"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning"
"On 26 January, in response to allegations
received orally from Israeli officials regarding the alleged
involvement of 12 UNRWA staff in the 7 October attack against Israel,
and upon ascertaining that the individuals were indeed UNRWA staff
members, the UNRWA Commissioner-General decided to immediately terminate
the appointments of these staff “in the interest of the Agency,” in
accordance with applicable staff regulations, in order to protect its
ability to deliver humanitarian assistance. This decision was
communicated through a statement."
UNRWA Website
"More than 100 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are involved in
terrorism, some holding simultaneous positions within Hamas and the
Agency, Israel’s delegate told the Fourth Committee (Special Political
and Decolonization) today while representatives of States in the region
and beyond expressed concern about that country’s systematic
disinformation campaign against the Agency."
"It was an UNRWA
social worker who kidnapped Jonathan Samerano from Kibbutz Be’eri,
Israel’s delegate said, as she recalled how three years ago in the
Fourth Committee, she had urged UNRWA to be accountable for the hateful
indoctrination of children in its classrooms. Her country had cautioned
about “rockets and terror tunnels found underneath UNRWA schools in
Gaza” and “textbooks calling Jews Satan’s helpers”. However, its
warnings went unheeded. The 7 October events show a deep infiltration
of the Agency, with employees taking part in the “abhorrent” acts of
violence."
"Over the years, Israel has presented evidence that some
UNRWA teachers were terrorists, some aid workers were murderers and
certain classrooms were used as weapons storage sites, she said. These
neutrality breaches were never investigated. Accusing UNRWA schools of
“spreading anti-Semitic and jihadist ideologies” with “mathematical
lessons centered on counting murders and suicide bombers”, she
questioned UNRWA’s claims of school curriculum promoting gender
equality, respect and tolerance. Calling for accountability, she said
her country “will not accept that aid flows through an organization
complicit in terror”.""Speakers in Fourth Committee Call Israel’s
Charges of UNRWA’s Collusion Baseless Fallacies About an Agency Offering
‘Food on the Table’, ‘a Glimmer of Hope’"
United Nations, Meetings Coverage and Press Release, 14 November 2024
 |
United Nations Website Photos
|
On
November 22, 1974, the United Nations General Assembly adopted
Resolution 3236, "Question of Palestine" recognizing the Palestine
Liberation Oranization as the Palestinian representative, noting their
"right" to a state. The resolution demanded that the 700,000
Palestinians who fled from Israel in 1948 when combined Arab militaries
attacked the fledgling Jewish State, be allowed to return. No mention
was made at that time, or any subsequent time, of the 800,000 Arabized
Jews who were exiled from Arab countries where they had lived for
millennia in the ancient diaspora.
The
'right of return' applies only to Palestinians, not to the Jews whose
properties and goods were confiscated when they were forced to flee the
Arab countries they called home until 1948. No UN agency was set up to
offer them humanitarian aid and proclaim them refugees in perpetuity.
They found their own solutions, some settling in Israel, others going to
international destinations, finding refuge abroad. In the very same
time-frame, when Pakistan broke off from India in a cataclysmic divide
in 1947, amidst the deadly violence, a million refugees resulted.
There
has never been a move by the United Nations to demand those million
refugees be permitted to return to their homes in India and Pakistan.
When Turkey sent its military to occupy Greek Cyprus there were no
demands that the 200,000 refugees who fled the violent conflict, be
returned to Cyprus. Resolution 3236 voting saw 89 countries in favour,
eight against and 37 abstentions. It was that resolution that led to the
UN granting observer status to the Palestine Liberation Organization,
the original Palestinian terror group under Yasser Arafat. And when
Arafat was invited to address the General Assembly, he wore a gun in a
holster, as his version of a peace symbol.
 |
Institute for Palestine Studies
|
It
took a decade for the PLO to gain legitimacy at the United Nations;
from the time it was created in 1964 to the passing of the Resolution
ten years later. In the intervening years it became renowned for
terrorist violence, hijacking aircraft and vessels at sea, holding
hostages and killing Israelis in suicide bombings. The Soviet Union
helped the PLO draft their charter, asserting that 'Palestine' is an
Arab homeland, Israel's establishment was 'null and void', even though
the Soviets were among those in 1947 at the UN voting for Partition and
the establishment of the Jewish State.
