Yasser Arafat
The Terrorist Reemerged
American tourist wounded
by Palestinian bomb in
Jerusalem, January 2002
The “Karine A ship” laden with
The Karine A ship laden with weapons
ordered by Arafat’s aides from Iran
and captured by Israel, January 2002
Prepared by Media Watch International
2002
Introduction
The Hope 1993: When Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin shook Yasser Arafat’s hand at the White
House on September 13, 1993, a new era in the history of the Middle East conflict appeared to
be dawning. A Declaration of Principles was signed. On May 4, 1994, Arafat and Rabin signed
the Cairo Agreement, and Israel began the withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho.
The Reality: Less than one week later, on May 10, 1994, Arafat declared in a Johannesburg
mosque: “The jihad [Islamic holy war] will continue, and Jerusalem is not [only] for the
Palestinian people, it is for all the Muslim nation... Now after this agreement…our main battle is
Jerusalem. Jerusalem. The first shrine of the Moslems.”
Following the Oslo Accords, Israelis and Americans alike shared the hope that Yasser Arafat,
who headed the Fatah terror organization before Israel controlled the West Bank and Gaza
and took over as Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman in 1968 vowing to destroy
the Jewish state, had at last turned the corner and would lead the Palestinian people to
accept Israel and make peace with the Jewish state. Instead, Arafat began to violate his
agreements with Israel and the United States almost immediately just as he had violated every
other agreement he had ever concluded, including those with Arab leaders. The section on
Arafat’s pattern of deception and death underscores Jordan’s late King Hussein’s apt
reported characterization, namely that Arafat “never came to a bridge he didn’t doublecross.”
The purpose of this paper is to document Arafat’s reversion to form, revealing the wolf that, for
a short period only, masqueraded in sheep’s clothing. It demonstrates that since the 1993 Oslo
Accords--as he had for the preceding decades--Arafat continued to sponsor terrorism, pursue
anti-American policies, foment hatred of Israel and Jews and intimidate foreign journalists. This
paper also highlights the pervasive corruption within the Arafat-headed Palestinian Authority
(PA), foreclosing any opportunity for the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and
Gaza to reap peace dividends. Each section is divided into a selected sampling of post-Oslo
and pre-Oslo examples.
Arafat’s Pattern of Deception
POST-OSLO: Since Arafat’s arrival in Gaza and the West Bank, he has consistently ignored or
reneged on the commitments he signed in the Oslo Accords, the Declaration of Principles
(September 13, 1993), the Gaza-Jericho Agreement (Cairo, May 4, 1994), the Interim
Agreement (Washington, D.C., September 28, 1995), the Wye River Memorandum (October
23, 1998), and the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum (September 4, 1999).
The violations include:










Direct use of violence
Failure to resolve differences through negotiations
Complicity in acts of terrorism
Cooperation with Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations
Failure to collect illegal weapons
Organized weapons smuggling
Incitement, perpetuation of hatred and anti-Semitism
Increasing Palestinian Police force beyond agreed numbers
Releasing terrorists from jail Security organizations operating outside agreed
areas
Breaches of the agreed practice at the Gaza (Dahaniyah) Airport
2


Conducting foreign relations not permitted under the accords Criminal activity
under PA auspices
Failure to protect holy places
These violations are entirely consistent with the PA’s stated policy as expressed in January 1996
by Nabil Sha’ath, one of Arafat’s senior ministers, who told a forum in Nablus that the
Palestinians had little intention of meeting their commitments:
We decided to liberate our homeland step-by-step… Should Israel continue -- no
problem. And so, we honor the peace treaties and non-violence… if and when Israel
says ‘enough,’ namely, we will not discuss Jerusalem, we will not return refugees, we will
not dismantle settlements, we will not withdraw to the borders [i.e. those of June 4
1967]”, in that case it is saying that we will return to violence. But this time it will be with
30,000 armed Palestinian soldiers and in a land with elements of freedom… If we reach
a dead end we will go back to our war and struggle like we did 40 years ago.
PRE-OSLO: In 1968, when Arafat took over the PLO, he immediately set out to destroy the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and King Hussein. Along the way, he signed numerous
diplomatic agreements, but honored none.
