Killing Arafat: Does Abbas Have Any Evidence?
30 November 2016
By Jonathan Cook
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas revives long-held suspicions over Arafat's
death ahead of Fatah congress next week
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has revived long-standing suspicions that
his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, was murdered. Abbas announced last week that
he knew the killer's identity, adding that the world would be ''amazed when
you know who did it''.
Abbas made the unexpected announcement during a commemoration, marking the
12th anniversary of Arafat's death, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where
the former Palestinian leader is buried.
Arafat died in a French military hospital in 2004, aged 75. He had been
evacuated days earlier from his Ramallah headquarters after rapidly falling
ill. His Muqata compound had been under siege by Israeli forces for more than
two years.
Abbas also suggested that a Palestinian commission of inquiry into Arafat's
death may be close to releasing its findings, after years of delays.
Palestinian media have wondered whether the report could be issued as soon as
the end of this month, when Abbas' Fatah movement is scheduled to hold a
postponed general congress.
Jehad Harb, a researcher with the Centre for Policy and Survey Research, a
think-tank based in Ramallah, told Al Jazeera there was a widely held belief
among the Palestinian public that Israel was behind Arafat's death. However,
he added, there had long been speculation about whether Israel received help
from Palestinians within the compound.
Abbas has previously pointed the finger at a key political rival, Mohammed
Dahlan, a 55-year-old former head of the Palestinian Authority's security
services in Gaza. Dahlan, who has been living in exile in the United Arab
Emirates since 2012, is reported to be keen to make a comeback and challenge
Abbas' rule.
''Abbas' comment that the killer's identity would surprise us implied that he
was referring to someone other than Israel,'' Harb said. ''Most Palestinians
assumed he was indicating that Dahlan or others inside the Muqata [Arafat's
headquarters] assisted Israel in killing Arafat.''
Dahlan hit back against Abbas on social media at the weekend, claiming that
the Palestinian Authority president was the ''sole beneficiary of Abu Ammar
[Arafat's] disappearance''.
Fear of political rival
Last week Abbas told the thousands who congregated in Ramallah: ''You ask me
who killed him – I know, but my testimony alone is not enough.'' He added: ''A
commission of inquiry is digging into that, but you'll find out at the
earliest opportunity.''
Analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera suggested that the timing of Abbas' statement
reflected mounting concerns that Dahlan's supporters will renew their
challenge to his rule when the Fatah congress is due to be convened on
November 29.
The congress, which elects key executive bodies, including Fatah's
Revolutionary Council, is being held in the shadow of weeks of unrest –
including gun battles in the West Bank's main cities – after Abbas dismissed
Fatah leaders from Dahlan's camp and cancelled the salaries of many of his
supporters.
Dahlan himself was found guilty in absentia of ''defaming'' Abbas at a trial
in 2014.
This month a recently re-established Constitutional Court conferred on Abbas
the power to strip Palestinian legislators of their immunity, apparently in an
effort to stifle criticism of his rule and prevent Dahlan, himself a elected
politician, from returning.
Abbas has sparked further anger by severely limiting those entitled to attend
the congress as a way to sideline Dahlan's influence.
''It is hard not to connect the comments about Arafat's murder and the
congress,'' Samir Awad, a politics professor at Bir Zeit University, near
Ramallah, told Al Jazeera. ''This seems to be part of pre-emptive efforts by
Abbas to bolster his ratings against any challengers that emerge.''
Plot against Abbas?
Abbas is said to be under growing pressure from Arab states to name a
successor and initiate a transition process, with Dahlan widely identified as
their preferred choice. Other reports have claimed that the UAE, Egypt and
Jordan have been secretly plotting to overthrow 81-year-old Abbas and replace
him with Dahlan.
In recent days an official Palestinian TV channel has aired a video suggesting
not only that Israel assassinated Arafat but that it is now preparing to do
the same to Abbas. A voice warns that Israel carried out Arafat's ''murder by
poison'', adding: ''The plot is renewed and history repeats itself. The
Palestinian president is again under attack.''