In
the San Remo agreement of 1920 the Jewish people were to be given legal
land title to what is now known as Israel, including Judea and Samaria (now called the West Bank)
and Jordan, the total land mass identified as the British Mandate of
Palestine. Despite which the British later cut TransJordan out, handing
it instead to the Hashemites of Arabia, as a consolation prize when they
gave the Wahhabist House of Saud, Arabia, to be transformed to Saudi
Arabia. Yet no one, much less the United Nations questions the
legitimacy of the State of Jordan, 60 percent of whose population is
Palestinian; ergo a Palestinian state.
Labels: British Mandate, Duplicity Palestine Liberation Organization, State of Israel, United Nations, Yasser Arafat
Palestinians for Peace and Good Governance
"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it. [Jihad is] the individual duty of every Muslim."
"The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [holy possession] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day."
"No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it."
Hamas Covenant
"There will never be peace ... We'll take what you give, but we will never give up our armed struggle."
"As long as I, Sheikh Yassin, am alive, I shall make sure that there will be no peace talks with Israel."
"I do not have a time problem: ten more years, 100 more years -- in the end you will be wiped off the face of the earth."
Ahmed Yassin, Hamas founder
Any
onlooker into the Middle East conflict between the State of Israel and
the Islamist terrorist groups -- first the Palestine Liberation
Organization and its various arms, now its reiteration in Fatah and the
Palestinian Authority, and the even grimmer Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and lesser but lethally determined groups to
obliterate the Jewish state -- who believes that reason and practical
intelligence can prevail over institutionalized violence bred and led by
the Arab/Muslim states that greeted the fledgling state in 1948 with a
military welcome, suffers from inattention.
It
is not possible to negotiate with groups dedicated to the eradication
of a legally constituted state on the ancestral lands of its
predecessors which welcomes a vast diaspora of people who have suffered
indignities, discrimination, oppression, pogroms, exiles, and finally
genocide over the millennia since they rebelled against an occupation of
a foreign dynasty with a global reach. Fatah, which governs the area
the West and the UN refers to as the 'West Bank', shares the Hamas
agenda of re-occupying the land Israel sits upon, but it is far more
discreet than Hamas; the former is secular, the latter religious.
"The
Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill
them. Then the Jews will hide behind rocks and tees, and the rocks and
trees will cry out: 'O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and
kill him'."
Islamic Hadith
When
the founder of Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, was imprisoned in an Israeli jail,
he managed to control and order Hamas, giving the group instructions on
how to proceed with their deadly agenda. Around 1992 the Hamas campaign
of suicide bombing attacks began against Israelis. In 1992 a group of
soldiers close to a West Bank settlement was targeted.
Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo
Accords, brokered by the U.S., meant to lead to peace and eventually, a
Palestinian state. A situation that led Yassin to increase the frequency
and deadliness of the suicide attacks. A similarity can be seen in the
current situation, where Israel, with U.S. brokering assistance has
signed peace agreements under the Abraham Accords with Morocco, the
United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The
long-awaited rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which would
in time lead to additional members of the Arab League joining the
accord for peace with Israel, alarmed the Islamic Republic of Iran,
which called upon its proxies to take action that would destroy any
opportunities for peace agreements beyond that of Israel with Jordan,
Egypt and the latter three states. What happened when Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets into Israel and
Hamas broke through the separating wall to slaughter 1,400 mostly
civilian Israelis was to create dire tension.
Thirty
years ago, Hamas expanded targeting of Israel into Israel's
internationally recognized borders to target civilians on commuter
buses, gathering places, restaurants, on the street, committing carnage
on a larger scale, in reaction to the Oslo Accord. Negotiations for a
peace agreement in 2000 saw Israel offering self-harming concessions to
the Palestinians in their eagerness to avoid an increase in attacks and
hope for a cessation to all attacks. Only to be met with refusals,
followed by more suicide bombing.
Yassin
was finally assassinated in 2004, effectively martyring him as a
celebrated figure of 'resistance' for Palestinians enamoured of deadly
violence. The general view outside of the Middle East is that
Palestinians who are exploited by their Hamas rulers in Gaza, and who
become civilian shields when Hamas places rocket launch sites inside
schools, hospitals, apartment complexes, and in other densely populated
enclaves, fear and detest Hamas for failing to provide them with
opportunities to prosper.
