Arafat's Illness

Time Magazine ^ | October 9, 2003 | Tony Karon

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Yasser Arafat's gaunt, fragile appearance during last weekend's inauguration of an emergency cabinet for the Palestinian Authority has raised a flurry of speculation over the state of the 74-year-old leader's health. Palestinian officials on Wednesday denied rumors that Arafat had last week suffered a mild heart attack and explained that Arafat has been suffering from a bad case of the flu or an intestinal infection. But according to a source inside the compound, the recent working diagnosis is that Arafat is suffering from stomach cancer. Al-Jazeera TV reported Wednesday that two teams of doctors, one from Jordan and the other from Egypt, arrived in Ramallah Wednesday to treat Arafat. Abu Dhabi TV reported on Thursday that following their examination of the Palestinian leader, the Egyptian doctors "expressed concern" about the state of his health. Neither report specified his condition.

The prognosis for stomach cancer patients depends on the stage at which the cancer is diagnosed and treated, and the size and location of the tumor. Whatever the state of the cancer, however, such a diagnosis poses a major challenge to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which could require some nimble refereeing by the Bush administration.

The most immediate crisis would involve the need to treat Arafat's condition. The Ramallah compound in which Arafat has been holed up for the best part of two years is hardly the most conducive environment for invasive surgery. It would, in theory, be possible to erect a surgical suite at the compound, but hospitalization would certainly be preferable from a medical standpoint. Israel has until now insisted that if Arafat leaves his compound, he'd be on a one-way ticket out of the West Bank. And each new terror attack brings renewed public and political pressure on Sharon to make good on his cabinet's in-principle decision to expel the Palestinian leader. But Arafat has vowed to go down fighting against any attempt to remove him from the compound, and the Bush administration has restrained Israel from carrying out the threatened expulsion, on the grounds that such a move would be "unhelpful" to the pursuit of stability. The Palestinian leader's new condition, however, could raise uncomfortable choices for Israel, the Palestinians and the Bush administration.

If Arafat's condition proves to be terminal, the Palestinians will be forced to answer the long-deferred question of succession, and the running debate in Washington and Jerusalem over the prospects for pursuing a peace agreement without the aging Arafat will have been settled. The question of Arafat's succession is complicated by the fact that his power derives from the three separate offices he holds: Palestinian Authority president, PLO chairman and leader of the Fatah movement. The PA constitution requires that if the president is incapacitated, his post would be temporarily filled by the Speaker of the Palestinian legislature. However, the Speaker's position is currently vacant, following Ahmed Qureia's resignation from it in order to become prime minister. Following Thursday’s meeting of the Palestinian legislature at which Arafat’s appointment of an emergency cabinet was rebuffed, Qureia reportedly signaled Arafat that he no longer wants the position.

Rather than a simple transfer of the mantle of power from one uncontested national leader to another, Arafat's passing would likely open a protracted period of power struggles and realignments in Palestinian politics — and it appears unlikely that all three of his positions would be filled by a single successor. The immediate implications for any peace process will be uncertain, although the Israelis and the Bush administration have long insisted that breaking Arafat's grip on the Palestinian national movement is a prerequisite for progress.

[SuziQ]

I had read months ago that he had some form of cancer.

[ChadGore]

Re: Yasser Arafat's gaunt, fragile appearance during last weekend's inauguration of an emergency cabinet for the Palestinian Authority has raised a flurry of speculation This statement assumes that someone shivs a git about weather this waste of space lives or dies, which is of course, false.

[BushisTheMan]

Just curious...they called up more Reserves in Israel, prompted by the bombing in Syria...but perhaps Israel knows more than anyone is saying?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

but perhaps Israel knows more than anyone is saying?

And your point is?

[Slings and Arrows]

This statement assumes that someone shivs a git about weather this waste of space lives or dies, which is of course, false.

No, it's quite true - I want him DEAD.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Yeah right. Just like that "cold" that Boris Yeltsin used to get.

[BushisTheMan]

My point is that Israel may be preparing for the chaos that is sure to occur when Arafat dies. Perhaps they have inside sources that know about his true condition. Only theory on my part, but it did make me wonder.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Wishing for his death is ominous... it is the easiest solution, his dying of cancer. And yet, it does bring up the matter of the unrest in the streets, the power clashes, and the shedding of innocent blood.

[NCC-1701]

Looks like we're going to looking for a new winner of the annual Ringo Starr look-a-like contest. Soon I hope.

[HOYA97]

Wonder who'll get his $ million stash ?

The one point that has not been made by anyone is that most of the nearly

$1 BILLION US DOLLARS

Arafat has was earmarked for the Palestinian people. While most of them live in absolute poverty, this scumbag stole their money and has stashed it in Swiss accounts to pay off terrorists. The palestinian people should be pissed off at their leadership for allowing that money to be diverted.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

And Saddam is no longer offering the homicide bombers' families charity. :(

[mewzilla]

I heard it was 5 billion. But who's quibbling :)

[TRY ONE]

2 Chronicles 21:12-13 - ....Because you have not walked in the ways of your father .......and have caused the inhabitants of Israel to play the harlot....

2 Chronicles 21:15 - And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

2 Chronicles 21:18 - And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

[HOYA97]

You may be right. The local media will never report this and the palestinians will continue to see only what the current leadership wants them to see.

[billb]

I don't believe any of this. He's looking so good lately.
Somewhere, there's a resturant missing a table cloth.

[Catspaw]

December 11 for me.

[Semper Paratus]

Somewhere, there's a resturant missing a table cloth.

There is an opening for a waiter at Rocco's.

[bryanbig]

Well, the current market being made in Arafat departing (which covers death/leaving the PA) has it a 1:4 chance of happening by end of year. The OCt contracts are going at 1:9. Check it out at http://www.tradesports.com

I think it's a given he's gone by Dec. The way he looks, how fast it spreads, how crappy of shape he's in...I think he won't need a costume for Halloween this year.

[thulldud]

As Everett Dirksen once observed, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about REAL MONEY!"

[mewzilla]

Yeah, especially when you consider the kind of infrastructure that could buy, the roads, schools, water and sewage treatment facilities, the health care. All the things the Palestinians have been deliberately deprived of for a reason. The Palestinians need to grow a brain.