Arafat died of AIDS, charged PFLP Secretary General Ahmed Jabril. MEMRI has this transcript of an interview with Jabril which it says aired on July 5 on Al Manar TV:
When Abu Mazen came to Damascus with his team, I asked them: “What happened to the investigation into the death of Abu Ammar [Arafat]? The Israelis killed him. He was my colleague ever since 1965 and used to sleep at my home. He and I followed the same path.” Is it conceivable that when Rafiq Al-Hariri was killed, all hell broke loose, even though he was just a merchant in Saudi Arabia, who later entered politics, whereas the death of Yasser Arafat, who for 40 years had been carrying his gun from one place to another, is not investigate? Is this conceivable? They were silent, and then one of them said to me: “To be honest, the French gave us the medical report, that stated that the cause of Abu Ammar’s death was AIDS.” I am not saying this, they did. Now they pretend that they miss Yasser Arafat, and complain that [Hamas] entered his house in [Gaza] and so on… I say to every honorable member of the Fatah movement that he should be happy that we got rid of the plague, which had been imposed upon them and upon the Palestinian people. The Fatah movement now has an opportunity to renew itself.
23 responses so far ↓
1 Arafat an Aids gestorben? : simoncolumbus.de // Jul 18, 2007 at 2:51 pm
[…] via Charles Levinson […]
2 Robin // Jul 18, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Charles,
I can’t find a place on your blog here to contact you so I will just do it here. I would like to know just why there is not THOROUGH coverage of what is going on at the Rafah crossing, and I am not referring to articles that speak of the situation abstractly. Why aren’t there any journalists there on the scene, photos, interviews, video? Please read the blog of Dr. Mona El-Farra http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/
See who she is. She just ten days ago concluded her tour of the US INCLUDING an appearance before the UN. She amongst THOUSANDS of others are now stranded and unable to get back to their homes in Gaza. READ what is happening to her and btw her teenage daughter is with her.
There have been reports here and there but WHY isn’t the press THERE covering this? And if they cannot get there, I am SURE there are people there with cameras who can email photos and interviews. In fact Dr. Mona is issuing an URGENT plea. WHERE IS THE PRESS?
3 Linda Grant // Jul 18, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Charles, what do you make of this account of an attack on the FGFTU offices by Hamas
http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=1271
4 Rattling The Kettle // Jul 18, 2007 at 5:00 pm
There have long been rumors that Arafat was gay, and the AIDS rumors are part and parcel of that.
5 Kebz // Jul 18, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Hi Robin. I havent come across anything on that situation since the article in Al-Ahram
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/852/eg3.htm
Charles, any further information on these invisible 5000 stuck in no-man’s land would be great. Thanks.
6 Kebz // Jul 18, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Linda. Engage is a pro-zionist site. As nothing has appeared on the FGFTU website regarding this statement, I would wait to see it confirmed. The alleged maker of the statement was arrested by Israeli forces less than a week ago.
7 Robin // Jul 18, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Hi Kebz,
There are SEVERAL people trying to get the attention of the MSM-
Mona was here in LA as the last stop of her 17 city visit here before she was returning home to Gaza on July 9th with her daughter. An audience member asked her if she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to get back home to Gaza. She replied, “I am not afraid for Mona, I am afraid for ALL those stuck at the border”. Now Dr. Mona, the co-chair of the Red Crescent as well as M.E.C.A. is sitting there stuck along with MANY others and the press is NO WHERE to be seen right now.
Charles, this is an IMPORTANT story that is not getting out. Maybe you personally cannot go, but would you PLEASE contact whoever you can to get this story out. Letters have been sent to Olmert, the EU in charge of the crossing and other parties here in the States. This is a human CATASTROPHE that needs to be RESOLVED and also the information involving just why this is happening is so confusing, with every one blaming each other while people are languishing.
