bio info is at www.MiddleEast.Org/mab.

Prof. Hisham Ahmed in Ramallah on the Killing of Yasser Arafat (11/7/2004)
Was Yasser Arafat actually assassinated by blood poisoning? Was Yasser Arafat assassinated like Caesar of old by Israel and enemies from within all with an American OK? Listen to Professor of Political Science and former Fulbright Scholar Hisham Ahmed discuss these historic matters with Mark Bruzonsky, the publisher of MiddleEast.Org. Professor Ahmed received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and now teaches at Bir Zeit University. He lives near the former Arafat Headquarters in Ramallah in Occupied Palestine. This interview was conducted in the early morning hours of Saturday, 6 November. Professor Ahmed can be reached at Hisham@MiddleEast.Org and (202) 362-5266. (13 minutes)

Professor Hisham Ahmed on the Blood Poisoning of Yasser Arafat (11/6/2004)
Was Yasser Arafat actually assassinated by blood poisoning? Was Yasser Arafat assassinated like Caesar of old by Israel and enemies from within all with an American OK? Listen to Professor of Political Science and former Fulbright Scholar Hisham Ahmed discuss these historic matters with Mark Bruzonsky, the publisher of MiddleEast.Org. Professor Ahmed received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and now teaches at Bir Zeit University. He lives near the former Arafat Headquarters in Ramallah in Occupied Palestine. This interview was conducted at 11pm on Friday, 5 November. Professor Ahmed can be reached at Hisham@MiddleEast.Org and (202) 362-5266. (23 minutes)

Arafat's Death, Burial, and Legacy. Interview with Mark Bruzonsky on 5 November with Toronto 640 Mojo Radio - 20 minutes (11/5/2004)
5 November 2004 - With Yasser Arafat still captivating the world at the time of his death, MER Publisher Mark Bruzonsky was interviewed today on Toronto Radio 640 about Arafat, where he will be buried, and what legacy he leaves. Bruzonsky has meet personally with Arafat in Beirut, Cairo, and Tunis. In 1985 Bruzonsky had a private dinner with Arafat and a few of the top leaders of the PLO at Kubba Palace along the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Bruzonsky can be contacted at MAB@MiddleEast.Org and by phone in Washington at (202) 362-5266. His bio information is at http://www.MiddleEast.Org/mab. (Approximately 20 minutes).