Posted on 01/27/2002 3:56:46 PM PST by RCW2001
Zinni: I never called Arafat a mafioso
By Janine Zacharia
WASHINGTON (January 28) - US special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni said yesterday certain people are trying to spoil his mediation effort by attributing false statements to him about the Palestinian leadership.
Zinni told The Jerusalem Post that reports in Hebrew-language newspapers claiming he described the Palestinian Authority as a "mafia" and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat as the "godfather" of the mafia were false.
"It is lies and gross distortions that are only designed by those who put it out to hurt our peace efforts," Zinni said.
A report in the daily Ma'ariv said Zinni, at a closed dinner meeting at the White House over the weekend, called Arafat "capo di tutti capi" (head of the mafia), and that preventive security service heads Jibril Rajoub and Mohammed Dahlan behave like "capi," or members of the mafia.
The report said he also referred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "papa bear." But no such dinner took place at the White House, and Zinni was not in Washington this weekend.
A similar report in Yediot Aharonot said Zinni had described Arafat as "an incorrigible liar" at a recent meeting in Washington with AIPAC and senior officials at the Israeli embassy in Washington.
An Israeli official in Washington said Zinni made no such comments during the meeting at the embassy on January 17 during IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz's visit, and an AIPAC official, when asked about the reported "mafia" comments and others, said he had never heard anything of the sort.
Zinni said he had no idea where the report originated.
The alleged comments were sent to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in a diplomatic cable from Washington by diplomats here who were briefed by an unidentified Jewish official.
The reported comments emerged as the US reevaluates its relationship with Arafat and as the most senior US officials openly question Arafat's integrity.
Herb Keinon adds:
A participant in the dinner where Zinni's remarks about Arafat were allegedly made said last night that the reports were "grossly distorted."
Steve Rosen, AIPAC's director of foreign policy issues, said reports of Zinni's remarks at the dinner last Tuesday night in Washington, which included three other Jewish leaders, "are grossly inaccurate and misrepresent what he said."
According to Rosen, the reports of the conversation omit much of what was said, thereby dramatically altering the meaning and "creating a false picture."
Rosen said Zinni "spoke in a candid manner, as people do. He said many punchy things about all kinds of personalities. Some of the things are accurate in a narrow sense, but misrepresent the overall meaning - leaving out things that change the meaning."
There were "no survivors" when Zinni finished, Rosen said, "no one came across that great." Rosen said the reports "distort Zinni's intended meaning, and are grossly unfair to him."
Has Fisk actually written anything anti-American? Given that his articles are all the rage among the Islam-Firsters, I would dearly love to see an article that's anti-American. It would provide substantial ammunition to discredit his Jew-hating articles which people like tex-oma and ObjetD'art probably adore.
That would put a crimp in their style, wouldn't it?
LOL. Maybe he called him another four-syllable word beginning with "m" but the JPost is a family newspaper.
(Islamweb - Robet Fisk))
'Everything we have believed in since the Second World War goes
by the board as we pursue our own exclusive war'
We are becoming war criminals in Afghanistan. The US Air Force
bombs Mazar-i-Sharif for the Northern Alliance, and our heroic
Afghan allies - who slaughtered 50,000 people in Kabul between
1992 and 1996 - move into the city and execute up to 300 Taliban
fighters. The report is a footnote on the television satellite channels,
a "nib" in journalistic parlance. Perfectly normal, it seems. The
Afghans have a "tradition" of revenge. So, with the strategic
assistance of the USAF, a war crime is committed! .....(read more from Fisk's anti-American rant and Jihad supporting diatribe - http://www.islamweb.net/english/Article.asp?Article=2644)
Now let's see what tex-oma thinks of his/her hero Robert Fisk :
-----------------------------------------------------
To: veronica
....BIG fan of Robert Fisk, the USA-Bush smearing British Leftist.. .
Wow, poor Robert Fisk just gets worse with every post.
Do you just hate him, horsefly?
I think you hate his honest reporting.
186 posted on 1/15/02 12:25 PM Pacific by tex-oma
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 184 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
Hey Newbie, I don't think you have been around this here parts of the woods long enough to have any authority to so slanderously proclaim me a "terrorist firster".
I am an AMERICAN FIRSTER and I for one am outraged at this outright lie about OUR (the USA's) representative!
This LIE, which has been pranced around FR, only served Israeli purposes and enflames current situations, which as you know are in an AWFUL state. For both sides concerned!
This lie, was meant to undermine OUR ability to help negotiate any sort of permanent peace (such as Mitchell Report and Tenant).
Those of us who don't like Israel manipulating OUR (the USA's) standing with other nations in the world feel indignant and upset by lies such as these, we are "America Firsters"
Those of you who just don't care about this as long as Israel is on top, well you guys are "Israel Firsters".
Other than that, I'll refrain from returning your rude and hateful comments.
Why is it that the only claim to fame among the self-proclaimed "America Firsters" is that they seem to believe they have the right to impugn the loyalty of others? BTW, shall I call the moderator on you for breaking the rules about name-calling? You did whine about that on another thread, don'tchaknow. Or is hypocrisy another trait of the self-proclaimed "America Firsters"?
Small quote from the article:"Does anyone else find this story a little fishy? Granted, Fisk is notoriously anti-American and has written a lot of stupid and obnoxious things since Sept. 11. But this just seems outside the realm of normal human experience. Can someone really be so blinded by hatred that he cheers on an assault on himself because the assailants are motivated by the same hatred that animates their victim? We suppose it's possible, but color us skeptical."
On the other hand, if he did say it, the Saudi's wouldn't be particularly perturbed anyway since they regard Arafat as having very questionable Islamic credentials.
I guess I don't see a downside here. Probably Zinni didn't actually say Arafat was a mafioso -- after all "capo di tutti capi" isn't literally "mafioso" and could have a more ordinary translation like "captain of captains" if one were to argue that Arafat is actually able to control other organizations such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.
You're welcome.
Doesn't the sentence below answer this question?
I've checked out quite a few of your other posts, and I've yet to see your indignation about terrorist atrocities committed against innocent Israeli civilians.
Have you missed me?? Home situations have limited my FR participation time. You'll be seeing more of me now that things have settled down ;-)
So let me get this straight.. if I have not *publically* lamented for innocent Israel victims I have NO right to be upset when Israel Interests further their agenda at the expense of The United States of America. Do I have this right?
America Firster? You show contempt for the United States, its people and its government.
What a toady place the US must be in your mind, if a tiny country, dwarfed in power and influence by the United States, can manipulate America.
Or maybe you meant that America is manipulated by us Jews. We less then 2.5% of the population are so powerful that we bend the weak "real" American to our will? LOL
Maybe on the other hand the "manipulation" is done by supporters of Israel. Jews and Gentiles, American patriots all, who support Israel. We are the majority of Americans. It it you who are out of step with America.
You either insult America and/or you hate America- first.
No matter how strong our nation is True American Patriots do not embrace Israels attempts to manipulate us.
What a "Friend"!
How and who "manipulates" the United States?
Who decides who are the "True American Patriots"? Are their names inscribed to the light of a burning Cross?
Is the President a "True American Patriot"? Is he pro-Israel? Is he being manipulated?
What a dull-witted comment. Every country would like to have America as a friend - except Arab Islamic cesspools and whining has-been nations. Israel can't manipulate anything of the sort. You say "manipulate" because you've got your hate-on for Israel so any interaction which is part of foreign relations with Israel becomes "manipulate". If you put aside your rhetoric the only thing you'd have left is - a blank sheet or at least not one original thought to your name.
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