A conspiracy theory reared its head in Arab world in the aftermath of Arafat’s passing

A.H. Jaffor Ullah

   Yasser Arafat, the acknowledged leader of Palestinian people, lived amidst controversy all through his life.  The cause of his death has now become a source of controversy amongst the departed leader’s people all over Middle East.

   President Arafat became gravely ill in the last week of October 2004 while he was interned in the Ramallah complex, the headquarters of Palestine government located only ten-mile north of Jerusalem in a hilltop.  The internment of Yasser Arafat came days after the start of second Intifada Movement, which became very brutal as suicide bombers were wreaking havoc amongst Jewish people inside Israel.  This has caused an impasse in peace talks between the Israeli government and Arafat.  The Bush Administration became much too much focused in their fight against global terrorism.  The Palestine peace talk stalled under this backdrop.  There were occasional suicide attacks against Israel civilians and some retaliatory attacks by the Israeli air force were the response from the Israeli government.  This has become a norm in the past years.  Under this dreadful impasse Palestine and its future has caught the attention of the world when Yasser Arafat’s health took a serious turn.  The Palestinian leader was taken to Paris for treatment; the Israeli government gave approval to Arafat’s removal from the Ramallah complex wherefrom the beleaguered Palestinian leader had not set his foot to outside world in the last four years or so.

   Arafat showed multiple symptoms as his health took for the worst.  He fainted while he was in Ramallah complex.  He regained his conscious, was then taken to Paris.  The entire world has seen his photo sitting in a wheelchair as his body slumped.  The Arafat of 2004 was no longer the robust man of 1980s or even 1990s.  His close associates have revealed after his death that the health of the PLO chairman was anything but healthy for quite some time. 

   Arafat was taken to France for multiple reasons.  First, his family was living in the outskirts of Paris and the late chairman had not seen his spouse in the last few years since he was interned in Ramallah complex.  Second, France was always viewed as a sympathetic nation to Palestine cause.  The entire world was all ears to listen the real cause of Arafat’s rapidly declining health.  However, there was no single cause that was given by the French doctors at a military hospital near Paris.  We read in the news that Arafat’s liver had failed; also, we heard that his platelet counts in blood was very low and then there was this news of brain hemorrhage.  There was also reporting of his in and out of consciousness as doctors tried hopelessly to stabilize his condition.  Perhaps Arafat’s inner circle knew right away that their leader’s health took a serious turn as they were planning his funeral.  That had irritated Arafat’s wife, Suha.  Some verbal skirmishes followed in the media when Mrs. Arafat blamed the PLO leadership and at one point, she said that her husband’s lieutenants were about to bury a living person.  After that, came a few statements from Arafat’s associate, who said their leader lays unconscious even though his brain, heart, and other vital organs are functioning properly.  Then in the wee hours of November 11, 2004, the news came from Paris that the Palestinian leader had passed away hours earlier at 9:30 a.m. Paris time.  

   Yasser Arafat’s lifeless body was taken to Cairo, Egypt for a military funeral hours later where many dignitaries and world leaders had assembled to pay the last homage to the dead Palestinian leader.  From there, Arafat’s body was taken to Ramallah a day later for a tumultuous funeral on November 12, 2004.

   No sooner Arafat’s mortal body was laid to an eternal rest in Ramallah compound, some Palestinian people floated a conspiracy theory relating to the probable cause of his death.  In the news today (November 14, 2004) we read that a leading Jordanian neurologist who regularly examined Yasser Arafat said on Friday (Nov 12, 2004) that poisoning was the "highest" probable cause of the Palestinian leader's mysterious death and urged that an autopsy be performed.  Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, who had examined a gravely ill Arafat in his besieged compound said, “One of the causes of platelet deficiency is poison.” 

   Amongst Palestinian folks and other Arabs, there has been widespread speculation that Arafat could have been poisoned by Israel.  The speculation was rife since neither doctors in Paris nor Palestinian leaders said what had caused Arafat’s death after days in a coma at a Paris hospital.  The French doctors at the military hospital had said that a French law on patient’s privacy does not allow them to say what really caused the chairman’s death.

   The Israeli government knew that this kind of wild speculation could usher in violent civil disobedience movement in West Bank and Gaza; therefore, the Foreign Minister of Israel, Silvan Shalom on Thursday (Nov. 11, 2004) dismissed the allegations that Israel killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as “scandalous and false.”