8 Charles Levinson // Jul 20, 2007 at 11:48 am
Hi Robin — It’s very difficult to cover it from the Israeli/Palestinian side. It has to be covered from the Egypt side, which means a correspondent from Cairo has to make the four hour trip from Cairo to Rafah and there are only a handful of western correspondents in Cairo, most of whom are responsible for 22 Arab countries and spend much of their time outside Egypt.
Also the media is somewhat inured to Palestinian suffering, and is definitely inured to Palestinians inconvenienced. I don’t have to drive 10 hours and cross an international border to find stories about stranded Palestinians, long lines at checkpoints, etc.
Lastly, from what I’ve read and heard of the situation, calling it a “human catastrophe” sounds like a bit of overstatement. This was the best the Al Ahram Weekly reporter could come up with during her trip there:
“I have been here for 23 days,” said Ashraf Mohamed from Rafah, Gaza. “I have been staying with my son at the Safa Hotel in Arish, but I have been unable to cover the expenses of the hotel for the past two weeks. The hotel owners know this; it’s just as well that they have kind hearts and are willing to put us up anyway. I have completely run out of money.”
It doesn’t sound pleasant, but I don’t think it qualifies as human catastrophe.
9 Robin // Jul 20, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hi Charles,
On Wednesday, Mohammed Omer, a young award winning Palestinian journalist gave a live interview to Dan Bustany on KPFK here in LA.
Please listen to it when you can. The link is
http://tinoire1.progressiveindependent.com/
He is reporting from the Gaza side on the situation of his brothers and sisters who cannot return home. Note, Egyptian sources are saying that 6000 are stranded and that approximately another 30,ooo are in situations as you are talking about. The Red Crescent is only providing one meal a day and yesterday they said they have received the funds to feed people three meals a day for a period of three days only.
16 babies have been born on the streets without hospital care. They are not eligible to Egyptian citizenship at all (unlike American law) and have no birth certificates and will not be allowed into Gaza. So in other words, these babies born are in “limbo”. According to Palestinian sources 28 have died (many of those seeking to return were sick to begin with and had left to receive medical care elsewhere).
IMORTANT: Read here http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10140506.html
That is MUCH more than simple inconvenience.
So the “media is inured to Palestinian suffering , and is definitely inured to Palestinians inconvenienced” THAT Charles, is QUITE a revealing statement on your part!!!!!
10 Charles Levinson // Jul 20, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Robin — I wasn’t defending the media, or saying it’s a good thing that the media is inured to Palestinian suffering. I was just trying to answer your question as to why there aren’t any journalists covering this.
11 Kebz // Jul 20, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Hi Robin. I suspect that Charles didn’t mean that he himself feels inured to Palestinian suffering, but that the media in general do not see it as an issue of interest and that he would not be able to persuade anybody to cover the story based upon what HE has learned about it so far. It says a lot about the MSM that issues of human suffering and a few deaths are not of interest. To them, it is just another day and they can find cases of hardship etc to fill their bulletins without having to travel so far. That is sickening to you and me but that is how they operate. You can bet your life that if the half the deaths and hardship were on the Israeli side, we would have an avalanche of reporters descending on the area. It would certainly be wall-to-wall coverage if it was New Yorkers or Londoners affected.
12 Robin // Jul 20, 2007 at 5:51 pm
OK Charles, I am seeing that you cover the Middle East for The Daily Telegraph out of London. I am also seeing that you have been banned from Egypt because you wrote about torture there. That is fine and dandy, happens to journalists all the time, and I do NOT agree with censorship in any manner. HOWEVER,
there ARE Western media correspondents in Cairo and I do NOT think that driving four hours is ANY excuse for not having a reporter on the scene!!! Also, your OWN statement “I don’t have to drive 10 hours and cross an international border to find stories about stranded Palestinians, long lines at checkpoints
etc.” COMBINED in the same paragraph as the media being inured to Palestinian suffering is ABOMINABLE!!! Just what are you saying? One suffering Palestinian is the same as the next? That driving 10 hours is an INCONVENIENCE? You are a JOURNALIST who just made one heck of a PERSONAL statement (the “I” statement concerning 10 hours, that is YOU making this statement)
I have much appreciated your coverage of Gaza, MUCH appreciated it. But if you are up to snuff as a PROFESSIONAL, who has been made aware of a situation,you will make the calls that YOU can make to those in Egypt who can cover this matter. Your assumptions that people are not doing all that badly there are EASILY refuted. You may very well hit a brick wall, but you will NOT know for sure until you put your best efforts forward. Thank you.
