« On Hugh Hewitt's "Everything Looks Good" | Main | Iran: 13 year old schoolgirl facing death by stoning flogged 55 times »

November 1, 2004

Arafat financed Aksa Martyrs' Brigade

Now that Arafat is "out of town" the real stories about his ruthless and self-centered legacy are begining to see the light of day.

The Jerusalem Post reports today that Yasser Arafat pumped millions of dollars into the Aksa Martyrs Brigades even as he let his disillusioned security forces go without pay for months, according to a forthcoming book by Matt Rees, the Time Magazine bureau chief in Jerusalem.

"The revelation comes as Palestinian officials announced this week that the Palestinian Authority was unable to pay the salaries of its civil servants and security personnel for November. Arafat, who is receiving medical treatment in Paris, reportedly phoned his finance minister to order him to pay the salaries on time."

"In an incident described in "Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East," due to be published this month by Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Rees reveals how Arafat sent $2 million to the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza in June 2002 but provided only a pittance to pay the salaries of his official security forces."

According to "Cain's Field," an advance copy of which has been obtained by The Jerusalem Post, two senior Palestinian intelligence officers visited the home of Major-General Abdel Razak al-Majaideh, commander of Arafat's Gaza National Security Forces, in June 2002. The intelligence officers, who had not been paid for several months, learned from Fatah contacts that Arafat just sent $2 million to the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza. An outraged Majaideh complained to them that Arafat sent him only $30,000 to pay the wages of all the Palestinian security officers in the Gaza Strip."

"It was the equation of Arafat's interests," writes Rees. "Two million dollars against $30,000. Arafat was working against his own people, ignoring them while he shoveled wads of cash to gunmen."

Where things go from here are going to be interesting. Even if Arafat recovers the Palestinian Authority under Arafat's control is certain to be weakened. President Bush has refused to negotiate with Arafat, and so far Arafat has refused to hand over the reigns to moderates. In the event that Arafat is weakened enough (health or power-wise) to lessen his stranglehold on the Palestinian Authority, President Bush's next four years will be even more successful than his first.

Read More.......

Posted by Hyscience at November 1, 2004 5:14 PM

• Arafat financed Aksa Martyrs' Brigade - Nov 01, 2004