Nothing
could be further from the truth. The 2006 Palestinian legislative
election saw Hamas win 44.5 percent of the vote, giving them 74 of 132
seats. An election judged by international observers to be free and
fair. A year and a half later, Hamas violently seized control of Gaza
from Fatah, after Israel had pulled out all its settlements and its
military presence, leaving the enclave to the Palestinians entirely. The
struggle between Fatah and Hamas was violent and conclusive; Fatah
outed and Hamas in control.
No
follow-up election has ever been held. Current politics, according to
the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research saw its most
recent poll in June concluding that "two-thirds
of the public do not believe that Israel will celebrate its centenary
(in 2048), and a majority, albeit a small one, believes that the
Palestinian people will, in the future, be able to recover Palestine and
return its refugees to their homes".
The
concept of a two-state solution, overwhelmingly supported by the
Western world whose charity has supported the Palestinian territories
for the past 70 years, is supported by a mere 28 percent of
Palestinians, with 70 percent in opposition to it. The Palestinian
Authority is not favoured by Palestinians, half looking for its
collapse, while 71 percent are in support of the formation of
independent armed militias.
And
while 69 percent of the Palestinian population would like to have an
election, if one were held, 56 percent would vote for Hamas leader
Ismail Haniyeh and a mere 33 percent for Mahmoud Abbas, president of the
Palestinian Authority. As for hopes of peace, 53 percent percent of
Palestinians are in support of a return to an armed intifada, with 47
percent in support of peaceful resistance. Overall, a population
choosing to reject Israel's right of existence, believing that achieving
a Palestinian state is only achievable through violence.
 |
The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern Gaza and remains
committed to violently resisting Israel. Its surprise attack against
Israel in 2023 threatens a wider conflagration in the Middle East. Council on Foreign Relations
|
Labels: Hamas, Islamist Terrorism, Israel, Oslo Accord, Palestinian Authority, Palestinians in Favour of Violence, Yasser Arafat
Naturally Dead
Death -- of natural causes. His time had come. And some might add; none too soon. He had outlived his opportunities to make a meaningful difference to the people he claimed to have represented, in any event. Whenever the chance came, with great fanfare, to sign onto peace and relinquish his love affair with victimhood and vengeance, he chose, in the end, to reject that and clung instead to the refugee status that became so beloved of Palestinians.
Refugee status earned them something unique, something no other group of refugees in the world had ever achieved. The world, through the United Nations, felt obligated to respect their wish to be refugees forever. Other Arab nations were complacent with their decision not to embrace their fellow Arabs, inviting them to settle in parts of the Middle East where they might have made a new life for themselves. Their 'cause' was to be celebrated and pursued, but their absorption to be avoided.
But it wasn't a new life they wanted, they yearned for the old life they had left behind. Most leaving with the assurances given them by the very Arab states that now withheld citizenship from them, that they could leave briefly, allowing the combined armies of Israel's Arab enemies to wipe out the nascent state, returning the land sacred to Islam to those who worshipped the Prophet and treasured their Muslim status.
On the very cusp of a peace that earned Yasser Arafat one-third of a Nobel Peace Prize, he chose instead to instigate a return to violence and the Intifada was his designated choice to show the world that Palestinian anguish could not be bought off so easily as to surrender their animus to the intruders they claimed Jews to be, foreigners in a country never their own.
When Suha Arafat, living off the rich fat of draining off funding meant to support Palestinians by her corrupt husband and his corrupt colleagues, reinvested herself in the ongoing search for the "truth" of her husband's death, she no doubt was pleased no end that the French, the Swiss and the Russians were tasked with conducting scientific searches for the answer that would implicate demonic Israel in her husband's death.
The Swiss were obliging enough; the French less so, and the Russians, whose support for the Palestinian cause could not be questioned, announced their finding:
"It was a natural death; there was no impact of radiation", according to Vladimir Uiba, head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency. Yasser Arafat died of natural causes; no further investigation required.
The French probe found that traces of radioactive isotope polonium was present but their expert opinion was that it was
"of natural environmental origin". As for the Swiss; the time frame of his illness and death, as far as they were concerned, appeared consistent with the causative of polonium poisoning.
So take your pick, one in the affirmative, two in the negative. Life killed Yasser Arafat.
