What killed Arafat?

'What killed Arafat' is the title of a new documentary being broadcast by Gulf leading satellite channel, al Jazeera, that seems to have disturbed the hornets' nest in the Palestinian Authority. The discovery of traces of a radioactive agent on clothing reportedly worn by Yasser Arafat in his final days reignited a cauldron of conspiracy theories. The documentary suggested that former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the symbol of the Palestinian struggle and fight for freedom had been assassinated while being treated in a Paris hospital. Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat died at age 75 on Nov. 11, 2004 after long illness and subsequently going into coma . He had been suffering from a mysterious illness. The cause of the death was never determined and French medical officials would not release details of his illness because of privacy laws. The medical report was given to his family.

At the time, French doctors said Arafat died of a massive stroke. According to French medical records, he had suffered inflammation, jaundice and a blood condition known as disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).

But the records were inconclusive about what brought about the DIC, which has numerous causes including infections, colitis and liver disease. Outside experts who reviewed the records were also unable to pinpoint the underlying cause.

The uncertainty sparked speculation about the cause of death, including the possibility of AIDS or poisoning. Many in the Arab world believe he was killed by Israel, which held him responsible for the bloody Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s. Israeli officials have repeatedly denied foul play, and they dismissed the latest theories as nonsense.

 

The documentary this week disclosed that a Swiss institute had examined clothing provided by Arafat's widow, Suha, and determined there were high levels of polonium-210, the same substance found to have killed a Russian Alexander Litvinenko, a one-time KGB agent turned critic of the Russian government, in London in 2006. Litvinenko drank tea laced with the substance.

A 2007 study by radiation experts from Britain's Health Protection Agency concluded that once Polonium-210 is deposited in the bloodstream, its potent effects are nearly impossible to stop. A poisoning victim would experience multiple organ failure as alpha radiation particles bombard the liver, kidneys and bone marrow from within.

Polonium-210 breaks down relatively quickly. The isotope has a half-life of 138 days; the time it takes for half of the sample to decay. Experts were divided over whether a reliable sample could even be salvaged.

Suha Arafat has since called for her husband's body to be exhumed from its mausoleum in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 

The al Jazeera report was the subject in every shop and street corner throughout the Palestinian territory. In East Jerusalem's main commercial street Saleh al Din, it replaced conversations about the Arab Spring and the Syrian crisis.

And most people said the reports confirmed their own suspicions saying they had "knew for a long time that Arafat was poisoned. What they need to know now is who is behind the killing?"

The prime suspects in mind are the Israeli Mossad and the American CIA".

They demanded that Arafat's body must be exhumed "so we will know the truth and also we might find who was behind it." Others praised al Jazeera's findings and want them followed up. "It was always on our mind (that Arafat was killed), however, Arafat's body must not to be disturbed.They reasoned that the truth is there with the military hospital in Paris, and it will be disrespectful for such a great leader like Arafat to have his body exhumed."

One key question is where the polonium-210 might have come from. This is more reason experts say Arafat's remains would have to be tested to know more else the conspiracy theories and suspicions surrounding what killed Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini won't simply go away anytime soon.