Posted on 11/14/2004 4:55:10 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
PARIS, 15 November 2004 — With the date of the Palestinian presidential election fixed for Jan. 9, one might expect it to be the hottest topic in the West Bank and Gaza. It is not. What most Palestinians are talking about with most interest is the mystery that still surrounds the cause of Yasser Arafat’s death.
“Arafat is a man of history’” says his personal physician Dr. Ashraf Al-Kurdi. “It is incomprehensible that such a leader could be pronounced dead, honored in a funeral, and buried without announcing what he died of.”
The refusal of the French authorities to reveal the cause of Arafat’s death has set the Middle Eastern rumor mills working overtime. The proverbial “Arab street” is asking whether Arafat might have been the victim of a complex international plot to remove him from the scene as a prelude to an “imposed solution” of the Palestinian problem.
As might have been expected Israel has been accused of having killed Arafat by poisoning. Statements by former Israeli officials about previous plans to liquidate the Palestinian leaders have fanned the fires of such rumors.
French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said yesterday there was no reason to suspect poisoning. “Medically, scientifically, technologically, everything was done in medical terms and by way of treatment, and nothing leads us to suppose there was poisoning,” said Douste-Blazy.
His comments came after the Palestinian representative in France Leila Shahid said earlier yesterday she thought it was possible that Arafat could have been poisoned.
“It is quite possible that he was poisoned because they (the Israelis) have poisoned others,” Shahid said on the private French radio station Europe One. “I cannot tell you that, medically, we have any proof.
“The doctors did not deny it. There is no proof of particular toxins but there are toxins that one does not find in the bodies of sick people.” She pointed out that “still today, there has been no diagnosis. The doctors have only confirmed what they saw, the symptoms. Medical tests cannot reveal everything.”
But she said there was “absolutely no question” of asking for another medical communiqué. “The file has been handed over to his family and we respect French law” on patient confidentiality, she said, but added “I won’t tell you what we will ask his wife.”
Arafat’s family, including his widow and nephew, has deepened the mystery with a series of enigmatic and contradictory statements. They have admitted that they asked the French authorities not to reveal the cause of death. But at the same time they insist there was nothing to hide.
Nasser Al-Qidwa, Arafat’s nephew and Palestinian representative to the United Nations, also demanded explanations in newspaper interviews this weekend.
“We can’t forget that there was no diagnosis and this case must remain open,” Al-Qidwa said in comments published yesterday by the Portuguese newspaper Publico.
“It is the right of the Palestinian people to try to obtain final and clear conclusions regarding this matter.”
Arafat died in Paris last Thursday aged 75. He had been flown on Oct. 29 to France for treatment after tests showed he had a low count of blood platelets. Neither the French hospital where he was treated nor Palestinian officials have announced a cause of death.
Douste-Blazy told Radio J station here only Arafat’s family had had full access to all medical records.
The medical team at the French military hospital where Arafat was treated for a blood disorder had shown the family the records, both while treatment was in progress and in summary, the minister said. “I was not personally acquainted with the files either as a doctor or as health minister,” he admitted.
But he continued: “I can tell you it appears nothing in the medical files indicated that there might have been such a case (of poisoning,) otherwise the legal authorities would have had to take the files in hand.”
“I draw this conclusion while noting that permission was given to bury the remains as a consequence of my certified statement,” he added.
Of course they don't die down--just like the draft rumors didn't until the mdeia had no more use for them, and then stopped printing stories like "Draft rumors won't die down."
"Arafat’s family, including his widow and nephew, has deepened the mystery with a series of enigmatic and contradictory statements. They have admitted that they asked the French authorities not to reveal the cause of death. But at the same time they insist there was nothing to hide."
Interesting to say the least. They say 'hide the cause of death', then in the next beath insist there is nothing to hide.
Exactly. They would rather attribute his death to shadowy "poisoning" stories as opposed to the "other" stories.
If the French participate in the cover-up, then they will be complicit in any violence that results from this poison rumor. Not that they would care one red sou.
And of course, then they can pin the blame on the Israelis, which I am sure was their intent from the beginning. The french and the American MSM must be very pleased with themselves.
.
I'm surprised the the NYT or Keith Olberman haven't leaked a Red State conspiracy in Arafat's death.........i'm sure we must have had something to do with it.......maybe it was Karl Rove.......sneaky Ba***rd.............
It reminds me of the Church's Fried Chicken rumor -- that they were putting chemicals in the food to sterilize black people. A reporter went into the street showing people independent lab studies that showed otherwise.
"I don't care about your white facts..."
If you are disposed to think the worst and are not susceptible to REALITY...
"The Arab Street" has got to be the most ignorant "street" in the world. If they came out and announced the supposed cause of death that is swirling around, they would still blame it on Israel.
I don't really care. I'd liked it better if Israel stuck a missle in his bedroom window 10 years before.
He was poisoned
Food Poison
HE ATE A BAD WEENY
ARAFAT DIED OF AIDS !!!!!!!!
If Arafat has AIDS, maybe the Palistinians could try to say Israel infected him with the virus somehow...to cover up the homo stuff. Wouldn't be surprised.
Yeah someone "poisoned" him with an "injection" alright ...but it wasn't with a needle.
Perhaps if those Palestinians were told the cause of death, they would wear gloves along with their Hamas masks.
In other Headlines:
..."Muslims refuse to deny that beheadings reflect a proper interpretation of Islam"...
..."Arafat's poisoning not supported by facts; therefore, it remains a distinct possibility"...
..."House of Saud charitable donations to Jihad groups have not exceeded billions, as previously reported"...
..."Iraqis will be forced at gunpoint to vote for US puppet government: Survey reports"...
..."European countries' refusal to vote Muslims into elective positions results in increased welfare dependency by Muslims"...
Israel should say they their sources say he died from AIDS and offer money to the Palestinians to dig up Arafat so testing can be done.;)
I haven't heard whether an autopsy was done. Does anyone know?
The Israelis didn't have access. I have it on good authority that the French did it.
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