Labels: Controvery, Palestinians, Yasser Arafat
Mr Arafat died weeks after leaving his compound in Ramallah to seek treatment
A
team of French scientists probing the death of Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat in 2004 do not believe he was poisoned, according to leaks to
French media.
They have reportedly concluded he died after a "generalised infection".
A previous
report by Swiss scientists said tests on his body showed "unexpected high activity" of polonium.
This "moderately" supported the theory, long believed by many Palestinians, that he was poisoned, the report said.
Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organisation for 35
years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in
1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound.
Two weeks later he was flown to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died on 11 November 2004, aged 75.
Mr Arafat's official medical records say he died from a
stroke resulting from a blood disorder. French doctors were not able at
the time to determine what had caused the disorder.
His body was exhumed for testing last year amid continuing
claims he was murdered. Many Palestinians have accused Israel of being
behind his death, something which Israel has always denied.
The latest reported findings were "not a surprise", Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.
Mr Arafat remains an icon for many Palestinians
In July 2012, an al-Jazeera documentary reported that
scientists at the Swiss Institute of Radiation Physics had found
"significant" traces of a highly radioactive and toxic material on
personal effects given to Mr Arafat's widow Suha after his death,
including his trademark keffiyeh.
Mrs Arafat asked the Palestinian Authority to authorise the exhumation of his remains in order "to reveal the truth".
The Palestinian Authority granted French investigators and a
team of Swiss scientists permission to exhume Arafat's body and take
samples for testing. Russia also sent experts, and samples were sent to
its Federal Medico-Biological Agency.
Swiss scientists' findings
- Experts at the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in
Lausanne, Switzerland, conducted tests on samples taken from Yasser
Arafat's exhumed body in November 2012
- The Swiss report said there were "unexpectedly high levels of
polonium-210 and lead-210 activity" found in specimens taken from
Arafat's ribs, pelvis and soil that absorbed his bodily fluids
- It noted a lack of adequate biological specimens, particularly
soft tissues, and the eight years between death and the investigation,
rendering detection subject to uncertainties
- But it concluded results "moderately support the proposition that the death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210"
Mrs Arafat also filed a civil
suit at a court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, alleging that her
husband was murdered by an unnamed "perpetrator X". French prosecutors
began a murder inquiry in August 2012.
Last month, a forensic expert said that the levels of
polonium found in Mr Arafat's remains by the Swiss scientists were 18 to
36 times higher than normal.
However, they said their findings could not categorically prove the theory that he was poisoned.
The Swiss scientists had stressed that they had been unable
to reach a more definitive conclusion because of the time that had
lapsed since Arafat's death, the limited samples available and the
confused "chain of custody" of some of the specimens.
Also on Tuesday, a Palestinian investigator said he would
soon name the people he believed were responsible for Mr Arafat's death.
"I promise that the next press conference will be the last
and will cast into the light of day everyone who perpetrated, took part
in or conspired in the matter," Tawfiq Tirawi told Palestine Today
television, Reuters reports.
Labels: Controversy, France, Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat
Arafat's Death and Palestinian Incitement Against Israel
Palestinians renewed their
allegations that Israel was responsible for the "assassination" of PLO
Chairman Yasser Arafat. But a thorough reading of the Swiss scientists'
report shows that their findings are inconclusive. Russian scientists
who also examined the remains have said there was insufficient evidence
to support the claim that Arafat may have died in 2004 by polonium
poisoning.
Many Palestinians are saying that Israel could not have "killed"
Arafat without help from the people who were very close to him.
According to this theory, the same Palestinian officials who have been
pointing a finger at Israel may themselves have been involved in the
death of Arafat. "I am sure it is someone in his close circle, "
Arafat's widow, Suha, Arafat told Reuters last week. "It must have been
someone close to him."
While U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was busy in the Middle East
last week trying to prevent the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks, Palestinians renewed their allegation that Israel was
responsible for the "assassination" of the Chairman of the Palestinian
Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat.
The nine-year-old Palestinian allegation -- that Israel had poisoned
Arafat -- was this time based on the findings of Swiss scientists who
conducted tests on his remains and soil taken from his grave.
But a thorough reading of the Swiss scientists' report shows that
their findings are inconclusive. Still, the Palestinian Authority [PA]
is not willing to let the facts stand in its way.