After the 1967 war, the PLO established its headquarters and bases in Jordan. Attempts by
King Hussein to disarm the PLO led to battles in November 1968. Again in the first half of 1970,
King Hussein’s troops and PLO terrorists clashed. In June 1970, Arafat and the Jordanian prime
minister signed an agreement under which Arafat committed to withdraw armed personnel
from the Jordanian capital and respect law and order. Arafat broke his commitment.
Clashes continued throughout the summer of 1970. By early September, Arafat and the PLO
controlled several strategic positions in Jordan, including the oil refinery near Zarqa.
Meanwhile, Arafat called for a general strike by all Jordanians.
At the urging of the Arab heads of state, Hussein and Arafat signed a cease-fire agreement in
Cairo on September 27. The agreement called for the rapid withdrawal of Arafat’s forces from
Jordanian cities to locations "appropriate" for continuing the battle with Israel. Arafat broke his
commitment.
On October 13, 1970, King Hussein and Arafat signed another agreement in Amman, under
which Arafat and the PLO would recognize Jordanian sovereignty and King Hussein's authority,
withdraw their armed forces from towns and refrain from bearing arms outside their camps.
Despite the September and October 1970 agreements, fighting continued, particularly in
Amman, Irbid, and Jarash, where Arafat’s forces had their main bases. Arafat had broken his
commitment again.
Fighting continued through the summer of 1971, with Arafat breaking further agreements.
Under constant pressure, Arafat finally pulled his forces from Amman in April 1971, but
continued to assault King Hussein’s authority. Finally, on July 19, 1971, the Jordanian
government announced that the last PLO bases in Jordan had been destroyed. Arafat and
his commanders transferred their base of operation to Lebanon, where they would wreak
havoc on Lebanon’s stability for the next decade.
3
King Hussein reportedly said of Arafat, “He
never came to a bridge he didn’t doublecross.”
Arafat’s Sponsorship of Terrorism
POST-OSLO: Since arriving in Gaza and the West Bank in 1994,
Arafat and his top aides have been involved in terrorism,
systematically violating international law and signed
commitments.
Terrorism – Arafat and the PA have harbored the terrorists,
including suicide bombers and gunmen, who had targeted
Israeli civilians on buses, in shopping malls and market places
and on the street. Under pressure from the United States, the PA
arrested some of the bombers and bomb makers, often
members of the terrorist groups, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
These terrorists usually are released from jail within weeks.
Arafat’s forces have been directly responsible for terrorist attacks
on Israeli civilians:


Palestinian children run with
fake explosives dressed as
Hamas suicide bombers. May
2001 (Reuters)

The Tanzim, a paramilitary branch of Arafat’s Fatah, staged many attacks against
Israeli motorists and Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Sometimes affiliations are
blurred. For example, a Tanzim terrorist who was shot after killing two Israeli soldiers
near Kfar Darom on November 20, 2000, was buried with Tanzim honors, but was then
given a posthumous promotion by Arafat’s trusted deputy, Preventive Security Chief
Mohammed Dahlan.

Arafat’s own Presidential Guard, Force 17, is responsible for scores of roadside
ambushes around Ramallah and Jerusalem and for an attack on a Social Security
office in Jerusalem. The head of Force 17 in Ramallah is Mahmud Dhamra.



Palestinian Naval Police from Iand-locked Tulkarm were
responsible for a road-side bomb planted in Netanya on
March 28, 2001.
An agent of Musa Arafat’s Military Intelligence
Organization in Nablus detonated a pipe bomb on a bus
in Tel Aviv.
Mortar factories have been set up in Gaza to produce long-range 120 mm aluminum
mortars. Ghazi Jabali, Arafat’s chief of police, is in charge of the weapons
manufacture.
Alliance with terror organizations – Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have enhanced
ties to Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and Iran. Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,
stated on April 2, 2001, “Today the situation is much better. The resistance is legitimate,
and the Palestinian Authority closes its eyes and does not pursue the mujahidin.” Since the
beginning of 2001, the PA forged new ties with the Iranian-backed Hizbullah terrorist
organization in Lebanon culminating in the shipment of 50 tons of Iranian-provided
weapons aboard the Karine A, reportedly brokered by Hizbullah.