One civil society leader in the West Bank, who wished not to be named, given
the increasingly repressive atmosphere, told Al Jazeera that the video was
intended to discredit any moves against Abbas by framing them as ''part of a
plot by Israel''.
''Abbas is consolidating his powers and by the day behaves more like a
paranoid dictator,'' he said.
That view was echoed by Dahlan in an interview in Cairo with the Palestinian
news agency Maan last month. While denying that he had ambitions to become
president, he said: ''Abu Mazen [Abbas] is working to drive out all the voices
that aren't obedient to him.''
Dahlan's supporters have warned that their treatment, and Abbas' refusal to
offer them any form of reconciliation, is driving the Fatah movement towards a
schism.
There has not been a presidential election since 2005, and Abbas' mandate is
seen by many as long exhausted. Internal wrangling means the Fatah congress –
assuming that it is not cancelled at the last moment – will be the first since
2009.
Demands for evidence
George Giacaman, director of Muwatin, a democracy promotion organisation in
Ramallah, agreed that the impression left by Abbas' speech was that Dahlan was
implicated. ''It could be that Abbas hopes he can thereby weaken Dahlan's
influence at the congress,'' he told Al Jazeera.
But he pointed out that most Palestinians, and especially Dahlan's supporters,
would expect concrete evidence, not just accusations. ''The commission [of
inquiry] has been dragging its feet for years. The question is, does Abbas
have any evidence?''
He added: ''It is possible that the inquiry has evidence of who killed Arafat
but is censoring it, maybe because of external political pressure – from, say,
Israel or the US. Or it could be that it has found no evidence and does not
want to admit its failure.''
There have been rumours that Abbas might use the congress to split his three
leadership roles, remaining as president of the PA while allowing others to
step in as the heads of the Fatah movement and the Palestine Liberation
Organisation. One possible option would be to offer one of the positions to
Marwan Barghouti, a popular leader who is serving a life sentence in an
Israeli jail.
Other prominent contenders include Nasser al-Qudwa, the former Palestinian
representative to the UN and a nephew of Arafat; Jibril Rajoub, a former
security chief and the current head of the Palestinian Football Association;
Majid Faraj, head of the Palestinian intelligence service; and Saeb Erekat,
secretary general of the PLO.
However, Awad said Abbas was unlikely to relinquish any of the top jobs. ''It
would be a risky move, because it would trigger riots from the supporters of
other hopefuls. Abbas wants to keep things quiet, and the status quo is the
best way for him to do that.''
History of assassinations
Suspicions of Israel's involvement in Arafat's death are not restricted to
Palestinians. Uri Avnery, a former member of the Israeli parliament and a
veteran peace activist who was close to the late Palestinian leader,
maintained from the outset that Israel had murdered him.
He told Al Jazeera: ''I saw Arafat a few weeks before he died and he appeared
in good health. It is impossible that we still have no plausible explanation
for his sudden death, unless it was caused by a poison that leaves no trace.''
He added: ''One has to ask who profits. And on those grounds, suspicions must
fall on Israel.''
Israel has a long history of assassinating Palestinian leaders, including by
poisoning them with sophisticated and hard-to-trace toxins. Years after
Arafat's death, his body was exhumed so that medical teams could take samples,
following demands from his wife, Suha.
A French team rejected foul play, but Swiss scientists found traces of
polonium-210, a radioactive isotope, indicating that he had been poisoned.
Last week Abbas also inaugurated the Yasser Arafat Museum in Ramallah, an
exhibition exploring Arafat's role in the Palestinian liberation struggle.
Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His
latest books are ''Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the
Plan to Remake the Middle East'' (Pluto Press) and ''Disappearing Palestine:
Israel's Experiments in Human Despair'' (Zed Books). His website is
www.jonathan-cook.net.
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