Monday, November 08, 2004

Benjamins Watch: Part 2

The Toronto Sun:
YASSER ARAFAT'S wife lashed out at his top lieutenants today, accusing them of travelling to Paris with plans to "bury" her husband "alive." In a screaming telephone call from Arafat's hospital bedside near Paris, Suha Arafat told pan-Arab Al-Jazeera television that she was issuing "an appeal to the Palestinian people." She accused Arafat's top aides, who are travelling to France later today, of conspiring to usurp her husband's four-decade long role as Palestinian leader.

"Let it be known to the honest Palestinian people that a bunch of those who want to take over are coming to Paris tomorrow," she screamed in Arabic over the telephone.
"You have to realize the size of the conspiracy. I tell you they are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive," she said, using Arafat's nom de guerre. "He is alright and he is going home. God is great."

An Al-Jazeera producer said the broadcaster was confident it was Suha Arafat on the telephone and that she had called their Ramallah office from Arafat's bedside at a military hospital.

It is hard to see why Suha would be able to gather support from the Palestinian people. While she has been dining and shopping in Paris safe and sound, they have suffered the often fatal consequences of her husband’s leadership. I mark this as a desperate attempt by a desperate woman.

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