13 Charles Levinson // Jul 20, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Robin — okay, the statement about not having to drive 10 hours may have come across as a little insensitive. That wasn’t my point. I was simply trying to say that there is a lot of Palestinian suffering and hardship out there to choose from and not every example of Palestinian woe can be written about. I can drive 10 minutes and find Palestinians waiting hours at checkpoints, and scores of other stories of the miseries of life and occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. This isn’t to detract from what’s happening in Rafah and this very well could be one of those exceptional cases that merits extra attention. I am in no position to judge the severity of the situation from my current perch in Jerusalem. Again, I am not defending the media. I am simply trying to come up with reasons why it’s not being covered — right or wrong.
14 Robin // Jul 20, 2007 at 8:23 pm
To Whom It May Concern, (sent to CNN and MSNBC)
Upon researching your coverage of the Palestinian issue, I am unable to find
coverage concerning the 6000 Palestinians stranded at the Rafah border crossing
in Egypt attempting to get home. The border has been closed to all crossing
since June 9th. Many have been waiting since that time languishing in the
desert. Palestinian reports say that 28 have died (many stranded are those who
left to seek medical help outside Gaza and are not healthy). Sixteen babies
have been born, none are eligible for Egyptian citizenship (unlike US law which
grants automatic citizenship to those born here) and they have no birth
certificates. Even if the border does open, these new mothers with their
newborn babies will not be able to go home to Gaza. Currently Dr. Mona El-Farra
who is the vice president of the Gaza Red Cresent Society as well as Husam El
Nounou and Marwan Diab of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program are among
those stranded attempting to return home. Dr. Mona was returning from her 45
day, 17 city trip to the US which included an appearance before the UN. You can
read her statement here http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/2007/06/on-40th-anniversary
-of-occupation-my.html
Two days ago, Mohammed Omer, an award winning Gazan journalist who appeared on
CSPAN in December gave a live interview to KPFK here in Los Angeles from his
vantage point in Gaza. It can be heard here
http://tinoire1.progressiveindependent.com/
I do believe that CNN has correspondents in Cairo who could travel to the Rafah
crossing and cover this story. Mohammed’s email is ******** He
responds quite quickly to emails sent to him and could give you the information
on how to contact Dr. Mona. He has her cell phone number but could not reach
her because of antenna problems. I am also certain that whoever is in Cairo
could reach Dr. Mona through the Egyptian Red Crescent who is FINALLY sending
some aid to the crossing.
Please, please, I do not understand why CNN is not covering this issue. If it
were 6000 Americans unable to return home, CNN would be there in a heartbeat.
Thank You Sincerely,
Robin
The LAST sentence of this letter I sent to CNN Charles is PRECISELY my statement to you also.
I would truly appreciate it if you could take this information and pass it on to whomever you can. Thank you.
15 simon cowell // Jul 22, 2007 at 10:02 am
The reason there are 6,000 stranded Palestinians at Rafah is that Hamas has cold bloodedly turned them into pawns. The 6,000 could use Kerem Shalom to get in but Haams won’t permit them to enter from Kerem Shalom. Instead it is using them to try and open Rafah in order to increase its weapons importing capability. Instead of responding to every one of Robin’s comments Charles why don’t you cover this aspect of the story.
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