Boy, if this story is correct, it almost makes you feel sorry even for a guy like Arafat. It seems that Suha Arafat, the obviously grieving widow, would not allow the machines that have been keeping her husband's lungs and heart going for the last 13 days (he has been braindead all along, but under Islamic law, apparently, he could not be pronounced dead as long as his organs were still working) until she had negotiated a good financial settlement. Suha, you see, does not live in Israel with her suffering people, she lives in Paris, where her husband was taken for treatment, and she wanted to be supported in the manner to which she has become accustomed. And she wants the poor and often starving Palestinians to pay for it all:
Tuesday, November 9, Suha Arafat's French lawyers and former Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), struck a deal. It fixed the Palestinian Authority's financial obligations to Yasser Arafat's widow and let him finally die unambiguously and in peace at the end of a morbid tug of war between his wife and Palestinian Authority leaders...Last July, Arafat sent his wife $11 million to cover her living expenses and those of their daughter for six months - $1.8 million per month. The new accord guarantees her the same allowance from the Palestinian Authority as a regular annual remittance, i.e. $22 million per annum, for the rest of her life. Abu Mazen and prime minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) signed on the dotted line, although they have no notion how the penniless Palestinian Authority faced with a people in dire poverty can possibly stump up this kind of money.
DEBKAfile's Paris sources offer an exclusive peek at Suha Arafat's lifestyle in the French capital. She owns a smart villa on one of the most elegantly affluent streets in the world, Rue Fauborg St. Honore, while also maintaining a lavish private suite at the five-star Hotel Le Bristol, which after a multimillion dollar refurbishment claims to outclass the Paris Ritz, the Four Seasons and even George V. The upkeep of the Bristol suite she maintains for "business" was included in her widow's "pension."
After the Palestinian officials settled with Arafat's wife, Shaat went before the media to admit that Arafat had been in a deep coma since last Wednesday, November 3, meaning that all the Palestinian communiqués since then, describing him laughing with doctors, reading the Koran etc., were arrant falsehoods.
I'm sure it's been a difficult time for you, lady, but at least you got your cash out of the deal. Are we sure Arafat didn't commit suicide to get away from this woman?
I'm no fan of either Arafat. On the other hand, Mrs. A was entitled to drive a hard bargain. Why not? Arafat wasn't suffering, he was brain dead.
It is unseemly for a revolutionary leader to live in luxury which his people starve. But that was just as unseemly while Arafat was alive, perhaps moreso since he was ostensibly committed to the struggle. I don't know how his wife and daughters envision their role in the cause. If they just want to take their chunk of Arafat's personal fortune and drop out of public life, I say, let 'em go. Better they should fritter the money away in Paris than have it go to the PLO and Arafat's equally corrupt cronies.
I agree, I would much rather 2 undeserving spoiled women waste this money on shopping sprees in Paris when the alternative is that it goes to funding suicide bombers.
Stil, either she had a hell of a lawyer, or some really good dirt. I can't imagine for one minute the PLO leaders agreeing to this outrageous settlement otherwise...
I'm not sure I'd trust the source. My understanding is that Debka is a far-right Israeli propaganda rag, but maybe this is true and they're simply the only ones willing to report on it. Are there any other sources to corroborate this?
I agree with you Ed. As you know honey there are vultures like her in every culture. It's almost as though she enjoyed picking his bones. I am not surprised she did this. I think this was hush money she received.
Let's just hope Arafat is replaced with someone who is willing to negotiate peace.
I don't know if this specific story is true, but I do know that this woman lived in luxury in Paris and that there is solid evidence that Arafat himself embezzled hundreds of millions from his own people. That's pretty horrible.
This morning Good Morning America told this same story about Suha Arafat bargaining with the PLO officials for that same disclosed amount of money. In return she will inform them the whereabouts of his bank accounts around the world.
A close friend of Suha says she has been keeping a diary and will soon disclose it's contents.