Yasser Arafat 'may have been poisoned with polonium'

[webfact]

Yasser Arafat 'may have been poisoned with polonium'

LONDON: -- The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with radioactive polonium, says a Swiss forensic report obtained by al-Jazeera.

Arafat's official medical records say he died in 2004 from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.

But his body was exhumed last year amid continuing claims he was murdered.

The Swiss report said tests on the body showed "unexpected high activity" of polonium, which "moderately" supported the poisoning theory.

Many Palestinians and others have long believed that Israel poisoned Arafat. Others allege that he had Aids or cancer. Israel has consistently denied any involvement.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24838061


-- BBC 2013-11-07

[boomerangutang]

Israel didn't need to poison him. He was his own worst enemy because he was such a klutz. Every time he opened his mouth, ignorance came out. More than any one man, he caused harm and problems for Gaza and the West Bank. Earlier, he attended a meeting in Norway with then-prez Carter and then-Israeli-PM Begin. All agreed on peaceful solution to problems. When Arafat got back, he smilingly told his flock that he didn't agree to anything. After that, 10 years of battles ensued - along with all the accompanying misery and tragedies. Arafat just kept on smiling the whole time, drunk on his power-trip. Poisoning would have been too good for the old man hobbled by stupidity.

[Credo]

That sounds very Russian-eque.

[Ulysses G.]

He caused thousands of deaths and hurt his own people. One more terrorist that I am not losing any sleep over.

[kblaze]

Great timing with the recent acceleration of illegal settlements, should do wonders for the "peace process"

[Pimay1]

Israel didn't need to poison him. He was his own worst enemy because he was such a klutz. Every time he opened his mouth, ignorance came out. More than any one man, he caused harm and problems for Gaza and the West Bank. Earlier, he attended a meeting in Norway with then-prez Carter and then-Israeli-PM Begin. All agreed on peaceful solution to problems. When Arafat got back, he smilingly told his flock that he didn't agree to anything. After that, 10 years of battles ensued - along with all the accompanying misery and tragedies. Arafat just kept on smiling the whole time, drunk on his power-trip. Poisoning would have been too good for the old man hobbled by stupidity.

Agree. Who gives a rat's arse how this terrorists died.

[Steely Dan]

 

Great timing with the recent acceleration of illegal settlements, should do wonders for the "peace process"

 

The Palestinian authority (sic) were probably counting on Israel refusing to release 26 murderers as a good will gesture in order to start peace talks, when Israel did they were looking for a fallback plan to refuse to talk and to begin intifada 3.0. I doubt Israel had anything to do with Arafat's death any more than they used vultures to spy on Saudi Arabia or Sharks to attack tourists off Egypt, but truth is always trumped by tinfoil hat style conspiracy theories, especially when they serve a political purpose.

[ravip]

Today there are yet more worst terrorists ruining countries, killing the innocent and basically creating havoc in this world - directly or indirectly.

Comparatively, Arafat is nothing 'big'.

[uptheos]

Today there are yet more worst terrorists ruining countries, killing the innocent and basically creating havoc in this world - directly or indirectly.

Comparatively, Arafat is nothing 'big'.

You are right, Arafat was absolutely nothing,

However, I recognise his contribution to designer stubble.

[Chicog]

I'm sure Israel had nothing to do with it. They had countless opportunities to top him and never bothered.

Other Palestinian factions though.... that's where I'd put my money.

[Scott]

An off-topic, baiting post has been deleted.

[kblaze]

 

Great timing with the recent acceleration of illegal settlements, should do wonders for the "peace process"

 

The Palestinian authority (sic) were probably counting on Israel refusing to release 26 murderers as a good will gesture in order to start peace talks, when Israel did they were looking for a fallback plan to refuse to talk and to begin intifada 3.0. I doubt Israel had anything to do with Arafat's death any more than they used vultures to spy on Saudi Arabia or Sharks to attack tourists off Egypt, but truth is always trumped by tinfoil hat style conspiracy theories, especially when they serve a political purpose.

not commenting on who killed him, just that the timing of the report is horrible. I guess in Israel/Palestine there is never a "good time" for bad news. I'm not going to play armchair investigator; could have been a number of countries/organizations.

[coma]

Yasser Arafat 'may have been poisoned with polonium'.

Facts is what is required here. Not speculation. Can they say 100 % certain that he was poisoned? If not then this sort of speculationis is just stirring the pot needlessly. Facts, facts,facts.

[ravip]

Today there are yet more worst terrorists ruining countries, killing the innocent and basically creating havoc in this world - directly or indirectly.

Comparatively, Arafat is nothing 'big'.

