Yasser Arafat Pronounced Dead

[Balanc3]

Maybe he was target of a political assasination- cause of death still unknown... but probably just caught something.

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2004/11/11/news/health.html

[PhAntoM MeNaCe]

Thank one of his OWN cabinet members for his death! Finally, that hideous terrorist is out of the picture. His revolutionary style method of ruling is outdated, and long past its due. He funneled hundreds of millions of dollars given to him from the UN including 200 million a year from the US to accounts around the world, only beknown to his disingenuous slutty wife. All this while his own people starved and continue to be supressed by their OWN political strife. That whole situation is a cluster fuck because of the lack of education and propaganda by their OWN government. You see the trend here. Arafat gave up the one chance to have it their way, an offer most could not concievably think anyone in that situation would turn down...Arafat turned down....the OSLO PEACE ACCORDS. And they just continue to suffer while Arafat is writing the check to the families of the suicide bombers, and now after his death the very money intented to help rebuild Palestine and help them develop their own state, Arafats wife now receives to keep up "with her lifestyle"...to the tune of 22 Million per year....ALL international aid money for Palestine. Burn in hell you lip twitching son of a bitch! Now the world can move forward with REAL peace nogotiations. But lets face it folks, you all saw the news with all those palestinians at the burial...doesnt exactly strike you as the kind of group hoping to start a democracy.

[Balanc3]

Hamas parading in the streets carrying mock coffins with American and Israeli flags draped over them does not strike me as peaceful. Sad thing is they still worship the man, because these people are manipulated from they day they are born. As in Saddams case, we shall never know how much money Arafat took from his people, because he hid the money in several swiss accounts. That money, could have completely turned around the slums in Gaza yet it went towards his lavish lifestyle. Before Lebanon, Arafat lived a life of exile... basically traveling around the globe by jet because nobody would allow them into their country. He even used to goto Bethlehem every Christmas to act as if he actually cared and believed in Jesus- to satisfy whom? When he settled in Palestine, he continued his bloody cause at the expense of his own people. Say what you want about this man finally seeing death. He deserved to burn in hell twenty years ago.

[Yao]

I read this week in the newspaper that he owned up to $900 MILLION...I was astonished!

If that is true, than he has fucking ripped off his own people more than anyone could have imagined...

[PhAntoM MeNaCe]

True indeed Balanc & Yao, very true indeed. Arafats death is a monumental stepping stone for world peace, and the middle east.. But Balanc hit the nail in the head, these guys are being minipulated and deceived since birth, until that changes from the top leadership...not much will change.

[Yao]

Power corrupts. It happens everytime.

[Umar]

Re: Yasser Arafat Pronounced Dead

May his soul rest in peace
I hope this does not bring a stop to the peace initiative taken by the leaders of that region. It is very important for the survival of all who are incharge to make sure that the RIGHT person is brought forward who will finally lead his people to a peaceful Life

[davetlv]

Re: Yasser Arafat Pronounced Dead

May his soul rest in peace
I hope this does not bring a stop to the peace initiative taken by the leaders of that region.

Arafat's death can only lead to a better life for millions of Palestinians. Whilst the peace process has never been plain sailing, with much distrust from both sides, the one stumbling block has always been Arafat.

Hopefully the new PA leadership can find the hundreds of millions Arafat has hidden in private accounts around the world and begin to redistribute it to the Palestinian people where it belongs.

[Balanc3]

MAG: Arafat Skimmed $2 Million a Month From the Gas Trade
Sun Nov 14 2004 09:53:40 ET

New York -- Last year auditors discovered Arafat was guilty of skimming $2 million a month from the gasoline trade in the territories, TIME reports.

In August 2002 international donors forced Arafat to sign over his investments to the Palestine Investment Fund, which was audited by U.S. accountants and managed by Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official. After scouring corporations throughout the Arab world and bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg, the auditors identified $800 million, which has been made a part of the Palestinian Authority?s official budget. ?It?s the most successful financial reform in the Arab world,? Jim Prince, president of the Los Angeles?based Democracy Council and head of the audit team, tells TIME.

People close to Fayyad?s investigation told TIME of Arafat?s skimming from the gas trade. Breaking the gasoline smuggling and corruption boosted the Palestinian Authority?s official treasury by $10 million a month and cut gas prices for ordinary Palestinians.

?Arafat?s death means his followers may never know just how much more they may be owed,? writes TIME?s Matt Rees in ?Where?s Arafat?s Money?? In the mid-1990s, Arafat controlled a financial empire worth at least $3 billion. By the time of his death, he was down to his last $1 billion, according to Israeli-intelligence estimates.

Arafat wife Suha?s outburst that his successors were ?trying to bury [him] alive? came after she learned that Arafat had signed over at least $800 million to the government of the Palestinian Authority two years ago, TIME reports. Top Palestinian officials say Suha wants the new chief of the P.L.O., Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei to give her money out of the P.L.O.?s party coffers. But a senior P.L.O. official tells TIME, ?they?ll pay her a pension, and that?s it.?

People familiar with Arafat?s finances say the Palestinian leader sent Suha $200,000 a month out of the Palestinian Authority?s budget for the Office of the President. French authorities are investigating transfers of $15 million from Swiss banks to Paris accounts in Suha?s name at the Arab Bank and at BNP Paribas Bank, a French bank, TIME reports.

Senior Palestinian security officials tell TIME that Arafat also shipped money to the gunmen of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

[kyyoon]

I hope his death will mark a new beginning for the Palestinian people. They've suffered so much.

[robprunzit]

I was shocked when I heard his people ( those brainwashed from birth ) place boobytrapped toy stuffed animals on the beaches, so the Israeli kids would pick them up to play, and have their arms blown off.

It can only be a good thing that he has finally died. Saying Arafat was for peace, is like saying a 'pit bull' dog is a babys best pet.

The problem may not go away so quickly though. The problem goes deeper than just Palestine. Muslims (in general), are raised from birth to hate Jews. It goes back to the Bible.

I know it to be true. I have a co-worker who is from Libya. Thats North Africa, Islamic, and also under a dictatorship which has hated the West, until the Iraqi War. He explains many things to me about Islam and the way of life in that kind of setting. It helps to get an insiders opinion. He isnt the only Muslim I am friends with by the way. Others confirm his account.

Muslims simply want Israel to go away. Thats why Egypt got involved back in the beginning of the 7 day war by blocking the shipping and water access for the new Israel.

I'm not a Jew. But I say, Good luck to them. They are the ones who truly have had the worst side of the conflict. And yes I know the people of Palestine are suffering. But who brought it on themselves? Palestine. And who is in a defensive posture, constantly? Israel. Alot of that is thanks to Arafat! A feather in one hand and a gun in the other. Peace? Lay down the gun Palestine, now that Arafat is gone.