   Blaming poison as the root cause of Chairman Arafat’s death, Palestinian militants now vow to avenge their leader’s death.  The Arab militants living West Bank, Gaza, and elsewhere were more than convinced that Israel poisoned their undisputed leader and they vowed revenge attacks on the Jewish state and warned the new Palestinian leadership against any compromise as Arafat was laid to rest amidst a frenzied funeral in Ramallah. 

   Even though the Palestinian leaderships have all but squashed the conspiracy theory relating to Arafat’s death, some of the rank and file however is in a defiant mood.  The suspicions of poisoning were also rife at mosques and rallies.  The ordinary Palestinians think that leaders hold a soft line on Israel.  Calls for attacks also are muddling hopes of a revival in Middle East peacemaking now Arafat has left the scene.  A spokesperson for a newly named armed group, the Yasser Arafat Brigades, part of the ex-guerrilla leader's Fatah faction said, “We will respond to the assassination of the leader and symbol by striking the depth of the Israeli entity.  We strongly warn anyone who would try to bargain over our cause.” 

   A preacher at the main mosque in Gaza City, Ibrahim Mderes, said, “We smell the Jewish poison.  We demand that the leadership give us the truth.  We know the truth.”  Radical Palestinian group such as the Islamic Jihad and the kindred Hamas militant group who are behind suicide bombings and shootings that have killed hundreds of Israelis during a four-year-old uprising, both say they believe Arafat was killed and they have vowed revenge.  The members of these groups do not trust the moderates who have taken Arafat’s power.  They think the new leaders won’t offend Israel because they want to restart peace talks.  If the radical elements of Intifada Movement restart suicide bombing and guerilla warfare, then their action may dampen optimism in the United States and European communities for a new hope for peace talks.

   The distrust for new leaders by the rank and file Palestinians was exhibited on November 15, 2004, when gunmen fired shots at the entourage of PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City as the newly elected PLO leader set his foot in town dominated by al-Aqsa brigade members, a violent faction of PLO loyal to Yasser Arafat.  In the shooting spree, two Palestinians including one of the bodyguards of Mahmoud Abbas was killed.  Nonetheless, Abbas downplayed the incident calling the shooting merely as a demonstration of their grief for the loss of the supreme leader, Yasser Arafat.  I picked up this news early in the morning of November 15, 2004 via “Morning Edition” news program of NPR (National Public Radio, USA). 

   This is not the first time that a conspiracy theory reared its ugly had among Arabs whenever strife breaks out between them and the West.  In the wake of 9-11 terror attacks in America in which 19 Arab terrorists commandeered four passenger jetliners, a conspiracy theory was hatched that made its round in mosques everywhere.  It was rumored that Jewish state of Israel had engineered the 9-11 attack.  When sensible people point out the role of 19 Arab terrorists, two explanations are given: one, why should one believe in western propaganda?  Two, these people were bribed to carry out the attack to create a rift between Saudi Arabia and America.

   I am bringing up the conspiracy theory vis-ŕ-vis 9-11 terror attack to drive home one salient point.  That is, Arab people are by nature prone to a conspiracy theory.  Arafat’s sudden death after a prolong illness gives many Palestinians to smell a rat.  The peace initiative should restart so that Palestinians can have a separate homeland for once and all.  Many moderate Arabs round the world would applaud such a move but then we have extremists amongst Arab who would like to prolong the conflict.  It remains to be seen in which direction the new Palestinian leaders would gear their people. 

   In summary, before dust could settle in Ramallah Complex where Arafat was laid to rest on November 12, 2004, a rumor is making its round in the West Bank, and Gaza.  Many ordinary people including hardliner Fatah soldiers believe that the Israeli government poisoned their leader, Yasser Arafat.  Arafat’s trusted lieutenants who knew their leader’s failing health have dispelled the conspiracy theory; however, the Fatah brigade and Islamic Jihad members have vowed to take the revenge.  It remains to be seen how the new leaders of Palestinian people would gear the nation towards a permanent solution leading up to peace and tranquility in a land that has not seen peace since 1948.  In the meantime, the conspiracy theory should take the backseat. 

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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA