Tag Archive for Yasser Arafat

Al-Jazeera Sacks its Reporter for Questioning Arafat ‘Assassination’

One of the original authors of the network’s coverage of Swiss investigation, Ken Silverstein was reportedly fired after citing media bias.

By Tova Dvorin

 

An Al-Jazeera reporter was fired last week for questioning the objectivity of the investigations surrounding the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, according to The Washington Free Beacon. The reporter was part of the network’s investigative team into the death, which was controversially declared a “poisoning” by Swiss officials in October.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat, not yet dead

 

Al-Jazeera has been one of the prime networks advocating the theory that the PLO leader was poisoned by polonium in 2004, and has been actively presenting the story with that bias since 2012. Continue Reading »

French experts: Arafat did NOT die of poisoning

Swiss forensic experts said last month that Arafat body samples consistent with polonium poisoning.

Russians forensic experts last month said no polonium residue could be found. Israel nuclear expert concurred.

By Reuters

 

 

French forensic tests have concluded that former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat did not die of poisoning, as had been suggested by an earlier report, a source who saw the conclusions of the report said on Tuesday.

Yasser Arafat Gaza mural

Palestinian boy touching a mural of Yasser Arafat in Gaza City, November 2009.- Photo: AP

“The results of the analyses allow us to conclude that the death was not the result of poisoning,” the source told Reuters, quoting from conclusions of a report by French forensic experts handed over to Arafat’s widow Suha. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Investigators to name people responsible for Arafat’s death

 

A decade after he started searching for suspects, a Palestinian investigator said he would name Arafat’s murderer.

Abbas’ PA Accuses Jews of Poisoning Arafat.

Suha Arafat said that a member of Arafat’s own inner circle was responsible.

By REUTERS
 

 

RAMALLAH – A Palestinian investigator said on Tuesday he would soon name the people he believed were responsible for the death of former leader Yasser Arafat, almost a decade after he started searching for suspects.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat, not yet dead

Arafat, a guerrilla leader who became the first Palestinian Authority president, died in 2004 from a sudden illness contracted while under an Israeli siege at his Ramallah headquarters in the occupied West Bank. Continue Reading »

Hamas & Fatah argue over Arafat memorial ceremony

 

The 2 largest Palestinian factions fight over Arafat’s legacy, as Hamas refuses Fatah members at Gaza memorial ceremony. 

By AFP

Palestinian movement Fatah has accused Gaza’s rulers Hamas of banning it from commemorating Monday’s ninth anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death and arresting several of its members.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat, not yet dead

“We condemn the summoning and arrest of some of our members and demand to stop them immediately,” said the Ramallah-based Fatah party, which was founded by Arafat and is now headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas .

Arafat died in Paris on November 11, 2004 at 75 after falling sick a month earlier. Continue Reading »

Arafat widow & P.A. paid for polonium tests

The Washington Free Beacon reported Friday that Suha Arafat & the P.A. paid for the poisoning tests.

By JTA

 

 

The widow of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority paid for the Swiss medical tests on the late Palestinian leader’s body that showed he did not die of natural causes.

Yasser Arafat and his wife Suha hold hands prior to Arafat's departure from Ramallah, Oct. 29, 2004.

Yasser Arafat and his wife Suha hold hands prior to Arafat’s departure from Ramallah, Oct. 29, 2004. –     Photo: AP

The Washington Free Beacon reported Friday that a spokesperson for the University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne told the newspaper that Suha Arafat and the P.A. paid for the tests.

Continue Reading »

Palestinian investigation concludes: Israel assassinated Arafat

Acknowledging insufficient evidence to support theory that PA president died of polonium poisoning, the Palestinian investigators say Israel is only suspect in Arafat’s murder.

 

 

The commission set up to investigate the circumstances of former Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s death presented their findings in a press conference in Ramallah on Friday.

Yasser Arafat with his doctors in Ramallah - AP - 2004

Yasser Arafat with his doctors in his compound in Ramallah in 2004.- Photo: AP

The two teams of investigators, Swiss and Russian, did not find any conclusive evidence, Dr. Abdullah Bashir, the chairman of the medical committee, said.

“The outcome of the comprehensive report on the levels of Polonium-210 and the development of his illness does not give sufficient evidence to support the decision that Polonium-210 caused acute radiation syndrome leading to death,” he said, quoting conclusions of the Russian report. Continue Reading »

Russians said absolutely not – Swiss say Arafat poisoned with polonium

Swiss team claims they found levels of polonium at least 18 times higher than normal.

Suha Arafat: This is proof of ‘political assassination’.

Israel dismisses report, says even Swiss admit findings ‘not conclusive.

By Reuters

 

 

A Swiss forensic team has found that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned to death in 2004 with radioactive polonium.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

A team of experts, including from Lausanne University Hospital’s Institute of Radiation Physics, opened Arafat’s grave in the West Bank city of Ramallah last November, and took samples from his body to seek evidence of alleged poisoning.

According to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, the Swiss team discovered levels of polonium at least 18 times higher than normal in Arafat’s ribs, pelvis and in the soil that absorbed his remains. Continue Reading »

Russian official: Arafat NOT Poisoned with Polonium

Interfax, a Russian news agency quoted Vladimir Uiba, the head of the Federal Medico-Biological Agency as saying: “He (Arafat) could not have been poisoned with polonium. The research conducted by Russian experts found no traces of this substance,”

By Reuters, Reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Noah Browning in Ramallah; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Robin Pomeroy

 

The head of a Russian forensics agency said on Tuesday that samples from the body of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had revealed no traces of radioactive polonium, a Russian news agency reported.