4

Arms smuggling – Arafat embarked on an extensive arms smuggling campaign by land,
sea and air, in contravention to international law and agreements he signed with Israel
and the United States. The weapons include katyusha rockets, mortars, anti-aircraft missiles
and rocket-propelled grenades.

Cross border attacks – Arafat’s own forces in Gaza and the West Bank, including his
presidential guard, Force 17, have taken part in hundreds of sniper attacks and mortar
barrages against Israeli civilians.

Exploiting children as combatants -- Arafat and the PA instituted a virulent anti-Israel
curriculum for the PA’s school system, contravening signed agreements with Israel and the
United States. Similarly, the PA’s official media – print, radio and television – promote
violence against Jews and Israel. As a result, Palestinian children are primed and ready to
riot and attack Israeli soldiers. According to the New York Times, the PA trained 25,000
children in weapons use.1 USA Today reported, “Children serve as infantry in the
confrontations between Israeli and Palestinian soldiers. In scenes reminiscent of Iranian
children sent to the Iraqi front equipped with plastic keys to heaven, Palestinian children
are sent close to Israeli positions with rocks and Molotov cocktails, while the gunmen and
snipers fire from positions hundreds of yards back.” 2
PRE-OSLO: During the 1970s and 1980s, Yasser Arafat and his PLO violated all standards of
international law. They were directly implicated in –












International terrorism
Hijacking of aircraft and ships
Hostage-taking
Undermining sovereign governments
Cross border attacks
Mass murder
Indiscriminate bombings
Drug smuggling
Promotion of terrorism and training terrorists
Weapons smuggling
Endangerment of civilian populations by placement of military facilities near
schools and hospitals
Use of children as combatants
Arafat forged alliances with some of the world’s most destructive and dangerous terrorist
gangs, including the Japanese Red Army, the Irish Republican Army, the Basque ETA, the
Italian Red Brigades, the German Baader Meinhoff-Red Army Faction, Nicaraguan Sandinistas,
and others.
In the late 1960s and early 1970, Arafat and the PLO grew into a potent force and threatened
to overthrow King Hussein of Jordan. As described by author David Pryce-Jones, “Arafat’s
power challenge threatened to replace King Hussein with a PLO state in Jordan. The more
protestations of friendship were made by Arafat, the more cast-iron agreements he signed to
limit the scope of the PLO, the less the PLO in fact respected the law in Jordan.” 3
After a bloody civil war in 1970 and 1971, King Hussein expelled Arafat and the PLO, and they
transplanted themselves to Lebanon. “Lebanon was unprepared to be the terrain where the
New York Times, August 2, 2000
USA Today, October 23, 2000
3 The Closed Circle, Pryce-Jones, page 290.
1
2
5
PLO power challenge would reach its lethal culmination,” according to Pryce-Jones. “In an
initial period, the eruption… of an armed PLO presence was met by compromise and signed
agreements. It was not in the careerist nature of the PLO to respect these…” 4
In order to provide cover from direct involvement in terrorist planning and attacks, Arafat
established a front organization, Black September, which carried out some of the bloodiest
terrorist attacks ever seen. It became clear to western intelligence agencies, however, that
Black September was part and parcel of Arafat’s terrorist apparatus.
Arafat’s Anti-Americanism
POST-OSLO: Despite the fact that, since 1993, USAID has provided $1 billion to help
Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, Arafat continues
to maintain close ties to avowed enemies of the United States,
including Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Iran’s leadership. In recent
months, Iranian-backed Hizbullah provided weapons and
personnel to Arafat’s security services. The Karine A ship, loaded
with 50 tons of Iranian weapons and destined for Arafat’s forces,
was intercepted by Israeli troops in early January 2002.
Arafat also permits his spokesmen and religious leadership to
foment anti-American sentiment. It is not surprising then that
demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza frequently feature
Hizbullah banners and the burning of Israeli and American flags.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attack on the World
Trade Center, “hundreds of Palestinians turned out to exult,
seeing the attack as justified for U.S. support of Israel. Some fired
rifles into the air, others offered candy to passers-by, a traditional
gesture of celebration,” the Washington Post reported.
