What Killed Arafat?

[Magda Hassan]

I've been thinking about Arafat's death, the timing and what was happening. He had not always been wanted dead by Israel. I remember some long ago conversations with Israeli friends who during their IDF days told of finding Arafat and some of his people in hiding. It was a surprise to them, they were not looking for him, or at least they weren't told they were, but the higher ups told them not to do anything. This happened on another occasion as well. Something about Tunisia, though what the IDF was doing in Tunisia I don't know. So it seems Israel knew where he was and was content to leave him there. Protected possibly. Then he gets really sick suddenly in mid October 2004. So what was happening around then? Why the need to absolutely and definitively throw Arafat away? What was he stopping? Was he really not corrupt enough despite his overseas bank account above that he could not be bought? Or maybe the price too high? From an US/Israeli/Palestinian and Arab POV qui bono and qui bono at this time and not another time? And why the need for an unexplainable death. He had been interred for years until this recent doco by Al Jazeera. And would have remained so if it were not for his widow and AJ journalist. I remember there was the creation and rise of Hamas as a wedge to divide the Palestinians and weaken Fatah though I can't recall the year that came to be.