July 04, 2012

Arafat poisoned? Danny Rubinstein told us so

Well here's a blast from the past.  A study commissioned by al Jazeera appears to support the idea that Yasser Arafat was poisoned.

Eight years after his death, it remains a mystery exactly what killed the longtime Palestinian leader. Tests conducted in Paris found no obvious traces of poison in Arafat’s system. Rumors abound about what might have killed him – cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, even allegations that he was infected with HIV.

A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera has revealed that none of those rumors were true: Arafat was in good health until he suddenly fell ill on October 12, 2004.

More importantly, tests reveal that Arafat’s final personal belongings – his clothes, his toothbrush, even his iconic kaffiyeh – contained abnormal levels of polonium, a rare, highly radioactive element. Those personal effects, which were analyzed at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, were variously stained with Arafat’s blood, sweat, saliva and urine. The tests carried out on those samples suggested that there was a high level of polonium inside his body when he died.

“I can confirm to you that we measured an unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210 in the belongings of Mr. Arafat that contained stains of biological fluids,” said Dr. Francois Bochud, the director of the institute.
Given the mystery as to the cause of death when it actually happened, I was surprised the allegation of poisoning wasn't more widespread but there was an allegation of poisoning from an authoritative voice, that of Israeli journo, Danny Rubinstein. I posted on his interview with Keshev, The Centre for the Protection of Democracy in Israel, back in 2006. The link to the interview is now broken but here is what Rubinstein had to say back then:
In my personal estimation, based on several findings and testimonies, we poisoned Arafat. Writing that today seems like an exercise in futility: 'those Arabs, with their imagination, and their conspiracy theories, etc.'. It is so opposed to our narrative and so identified with theirs, that I can't put that in. I think that's true for today's media in general: it's careful not to target sacred cows. In the end, all the systems adopt an approach held by part or most of the establishment.
There are many reasons why the zionist establishment would want to ignore Rubinstein.  He opposes the Law of Return and he makes no bones about describing Israel as an apartheid state.  Of course many people say both of those things but he was the first prominent Israeli journalist that I know of to say that Yasser Arafat was poisoned.

The al Jazeera piece concludes thus:
A conclusive finding that Arafat was poisoned with polonium would not, of course, explain who killed him. It is a difficult element to produce, though – it requires a nuclear reactor – and the signature of the polonium in Arafat’s bones could provide some insight about its origin.
Look again at what Rubinstein said: 
we poisoned Arafat.
He wasn't talking about himself.

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