Palestinian schoolgirls in
Ramallah paint murals of
American and Israeli flags
with the Nazi swastika.
(Reuters)
Mustafa, a 24-year-old Palestinian gunman, told Reuters, "I feel I
am in a dream. I never believed that one day the United States
would come to pay a price for its support to Israel."
In an October 2000 broadcast on the Palestinian Authority
Television, Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya’s sermon included the
following anti-American and anti-Semitic exhortations:
"Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any
country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them,
kill them. Wherever you are, kill those Jews and those Americans
who are like them - and those who stand by them - they are all in
one trench, against the Arabs and the Muslims - because they
established Israel here, in the beating heart of the Arab world, in
Palestine. They created it to be the outpost of their civilization and the vanguard of their army, and to be the sword of the West
and the crusaders, hanging over the necks of the monotheists, the
Muslims in these lands. They wanted the Jews to be their
spearhead.”
4
A Palestinian woman receives
free sweets from a vendor as
groups of locals in east
Jerusalem's Old City
celebrate after hearing the
news of a terrorist attack on
the World Trade Center in
New York. (AP)
Ibid
6
The U.S. State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism annual report, released in April
2001, referred to ties between Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network and areas controlled by
Arafat:
“In late summer, Israeli authorities arrested Nabil Awkil, a militant they suspect has links to
Hamas and Osama bin Laden. Israeli officials claim that Awkil underwent terrorist training in Bin
Laden-affiliated camps in Afghanistan before returning to the West Bank and Gaza to
establish terrorist cells.”5
PRE-OSLO: Arafat was implicated in the murder of American diplomats. In March 1973, eight
Fatah terrorists kidnapped and murdered the U.S. ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, and two
other diplomats. According to press accounts, "Arafat, leader of Fatah, was in the Black
September radio command center in Beirut when the message to execute three Western
diplomats being held in Khartoum was sent... [Arafat] personally congratulated the guerrillas
after the execution of the three diplomats... The CIA monitored at least some of the
communications between the Beirut command center and the Saudi Arabian embassy in
Khartoum, where the hostages were being held. Arafat's voice was reportedly monitored and
recorded." (The Washington Post, April 5, 1973).
Arafat directed the PLO into a firm embrace with the Soviet Union and its anti-American
agenda. PLO commanders were trained in Soviet military camps. In 1979, Zehdi Terzi, the PLO
representative at the United Nations boasted, “The Soviet Union and all the socialist countries…
give us full support – diplomatic, moral, educational, and also they open their military
academies to some of our freedom fighters.” The PLO trained other terrorist movements in the
1970s and 1980s in Nicaragua, Angola, El Salvador, and Iran. The PLO was implicated in
weapons smuggling or training for terrorist groups in Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Spain, and Latin America.
Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime rewarded the PLO for its assistance in overthrowing the Shah in
1979 by turning over the Israeli embassy in Teheran to Arafat.
Yasser Arafat and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein have a long history of cooperation. There is
extensive evidence of PLO assistance to Iraq in the infiltration and invasion of Kuwait in August
1990.6 During the Gulf War, Arafat expressed his support for Iraq and Saddam Hussein on
numerous occasions. On February 1, 1991, Arafat was quoted by UPI, “There is no choice for
the PLO but to oppose the [American-sponsored] Allied force, because it is in the alliance with
Israel. Anyone responsible for shedding the blood of Iraqis will be punished.”
Arafat’s Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Incitement
POST-OSLO: In recent years, Arafat repeatedly calls for jihad, or holy war, against Israel. AntiIsrael and anti-Semitic incitement in the Palestinian press and curricula undoubtedly played a
role in the Palestinian attacks against Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the desecration of
Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus and the “Peace on Israel” Synagogue in Jericho during the 2000-2002
fighting.
5
6
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/index.cfm?docid=2438
Near East Report, May 21, 1991
7
On August 4, 1999, at a 70th birthday
celebration, Arafat declared: "Some
day soon, our children will be able to
fly the Palestinian flag from the
mosques and churches of
Jerusalem. Allah willing, we will
continue with our struggle, our
jihad."7
Arafat frequently resorts to antiSemitic libels. In a speech at the
Davos economic conference on
May 20, 2001, he asserted, “Israel
buried their radioactive toxic waste
in our lands, used depleted uranium
ammunition against our civilians, in
addition to poisonous gases.”
