Al Jazeera: Where ARE Arafat’s Stolen Billions?
It seems Yasir Arafat may be dead physically, but his story has regained new life as new inquiries are raised as to the cause of his death. The inevitable accusation on
Al-Jazeera is that the Israeli government secretly murdered him. This accusation would be taken a lot more seriously had
Al Jazeera in 2010 not formerly opined that the shark attacking tourists off the Egyptian coast was also an Israeli plot. Now, it’s hard to take anything
Al Jazeera says about Israel seriously.
Instead of a
CSI style murder investigation with little proof,
Al Jazeera should act like actual investigative journalists and hire forensic accountants to conduct a financial autopsy of his handling of the finances of the Palestinian economy. A news media seeking the truth should inform the public how Arafat used the Palestinians as a scapegoat of suffering to be milked for his own profit, and how any remnant of the stolen money should be regained and used to actually help the Palestinian people.
In 2009, U.S. officials estimate Arafat’s personal nest egg at between $1 billion and $3 billion. His wife and daughter received a $100,000 a month out of the Palestinian budget, living the high life in Paris. Where did all this wealth come from?
World Bank official Palestinian Salman Fayyad became finance minister in 2003, and immediately began seeing why Palestinians seemed so squeezed by the economy and how Arafat was staying so financially prosperous. According to a study of Arafat’s finances done in 2003, Fayyad showed that:
“although the money for the portfolio came from public funds like Palestinian taxes, virtually none of it was used for the Palestinian people; it was all controlled by Arafat. And none of these dealings were made public.”
Arafat had used a system of monopolies in commodities and staples like flour and cement to fleece the people, farming out lucrative contracts to friends to price gouge his own people. When Salman Fayyad broke up one monopoly, the price of gas went down 20 percent for gas and 80 percent less for diesel fuel.
Shadowed by the conflict, no one paid much attention to the bottom line. Therefore, perpetual war seemed to suit Arafat well financially, even as it condemned his people to violence, refugee camps and hopelessness.
Here is what Arafat said to a delegation of West Bank Palestinians who wanted to form their own state in that region:
“We shall oppose the establishment of this state to the member of the Palestinian people, for if ever such a state is established it will spell the end of the Palestinian cause.”
Arafat rightly feared that a state would the end of the gravy train of foreign aid and unfair economic practices. His actual cause, crony capitalism, price gouging and embezzling funds would be far more noticeable in a stable country. Therefore, he did everything to achieve the impossible goal to “destroy Israel”, neglecting any prospect for a smaller state with a peaceful and viable future.
Investigating Arafat’s death is any journalist’s privilege, if they feel there is a story. But why have mainstream media ignored the financial crimes against people living today? Arafat’s stolen billions belongs either to the donors (like the United States or Europe) or for the intended purpose of the betterment of the Palestinian people. So far, it’s still in the hands of Arafat’s family. This is a crime.
So,
Al Jazeera, want to take up the challenge and break the story? Feel free to use this article as a starting point for a real investigation into a heinous crime. I imagine writing a Palestinian story where Israel is not the bad guy will be less enjoyable, but don’t the Palestinians deserve justice?