Posted on 10/30/2004 2:22:19 PM PDT by Stoat
The Palestinian-Israel War Gains a French Dimension DEBKAfile Special Analysis October 29, 2004, 3:30 PM (GMT+02:00)
The first winter rain bucketed down mixed with hailstones as two Jordanian helicopters carried the seriously ill Yasser Arafat out of Ramallah early Friday, October 29. Within an hour, he was out of the Middle East aboard a French presidential aircraft fitted out as an ambulance with life-support systems that whisked him from Amman to a French military hospital in Paris for urgent medical treatment. The circumstances of his exit indicate that, despite the veteran Palestinian leaders sinking health, waning popularity and a reputation tainted with rampant corruption, he remains a force capable of sustaining the war of terror he declared on Israel four years ago, although for three of those years he was confined to his Ramallah headquarters. They also signal the onset of a new stage in that war and the entry of a new lead player: France. Exactly ten years ago, the Palestinian leader made a triumphal entry from Tunisian exile to lead the Palestinian Authority created under the 1993 Oslo peace accords. He rode in on a pledge to honor the peace, a pledge he lost no time in violating. A certain amount of jostling for position greeted the first hours after his departure. The first to step forward were the former and current Palestinian prime ministers Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qureia. Abbas is Arafats Number 2 in the PLO executive; Qureia, the senior Palestinian Authority official. A third was Salim Zaanoun, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council. A fourth was the ambitious Mohammed Dahlan, former Gaza Strip strongman. This foursome can do no more than try and keep things running pro tem until Arafats fate is settled one way or another. Without his seal of approval - which was not granted - its members standing is not very solid. Biding their time are the real Palestinian heavyweights, together with the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades created by Arafat for the suicide campaign against Israel, the radical Hamas and the Jihad Islami. The latter two have already staked a claim to a share in the post-Arafat unified national government. The battle for the succession will not begin as long as the Palestinian leader is alive. Until then, president Jacques Chirac, an avowed friend of the Palestinian struggle, will be firmly by his side and likely to take a hand in the choices. The rising men at this moment, according to DEBKAfiles Palestinian sources, are Arafats closest advisers and his top terrorist masterminds: Hanni al-Hassan, Saher Habash, Azzam Muhammad, Nabil Abu Rodeina, Ramsi Roh and Force 17 commander Faisal Abu Serah. This group, together with extremist Farouk Kadoumi, the self-exiled deputy chairman of the Fatah executive, will remain in Paris as long as Arafat is confined to hospital. They will try run Palestinian Authority business from the French capital. Claiming they are relaying orders from Arafat, they will gradually erode the authority of the Abu Mazan-Abu Ala clique. These candidates do not auger well for the hopes harbored by many Israelis of Arafats eclipse automatically opening the way for non-violent Palestinian peace negotiators to step forward or even a downturn in terrorist attacks. Quite the contrary, the contest promises to jar the entire region and unleash fresh terrorist energy. The high-security Percy military hospital in the Paris suburb of Clamart was chosen in a last minute switch from the Val-de-Grace medical center because of its specialization in blood disorders. Before his departure, Arafats physician Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, confirmed his blood platelet count was low. From the moment that he was committed to hospital, the French agents watching over him will carefully select his visitors. Not all the important members of his escort will be admitted.Those with the best chance are his closest aide Abu Rodeina, private secretary Ramzi Roh, his financial adviser Mohammed Rashid and Azzam Ahmed, who was his contact-man with Iraqs ex-ruler Saddam Hussein. Arafat deliberately refrained from naming an heir with a view to running the PA from his hospital bed. But who will conduct the ongoing Palestinian war? Its initiator is in no shape for this kind of strain. By the time he was carried out of his Ramallah quarters, he was too frail to walk. The photographs showing him in a blue pajama suit and knitted hat beaming at his companions were carefully staged. The Palestinians, Israelis and French are all working on the premise that his health has deteriorated too far for recovery. But his protectors will certainly keep him alive