Upon taking office in Gaza and the
West Bank, Arafat appointed a new
mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikrima
Sabri. In an October 2000 interview
Palestinian mobs, led by Palestinian police, destroy Joseph’s Tomb
in the Egyptian weekly, Al-Ahram Alin Nablus. (AFP)
Arabi, Sabri expressed his attitude
toward Jews in this way, "I enter the
“As Palestinian troops stood by, some shooting in the air to express
mosque of Al-Aqsa with my head up
their own the joy, hundreds of Palestinian men set upon the shrine
and at the same time I am filled with
with pick axes and crowbars while black smoke billowed from the
rage toward the Jews. I have never
charred structure. Raising a Palestinian flag, the Palestinians said
greeted a Jew when I came near
that they were destroying Joseph's Tomb to ensure that the Israelis
one. I never will. They cannot even
never returned.”
dream that I will. The Jews do not
-- New York Times, October 7, 2000
dare to bother me, because they
are the most cowardly creatures Allah has ever created..." 8
In November 11, 1999, Arafat’s wife, Suha, viciously attacked Israel in a prepared speech
delivered before visiting American First Lady Hillary Clinton: "For years, our people have been
subjected to a daily, intensive use of poison gas by the Israeli forces, which has led to an
increase in cancer and other horrible diseases among women and children ... Israel has
chemically contaminated about 80 percent of water sources used by Palestinians."
Arafat denies Jewish rights to holy sites in the holy land, in Jerusalem or elsewhere. The
following is typical Arafat fare:
“Abraham was neither Jewish nor a Hebrew, but was simply an Iraqi. The Jews have no right
to claim part of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Abraham's resting place, as a
synagogue. Rather, the whole building should be a mosque." 9
“That is not the Western Wall at all, but a Moslem shrine." 10
PRE-OSLO: Arafat’s anti-Semitism also featured prominently before Oslo. He blasted Jews on
January 30, 1992 according to a CNN transcript: “The Jews at work! Damn their fathers! The
Jerusalem Post, August 5, 1999
Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (Egypt), October 28, 2000.
9 Jerusalem Report, Dec. 26, 1996
10 Ma'ariv, October 11, 1996
7
8
8
Dogs! Filth and dirt!… And thanks to the rotten Jews with whom I will settle accounts in the
future.”
Arafat’s Intimidation of Foreign Journalists
POST-OSLO: The horrific murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan has
highlighted the life-threatening intimidation facing journalists reporting from countries
harboring anti-American and anti-Semitic terrorists of all stripes, including Islamic terrorists.
Thus, for example, journalists covering Palestinian celebrations of the September 11, 2001,
attack s on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were threatened not to film or
photograph, provoking the following protest from the US-based Committee to Protect
Journalists in a letter to Arafat:
On September 11, according to international press reports, Palestinian police and
armed gunmen prevented several news photographers and cameramen from
documenting events in the West Bank city of Nablus, where groups of Palestinians
celebrated the attacks by honking horns and firing live ammunition rounds into the air.
According to the Associated Press, Palestinian security authorities summoned a freelance cameraman working for the AP that same day and warned him not to air his
footage of the events. Members of the Tanzim militia, affiliated with Your Excellency's
Fatah organization, also issued warnings that the AP cameraman interpreted as
threatening.