Yasser Arafat

However, the government scientific body later denied that it had made any official statement about the research, saying only that it had handed its results to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Continue Reading »

Who Profited by Planting Polonium on Arafat’s Belongings & Blaming Israel?

 

Even though evidence of radioactively poisoning Arafat appears impossible, accusing Israel made headlines & documentaries.

In making this claim, so far only one stands above all others to profit professionally and financially.

By Judy Hantman

 

Have you ever wondered what happened to the forensic results of Arafat’s remains, exhumed in November, 2012? Undoubtedly, we are witnessing another cover up of the facts in order to vilify Israel.

Yasser Arafat's mausoleum, where tarpaulin obscured the entrance during his exhumation. - Photo Screenshot

Yasser Arafat’s mausoleum, where tarpaulin obscured the entrance during his exhumation. – Photo Screenshot

The reinvestigation into Arafat’s death started with Clayton Swisher, former special agent with the U.S. Continue Reading »

What Was Arafat Given After Killing U.S. Diplomats?

After Palestinians murdered US diplomats and a Presidential candidate, the US saw fit to bestow on Arafat int’l notoriety, a fortune, plenty of invitations to the White House, trips to the UN & a Nobel Peace Prize to start with.

By

 

 

History is sometimes made in the unmaking — with some of the critical facts in an appalling event being hurriedly and knowingly swept under a rug like so many pieces of broken glass. This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of such an event in the making and masking of history.

In the early evening of March 1, 1973 (like today, a Friday), eight gunmen from the Black September Organization — the same terrorist group which had created havoc six months earlier at the 1972 Munich Olympics — stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum where a going-away party was being held for George Curtis Moore, second-ranking officer at the U.S.

Continue Reading »

Suha: I tried divorcing Arafat a 100 times

Former PLO Chief Yasser Arafat’s wife, Suha, of 14 years, calls marriage to him a ‘big mistake’ explaining she wanted to leave him time & again but Arafat stopped her every time.

Ynet

 

Nine years have lapsed since the death of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and his widow revealed that she attempted to divorce him over 100 times, but that he prevented her from doing so.

Suha and Yasse Photo: Reuters

Suha and Yasser
Photo: Reuters

“I loved Arafat, but the marriage to him was a big mistake on my part,” said Suha Arafat to the Sabah Turkish newspaper.

“I know there were a lot of women that wanted to marry Arafat. Continue Reading »

PA will turn to ICC if evidence found that Arafat was murdered

Palestinians will soon have access to international courts following its UN statehood status upgrade on Thursday.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

The Palestinian Authority indicated it would take Israel to the International Criminal Court if it uncovers evidence Israel assassinated former PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, something that could become possible if the PA obtains an upgrade to its statehood status in the UN this week.

International Criminal Court in the Netherlands - Photo: REUTERS/Michael Kooren

International Criminal Court in the Netherlands – Photo: REUTERS/Michael Kooren

Speaking to reporters at a new conference in Ramallah on Tuesday, PA investigator Tawfiq Tirawi said Palestinians were gathering evidence about Arafat’s death in order “to submit [it] to the International Criminal Court,” Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.

Continue Reading »

Int’l team of Experts exhume Arafat, seeking evidence of murder

The hospital in Switzerland that carried out original examinations of Arafat’s clothing say results are expected in several months.

News agencies

 

The body of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was exhumed on Tuesday by a team of international experts trying to discover if he was poisoned, as many Palestinians believe. Several hours later, the remains were reburied.

Yasser Arafat Photo: Reuters

Yasser Arafat
Photo: Reuters

French magistrates opened a murder inquiry in August into Arafat’s death in Paris after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of radioactive polonium on his clothing, which was supplied by his widow, Suha.

Arafat died in Paris aged 75 in 2004 after a short, mysterious illness. Continue Reading »

Arafat’s Exhumation is Set for Tuesday Morning

PA officials reported that the body of former PLO Chairman Arafat will be exhumed to see if he was murdered.

By Elad Benari

 

Palestinian Authority officials said on Saturday they would exhume the body of former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat next week to see if he was poisoned with a radioactive isotope, AFP reported.

Arafat posters

Arafat posters – AFP photo

The announcement came as a group of international experts arrived in Ramallah to take samples of the remains of Arafat’s bones and clothing for further study in European labs.

“The tomb will be opened on (Tuesday) and experts will take samples the same day within a matter of a few hours,” Tawfiq Tirawi told reporters in Ramallah, according to AFP. Continue Reading »

Yasser Arafat’s mausoleum opened ahead of murder investigation

Despite immediate family’s objections, work to open the late Palestinian leader’s grave began ahead of official murder investigation.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

 

 

Work began on Tuesday to open former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s grave ahead of an exhumation of his body for a murder probe, AFP reported.

Deceased PLO chairman Yasser Arafat - Photo: REUTERS

Deceased PLO chairman Yasser Arafat – Photo: REUTERS

A source close to Arafat’s family told AFP that work is expected to last 15 days, and that it began on Tuesday with removing concrete and stones from Arafat’s mausoleum.

French, Swiss and Russian experts are due to exhume Arafat’s body in Ramallah in an attempt to discover how he died after an Al Jazeera documentary in July suggested he was killed by a rare radioactive poison.

Continue Reading »