as long as he breathes. Palestinian officials may travel to Paris, put up at smart hotels and report back home that Arafat is coming along well. But it will be hearsay. They will not be allowed to see him. Abu Rodeina will not doubt phone Ramallah and the Gaza Strip from time to time with orders from the boss which no Palestinian official will dare disobey as long as they are in the dark about his real condition. They will wait for a death certificate to prove he is not about to turn up and demand an accounting for their disobedience. The current situation is therefore uncertain and extremely volatile. All that can be said for the moment is: 1. Israel may have had little choice, but it has lost points by relinquishing the limited intelligence control it maintained over Arafats actions in Ramallah and handing it over to France. 2. France is well seasoned in manipulating foreign political figures, often haven-seekers, to serve French diplomatic, military and intelligence interests. One example is Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who lived in exile in a small town near Paris for most of the 1970s disseminating propaganda materials for inciting revolution against the Shah of Iran. In 1979, Khomeini landed in Tehran aboard a French plane and led the Islamic revolution that toppled the ruler and put an end to US-Israeli influence in Iran. 3. By taking charge of the symbol and inventor of the Palestinian national struggle, the French government has also taken a lead-position in European policymaking on Israel, the Palestinians and the conflict between them. Considering the Chirac governments warm sympathy for the Arabs and the Palestinian cause and its friendly ties with Iran, Syria and the Hizballah, this is not exactly good news for Israel. 4. Since early 2002, the French President has consistently taken a collision course against President George W. Bush over his Middle East policies and posture, especially on Iraq and the Palestinians. Arafat in the care of the French government grants Chirac a new and sharp tool for hurting Israels interests and crossing the Washington that refused to do business with the discredited Palestinian leader. |
which is also an EU entanglement; does a teat-sucking eu member really act independently of the mother sow?
Don't assume the French have that much influence. Who trusts them? Arafat will be marginalized. Just wait for the rest of the Pali's to attach Arafat's bank accounts.
If we were to do this right, we would take out Iraq and Iran, and Israel would take out Syria, their puppets in Lebanon, and the PLO (plus splinter groups). It would all be over very quickly. As it stands now, Iraq is a no-win war unless we get serious about the terrorist states that support the insurgents. We should also cut off all aid, trade and technology transfers to Russia and Red China (principle sponsors of the nations who are sending "insurgents" to kill our brave soldiers).
Quote Story: The first winter rain bucketed down mixed with hailstones as two Jordanian helicopters carried the seriously ill Yasser Arafat out of Ramallah early Friday,
Odd. I watched it live. It was not raining.
A little poetic license I think.
A FRENCH START FOR AMERICA Kerry / Edwards |
When Arafat becomes deceased while under French control, the Israelis shrug whether they did it or not. In getting/letting Arafat out of the BIG picture, they make it much easier to dispose of him and move on to the lesser lights who will cull each other down maybe even before Arafat begins his eternal daily routine of swimming in lakes of flaming sulphur and pig fat.
They hate and make war upon the West, but head there immediately if they need anything more advanced and sophisticated than a mud brick.
Didn't Khomeini also receive the largess, and openhearted hospitality of the French just before his triumphant return to Iran via Air-France?
I mean, won't he have to wait in line in France with all the other citizens?
Quote:
3. By taking charge of the symbol and inventor of the Palestinian national struggle, the French government has also taken a lead-position in European policymaking on Israel, the Palestinians and the conflict between them.
But only till he dies - Then France has no bargaining chip left. One can only hope this is soon before France gains some credibility.
France has always been the European voice of the Arab League. That's why they started the European Arab Dialogue, and that's why Arafat is there now. It's called Eurabia.
I didn't read the article too carefully, but does it say anywhere that Israelis actually agreed to this, or did French just move him on their own?
Such a shame for France...
A French on FR and a lot of others over the world...
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