Internal Palestinian Politics | The American Task Force on Palestine

Arafat's nephew: Body should be exhumed if necessary
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

The nephew of Yasser Arafat said Thursday that the late president's body must be exhumed if necessary to determine the true cause of his death. Nasser al-Qudwa, who heads the Yasser Arafat Foundation, met with President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Thursday and discussed new allegations that Arafat was poisoned with the radioactive element polonium-210 in 2004.

Arafatuous
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Foreign Policy (Editorial) - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

In November 2004, a sad but very familiar scene played itself out: A sick, 75-year-old man who had been living in squalor for several years after an extremely difficult life -- including a near-death experience in the Libyan desert -- finally passed away. Doctors at the Percy hospital in France determined he died of natural causes: a stroke caused by an unidentified infection. As is so often the case, human life ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Aide: Palestinian leader wants more on Arafat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

An aide says the Palestinian leader wants more information from a Swiss lab before deciding whether to dig up the remains of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Doctors at the lab say they found elevated levels of the radioactive agent polonium-210 on clothing reportedly worn by Arafat before his death in November 2004. The lab says the findings don't prove Arafat was poisoned. Experts are divided over whether an autopsy, sought by Arafat's widow, could clear up a lingering mystery surrounding the cause of Arafat's death.

Rewriting the Arafat story
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Fatah’s old guard, and especially Arafat’s family, has a great task: Arranging a dignified death for the father of the Palestinian nation. The fact that Arafat left the stage while afflicted with a disease that one does not speak about openly, far away from his people, at a French hospital, is incommensurate with the national ethos.

Arafatuous
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

In November 2004, a sad but very familiar scene played itself out: A sick, 75-year-old man who had been living in squalor for several years after an extremely difficult life -- including a near-death experience in the Libyan desert -- finally passed away. Doctors at the Percy hospital in France determined he died of natural causes: a stroke caused by an unidentified infection. As is so often the case, human life ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.

'Polonium found on Arafat's clothing was planted'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

The high levels of the radioactive poison polonium reportedly found on the belongings of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat indicate that the toxin was on them after his death, a senior counterterrorism analyst told The Jerusalem Post Thursday. Dr. Ely Karmon, of the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya’s Institute for Counterterrorism, is a specialist in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism.

President Abbas, if you don't want to fight, negotiate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Nasser Laham - (Analysis) July 4, 2012 - 12:00am

I cannot work out an explanation for the state of "no peace, but no war" which has prevailed in Palestine in the last two years. We Palestinians neither want to fight the Israeli occupation, nor to negotiate with them. We use the term "steadfastness" to describe this stalemate, as if doing nothing at all and remaining motionless has become steadfastness. Palestinian intellectuals have long criticized the Arab regimes because they neither want to fight Israel, nor accept reconciliation with the occupying country.

Palestinians May Exhume Arafat After Report of Poisoning
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - July 4, 2012 - 12:00am

A potentially explosive re-examination of the circumstances behind the death of Yasir Arafat, the symbol of the Palestinian national struggle, has galvanized Palestinian suspicions that he was poisoned and led the Palestinian Authority to agree in principle on Wednesday to an exhumation of his remains, possibly within days. Yasir and Suha Arafat in Ramallah in 2004, about two weeks before Mr. Arafat died. Al Jazeera has reported that he might have been poisoned with radioactive polonium 210.

Palestine’s winter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) July 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Since the so-called Arab Spring began a year and a half ago, there has been one cause conspicuous by its absence: that of Palestine. This is a subject that was described as the central issue of Arab nationalism and was the inspiration given for revolutions and military movements that have taken place since the great catastrophe of 1948.

After Arab Spring, Abbas discovers importance of public opinion in PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Several hours after an official from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud's Abbas' office leaked to the media that a planned meeting with Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz would not take place, the latter's aides claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was behind the move. This reaction was both immature and condescending, reflecting a characteristic Israeli response to Abbas' moves - as if the Palestinian leaderhas no will of his own, no independent interestsand especially no public opinion to take into consideration.

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