The
scientists wrote
that "taking into account the analytical limitations, mostly time lapse
since the death and the nature and quality of the specimens, the
results moderately support the proposition that the death was the
consequence of poisoning with polonium-201."
However, Russian scientists who also examined Arafat's remains have
said that there was insufficient evidence to support the the claim that
Arafat may have died in 2004 by polonium poisoning.
The Swiss and Russian scientists did not conduct a criminal
investigation into the circumstances surrounding Arafat's death. All
that they did last November was take samples from Arafat's body in a bid
to determine the cause of death.
But for the PA leadership, the inconclusive findings of the Swiss
scientists was sufficient enough to once again hold Israel responsible
for the "assassination of martyr Yasser Arafat."
Since the 108-page Swiss report was published by the Al-Jazeera news
channel last week, PA officials have been waging a campaign of
incitement against Israel.
The PA's campaign has created the false impression among Palestinians
that the Swiss scientists were the ones who pointed a finger at Israel.
The PA has also created the false impression that the findings of the
scientists were conclusive and uncontroversial.
A
Palestinian Authority honor guard at attention over Yasser Arafat's
tombstone in Ramallah, 2008. (Image source: Tristam Sparks)
|
The Palestinian allegations against Israel took place while U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting with PA President Mahmoud
Abbas and top Palestinian officials in Bethlehem on Wednesday, to
discuss ways of moving forward with the U.S.-sponsored peace talks with
Israel. The charges escalated even as Kerry and Abbas met for the second
time in Jordan the following day.
On Friday, shortly after Kerry left the region, Palestinian officials took the case a step further by calling a
press conference in Ramallah where they declared that Israel was the "only accused" in the mysterious death of Arafat.
"Israel is the first, only and major accused in the assassination of
President Yasser Arafat," Tawfik Tirawi, head of a Palestinian committee
entrusted with investigating Arafat's death, announced at the start of
the press conference.
The Palestinian charges against Israel regarding the death of Arafat
are not new. These charges, which have never been verified, surfaced
almost on the first day when Arafat fell ill in his presidential
compound in Ramallah.
Palestinian officials have since used annual rallies to commemorate
the anniversary of Arafat's death to repeat charges that Israel had
poisoned their leader.
These allegations should be seen in the context of the Palestinian
Authority's ongoing efforts to delegitimize Israel and pave the way for
filing "war crimes" charges against Israelis in various international
forums, especially the International Criminal Court [ICC].
In the past few days, a number of Palestinian officials said in wake
of the findings of the Swiss report that it was time to take Israel to
the ICC for its ostensible role in the death of Arafat.
This is the same Palestinian Authority that has been telling its
people that Jews release wild pigs in the West Bank to destroy
agricultural fields and
rats in the Old City of Jerusalem to drive Arab residents out of their homes.
More recently, Palestinian media outlets also reported that the IDF
had been seen releasing snakes in certain areas of Bethlehem to
intimidate Palestinians and drive them out of their homes. They also
reported that Jews have been poisoning Palestinian water wells in
Hebron.
So while Abbas was reaffirming his commitment to peace during the
recent meetings with Kerry, PA officials and media outlets were telling
their people that the Israelis must be punished for "poisoning" Arafat
and perpetrating various "crimes" against Palestinians.
This is the kind of talk that drives young Palestinians to take to
the streets with the intention of killing the first Jew they meet. The
renewed incitement may be responsible for last week's two separate
attacks on IDF soldiers in the West Bank. In both cases, the two
Palestinian attackers were shot and killed by IDF soldiers.
The anti-Israel incitement causes huge damage to Kerry's continued
efforts to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The
incitement radicalizes Palestinians to a point where many are starting
to talk about the need for revenge, and not peace.
The Palestinian Authority is also shooting itself in the foot by
repeatedly accusing Israel of being behind the "assassination" of
Arafat. Many Palestinians are saying that Israel could not have "killed"
Arafat without help from the people who were very close to him.
According to this theory, the same Palestinian officials who have
been pointing a finger at Israel may themselves have been involved in
the death of Arafat. So the charges against Israel are coming back to
haunt Abbas and several senior Palestinian officials.
"I'm sure it's someone in his close circle," Arafat's widow,
Suha, told Reuters last week. "The expert said that the poison was put in his tea, or coffee or water. It must have been someone close to him."