On September 14, Palestinian police briefly detained several photographers and
cameramen working with international news agencies in the Gaza Strip and
confiscated their equipment. The journalists had been covering a rally to
commemorate a Palestinian suicide bomber that the militant Islamic group Hamas
staged in the Nusseirat refugee camp. During the rally, one protester reportedly held
up a portrait of Osama bin Laden.11
Jean Pierre Martin, a correspondent for Belgium’s RTL-TV1 reported on his team’s experience in
October 2000 around Ramallah:
We were filming the beginning of the demonstration. Suddenly, a van pulled in
hurriedly. Inside, there were Fatah militants. They gave their orders and even distributed
Molotov cocktails. We were filming. But these images, you will never see. In a few
seconds, all those youngsters surrounded us, threatened us, and then took us away to
the police station. There, we identified ourselves but we were compelled to delete the
controversial pictures. The Palestinian Police calmed the situation but censored our
pictures. We now have the proof that those riots are no longer spontaneous. All the
orders came from the Palestinian hierarchy.12
Indeed, PA intimidation pays off, as illustrated by the pains taken by RTI, the official Italian TV
network, to disassociate from the shocking footage of the October 2000 lynch of two noncombatant Israeli reservists by a Palestinian mob in Ramallah, aired by a competing Italian
Jerusalem Post, September 24, 2001
Report filed by Jean Pierre Martin on October 5, 2000, a day after his Belgian television team from RTL-TV1 was
filming around Ramallah.
11
12
9
news agency and picked up by all the international networks. RTI placed the following
advertisement in the PA's main newspaper, Al Hayat-Al-Jadidah:
My dear friends in Palestine. We congratulate you and think that it is our duty to put
you in the picture of what happened on October 12 in Ramallah. One of the private
television stations which competes with us (and not the official Italian television station
RTI) filmed the events; that station filmed the events. Afterwards Israeli Television
broadcast the pictures, as taken from one of the Italian stations, and thus the public
impression was created as if we (RTI) took these pictures.
We emphasize to all of you that the events did not happen this way, because we
always respect (will continue to respect) the journalistic procedures with the Palestinian
Authority for (journalistic) work in Palestine and we are credible in our precise work.
We thank you for your trust, and you can be sure that this is not our way of acting
(note: meaning we do not work like the other television stations). We do not (and will
not) do such a thing.
Please accept our blessings.
Ricardo Christiano
Representative of the official Italian station in Palestine13
Veteran Israeli Arab journalist Youssef Samir, 63, was abducted and held for 64 days by the PA's
General Intelligence Service headed by Tawfik Tirawi and Amin al-Hindi. "I was given a
mattress in one room of an office in the civil administration headquarters, where I was
repeatedly beaten, humiliated, and terrorized," Samir told the Jerusalem Post following his
June 7, 2001, escape. "I knew that unless I escaped from there I would die." 14
Amnesty International Annual Report 2000, issued a strong indictment of Arafat’s regime:
Since its establishment in 1994, the PA has progressively restricted the right to freedom
of expression through a variety of means, including arrest and detention by various
security forces … Many detainees have been held incommunicado and some have
been subjected to torture or ill-treatment….
Those arrested are rarely shown an arrest warrant or informed of the reason for their
arrest. Nevertheless the fact that their arrest took place hours or days after they
delivered a controversial speech or wrote a critical article, for example, leaves little
room for doubt as to the reason for their detention. Critics of the PA may find
themselves invited to have a short meeting over a cup of coffee with one or other of
the security services, only for them to emerge from detention days, weeks, or even
months later. Rarely has the PA brought anyone to court during their detention.
Frequently, it was not clear to detainees which authority ordered their arrest, whether
the initiative was taken by the security force detaining them or by another authority,
such as the President [Arafat]. In many cases detainees were informed verbally that
they were being held on “higher orders…:”
Those arrested have included journalists, academics, political activists, lawyers,
government officials, trade unionists, and religious figures. Many human rights
13
14
Al Hayat-Al-Jadidah, October 16, 2001
Jerusalem Post, June 8, 2001
10
defenders were detained in the early years…The PA has infringed the right to freedom
of expression in other ways. Many journalists have reported being subjected to illtreatment at the hands of the security forces while they were going about their
duties….
Newspapers, research centers, news agencies, television and radio stations have all
been closed for days or even weeks. In May and June 2000, two private radio stations
in the West Bank…and three private television stations were closed by the Palestinian
police for several days….15
PRE-OSLO: During the PLO’s six-year reign of terror in Lebanon (1976-1982), not only were
Lebanese and foreign journalists who wrote articles critical of Arafat or the PLO harassed, in
several cases the PLO murdered them.
The victims of Arafat’s ultimate form of censorship include:


Edouard Saeb, editor of L’Orient le Jour and Le Monde correspondent, assasinated by
PLO gunmen, September 1976.