You are right, Arafat was absolutely nothing,

However, I recognise his contribution to designer stubble.

Yes, at times we choose not to see beyond the stubble.

That is a very human trait.

:-)

[boomerangutang]

Palestinians, among others, are very quick to embrace conspiracy theories. Most of them still think the twin towers bombing was a Bush/Israeli plot.

Today there are yet more worst terrorists ruining countries, killing the innocent and basically creating havoc in this world - directly or indirectly. Comparatively, Arafat is nothing 'big'.

True, Arafat was small potatoes in the terrorist Dept., but he nevertheless affected much of the interaction between Israel and Gaza/West Bank, so he directly and (mostly) indirectly was a terrorist. Certainly, if he didn't want PLO hot-heads doing terrorist acts, he could have put at least a partial damper on their activities. Granted, someone had to be the top banana for the PLO, and he got the nod. It was a shitty position, but someone had to fill it. I'm surprised it wasn't some real intense meany like Khomeini - but if it had been someone like that, he would have been snuffed out early on. I think Arafat was picked because he was baffoon-like and often smiling. So Israelis figured, they'd rather deal with a klutz than a hard core murderer, so they din't snuff out Arafat - which they could have done with a phone call.

[JoeThePoster]

Actual cause of death - PLO-nium.

[tw25rw]

Why would the Israelis kill him? They would know better than anyone that he would be replaced by someone more dangerous.

[lemoncake]

Easiest is to point at Israel , however what was the benefit for Israel ?- none

Next question , who was to benefit from his death? Directly or indirectly.

Few names and countries come to mind .

Funny enough for some reason all the stolen money was never returned or used for the good of the people, for whom he supposedly fought

[simple1]

Why would the Israelis kill him? They would know better than anyone that he would be replaced by someone more dangerous.

The Israelis did try to kill him at least once i.e. when bombing his Tunisian H.Q. in 1985. It's alleged he survived as he was out walking at the time of the attack. It is claimed 56 Palestinians and 215 Tunisians were killed and about 100 wounded.

Along with the Israeli leadership he did receive the Nobel Price for Peace at the conclusion of the Oslo Accords, but that all fell by the wayside. One analysis on why this happened at:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/israel/History/1980-2000/Oslo_Negotiations/Failure.shtml

Edited November 10, 2013 by simple1

[Ulysses G.]

Why would the Israelis kill him? They would know better than anyone that he would be replaced by someone more dangerous.

The Israelis did try to kill him at least once i.e. when bombing his Tunisian H.Q. in 1985.

He was still dangerous in 1985, but by 2004 the Israelis would have been wasting their time. However, not so much for other terrorists. A former Palestinian intelligence officer, attorney Fahmi Shabana, said that Yasser Arafat's political rivals were responsible for his death, and that he was poisoned with polonium.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been deleted. The topic is about Yasser Arafat.

[Chao Lao Beach]

The French reports were over whelming a positive, the Russian test were a farce and inconclusive. The is a good hour doco on Aljazera. Most likely an inside job appartenlty.

[Steely Dan]

Whether Arafat was poisoned, and if so by who is besides the point compared to who can be accused of doing so. See radio controlled sharks, spy vultures and international banking conspiracies for further examples.

[ABCer]

Whether he was or not poisoned is immaterial.

If he was, it's immaterial by whom.

The real question is - did he deserve to die?

The unequivocal answer is - sure!

One thing I cannot digest is how Swedes use the proceeds of one of their great invention - dynamite - to throw their 'prestigious' award to many terrorists, killers and undeserving scum, hoping to pacify the world.

In my memory he was and still remains a child killer terrorist.

[mumjokmok]

Yasser Arafat at least you can be glad you didn't go out like Gaddafi. You'd be shocked to see the world these days, all the baddies from your era are gone, we fight shadows now.

[Scott]

Off-topic post deleted.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts, replies have been deleted.

[uptheos]

French investigators concluded in a report that Yasser Arafat died of natural causes and ruled out the possibility that he was poisoned. "The analysis cannot lead us to affirm that Arafat died of polonium 210 poisoning," reads the report, according to the source, who has seen it. The report comes to the same conclusion the French reached in 2004 - that Arafat died of a brain hemorrhage and an intestinal infection. http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2013123145211499109

On Oct 15, 2013, Vladamir Uiba, the head of Russia's Federal Medical Biological Agency said that forensic tests found absolutely no indication or traces of polonium poisoning, therefore, he could not have died from this.

More likely AIDS as he was a long time HIV positive or perhaps cirrhosis of the liver.

But who really cares how?