Related Topics: Khaled Abu ToamehLabels: Corruption, Hypocrisy, Israel, Negotiations, Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat
The BBC's Yolande Knell: "People here in Ramallah have shown no surprise at these new findings"
Swiss
scientists have confirmed that tests show the late Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat had high levels of radioactive polonium in his body.
However, they could not say whether polonium poisoning had caused his death in 2004.
Their report concluded that Arafat's remains showed levels of polonium 18 times higher than normal.
Arafat's widow, Suha, has reaffirmed to the BBC her belief that their report proves he was assassinated.
But she said she could not directly accuse anyone, saying that he had many enemies around the world.
Analysis
Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC World Service
The Swiss scientists were extremely cautious about their findings.
Testing for polonium 210 so many years after Yasser Arafat's death is fraught with difficulties.
It is a very unstable element, with a half-life of 138 days.
That means after four months, the amount of polonium in a
sample would have halved; after a year there would be just one eighth of
the original amount; and after the eight years since Mr Arafat died,
there would be a vanishingly small fraction remaining.
This adds huge levels of uncertainty to any findings - as
does the fact that polonium is also found naturally in the soil and air.
Many Palestinians have long
believed that Israel poisoned Arafat. There have also been allegations
that he had Aids or cancer. Israel has consistently denied any
involvement.
The scientists - from the Vaudois University Hospital Centre
(CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland - had carried out a detailed examination
of Arafat's medical records, samples taken from his remains and items
he had taken into the hospital in Paris where he died in 2004.
The biological materials included pieces of Mr Arafat's bones and soil samples from around his corpse.
Professor Francois Bochud told a news conference on Thursday
that the high level of polonium detected "by definition... indicates
third party involvement... Our results offer moderate backing for the
theory of poisoning."
But he went on to say: "Was polonium the cause of the death
for certain? The answer is no, we cannot show categorically that
hypothesis that the poisoning caused was this or that."
Swiss scientists' findings
- Experts at the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in
Lausanne, Switzerland, conducted tests on samples taken from Yasser
Arafat's exhumed body in November 2012
- Samples also analysed by Palestinian, French and Russian teams,
whose findings have yet to be published by the Palestinian Authority
- Swiss report says "unexpectedly high levels of polonium-210 and
lead-210 activity" found in specimens taken from Arafat's ribs, pelvis
and soil that absorbed his bodily fluids
- It notes a lack of adequate biological specimens, particularly
soft tissues, and the eight years between death and the investigation,
rendering detection subject to uncertainties
- But it concludes results "moderately support the proposition that the death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210"
In their report, the scientists
had stressed that they had been unable to reach a more definitive
conclusion because of the time that had lapsed since Arafat's death, the
limited samples available and the confused "chain of custody" of some
of the specimens.
Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive substance. It is found
naturally in low doses in food and in the body, but can be fatal if
ingested in high doses.
Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organisation for 35
years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in
1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound in the West
Bank.
Two weeks later he was flown to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died on 11 November 2004, aged 75.
His official medical records say he died from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
France began a murder inquiry in August 2012 after the
preliminary findings of polonium by the Lausanne scientists, who have
been
working with an al-Jazeera documentary crew.
Polonium-210
- Highly radioactive and toxic element
- Present in foods in low doses
- Low levels found naturally in the environment
- Can be manufactured by bombarding certain isotopes with neutrons
- Has industrial uses such as in anti-static devices
- Very dangerous if significant dose ingested
- External exposure not a risk, only if ingested
- Present in tobacco
Parallel investigations are being
carried out by French and Russian experts - one Russian official said
last month that no traces of polonium had been found.
Suha Arafat, who had objected to a post-mortem at the time of
his death, agreed for his body to be exhumed a year ago "to reveal the
truth".
Welcoming the Swiss report, Mrs Arafat said she had no doubt
that her husband had been assassinated but refused to point the finger
at Israel.
"I can't accuse anybody. Everybody wants to accuse Israel - I can't accuse - I can't jump into conclusion," she told the BBC.
"Now the case is in the French jurisdiction, I wanted to
document this crime - this crime I want it documented for history,
actually."
More on This Story
Labels: Bioscience, Conflict, Controversy, Israel, Palestinians, Yasser Arafat