Riadh Taha, president of the Lebanese publisher’s union. After meeting with Lebanese
leader Bashir Gemayal to work out an anti-PLO front, Taha was murdered by PLO
gunmen, 1980.16
Journalist Edouard George, who worked for Edouard Saeb, compiled a list of seven foreign
journalists who were killed by Arafat’s PLO between 1976 and 1981:







Larry Buchman, correspondent for ABC Television
Mark Tryon, Free Belgium Radio
Jean Lougeau, correspondent for French TF-1
Tony Italo, Italian journalist
Graciella Difaco, Italian journalist
Sean Toolan, correspondent for ABC
Robert Pfeffer, correspondent for Der Spiegel17
The well-known Beirut Daily Star ceased publication in the 1980s. The editor explained, “We
join those many of our readers who have been driven from this country by the kidnappers,
murderers, car bombers and extortionists… [T]he gunmen have transformed Lebanon into a
thugocracy ruled by two-legged wild beasts whose sole reason and law is the gun.” 18
Following the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, the New York Time’s John
Kifner reflected on the dangers confronting foreign correspondents throughout the Muslim
world – including a night in spring 1982 (before the Lebanon War) that he spent in a Beirut
dungeon along with many other journalists, imprisoned by Palestinian guerillas who did not
want reporters to cover a certain story.19
http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2000web.nsf/countries/7dae741e5b9afed580256
Eliyahu Tal, “Now the Story Can Be Told,” WZO publishing, 1982
17 Eliyahu Tal, ibid
18 The Closed Circle, by David Pryce-Jones, Harper: 1989, page 294.
19
New York Times, February 24, 2002
15
16
11
Arafat’s Corruption
POST-OSLO: Instead of providing his people a peace dividend, improving their economic and
living conditions, Arafat has diverted billions of dollars in foreign aid into private hands.
According to BBC News:
[The Palestinian Authority] has brought corruption, police brutality and - with an
estimated 120 separate departments answering directly to Mr. Arafat - there has been
very little movement towards the pluralist civil society that was envisaged.
In 1997, a much-quoted Palestinian parliamentary committee report found that nearly
40% of the PA's $800m annual budget, much of it coming from foreign aid donations,
had been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. 20
Arafat exploits his position as Palestinian Authority President to funnel hundreds of millions of
dollars into personal accounts. The London Sunday Telegraph reported in 1999 that computer
hackers entered the PLO’s computers and discovered that “Arafat has salted away billions of
pounds for the Palestinian Liberation Organization in secret foreign bank accounts and
investments, including property in London.”
The article continued: “…The PLO maintains about £5 billion in numbered bank accounts in
Zurich, Geneva and New York. It also holds accounts with smaller sums in North Africa, Europe
and Asia. They are not registered in the PLO's name, but in the names of private individuals.
The records also showed that the PLO owns shares on the Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo stock
exchanges, including stock in the German car giant Mercedes Benz, and property in
prestigious areas of European capitals, including Mayfair in London. 21
In 1997, PBS Newshour aired “Rating Arafat’s Rule.” Reporter Margaret Warner found, “ The
charges of mismanagement and corruption come from some legislative councilors. They say
that while many ordinary Palestinians live in grinding poverty, international donor funds are
being misappropriated to subsidize opulent homes for Arafat’s ministers and entourage.”
She continued, “They also say some ministers demand a cut of the action in return for
granting lucrative government contracts. Arafat appointed an auditor to look into the
charges. Last weekend, the auditor announced that $326 million of public funds had
been lost to corruption and mismanagement by the Palestinian Authority.” 22
The U.S. Government does not trust Arafat’s administration. Under the strict supervision
of the U.S. Congress, no U.S. federal funds are granted to the Palestinian Authority. All
funds are provided to non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and are subjected to strict
accounting.
Arafat’s regular benefactors, European and Arab countries, are also showing caution and
reluctance to contribute more to Arafat because of the Palestinian Authority’s corruption. In
March 2001, for instance, Chris Patten, the European Union’s commissioner for external affairs,
warned that 60 million euros would not be delivered to the PA until the Europeans could see
better accounting. "We made it clear to Mr. Arafat,” Patten said, “that in order for us to go on
providing substantial assistance, we need to see a tough, realistic budget, we need to see
BBC News, November 30, 2001
London Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1999.
22 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/may97/arafat_5-28a.html, PBS, May 28, 1997.
20
21
12
greater transparency, we need to see a complete commitment to deal with corruption, and
we need to see other donors contributing."23
PRE-OSLO: When the Israel Defense Forces drove Yasser Arafat and the PLO out of Beirut in
1982, they discovered that PLO operatives were involved in arms trafficking, narcotics trade,
and money laundering.24
Palestinian workers throughout the Arab world contributed a tax to the PLO during the 1970s
and 1980s. The money was deposited in bank accounts controlled by Arafat.
According to the New York-based Center for the Study of Corruption and Rule of Law, “In
1990, the CIA estimated that the PLO had between $ 8 billion to $ 14 billion worth of assets
generated from five percent tax on every Palestinian working in Arab countries…. According
to a 1993 British National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) report published on the eve of the
famous "hand shake" on the White House lawn, most of the PLO's assets originated from
"donations, extortion, payoffs, illegal arms dealing, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud,
etc.” 25
Independent, March 14, 2001
The Closed Circle, by David Pryce-Jones, Harper: 1989, page 303.
25 Washington Times, March 15, 2001
23
24
13
Appendix
Arafat’s Commitments – Abandoned, Broken and Shattered
The following compilation lists Arafat’s commitments to Israel and to the United States. Since
the signing of the Oslo Accords, Arafat has rarely complied with the commitments. And since
the beginning of the 2000 “Intifada” Arafat has abandoned virtually all of them.
Combating Terror and Violence
*
Renunciation of the use of terrorism and other acts of violence (Arafat’s Letter to Rabin,
September 9, 1993).
*
Recognition of the right of Israel to exist in peace and security (Arafat’s Letter to Rabin,
September 9, 1993).
*
Commitment to the peaceful resolution of the conflict and that outstanding permanent status
issues will be resolved through negotiations (Arafat’s Letter to Rabin, September 9, 1993).
*
Adoption of all necessary measures to prevent acts of terrorism, crime and hostilities and taking
of legal measures against offenders(Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Article XVIII; Interim Agreement,
Article XV).
*
Establishment of a strong police force in order to guarantee public order and internal security for
Palestinians (Declaration of Principles, Article VIII; Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Article VIII; Annex I,
Article III; Interim Agreement, Article XII, Article XIV).
*
The Palestinian Police will act systematically against all expressions of violence and terror (Interim
Agreement, Annex I, Article II.1).
*
The Palestinian Police will arrest and prosecute individuals who are suspected of perpetrating
acts of violence or terror (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article II.1).
*
Immediate, efficient and effective handling of any incident involving a threat or act of violence
or incitement (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article II.2).
*
Apprehension, investigation and prosecution of those directly or indirectly involved in acts of
terrorism, violence and incitement (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article II.3).
*
Security arrangements concerning planning, building and zoning (Gaza-Jericho Agreement,
Annex I, Article VI; Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article XII).
*
Reaffirmation of commitment to fight terror and violence (Note for the Record).
*
Reaffirmation of commitment to systematically and effectively combat terrorist organizations
and infrastructure (Note for the Record).
*
Reaffirmation of commitment to apprehend, prosecute and punishment of terrorists (Note for the
Record).
*
Recognition that it is in their vital interests to combat terrorism and fight violence (Wye River
Memorandum, Article II).
*
Israeli-Palestinian cooperation to combat violence and terror (Wye River Memorandum, Article
II).
14
*
Comprehensive, continuous and long-term struggle against terror and violence with respect to
terrorists, terror support structure and environment conducive to the support of terror (Wye River
Memorandum, Article II).
*
Palestinian side will make known its policy of zero tolerance for terror and violence against both
sides (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.1a).
*
Palestinian work plan to ensure the systematic and effective combat of terrorist organizations
and their infrastructure (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.1b).
*
US-Palestinian committee to review the steps being taken to eliminate terrorist cells and terror
support structure (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.1c).
*
Apprehension of individuals suspected of perpetrating acts of violence and terror and
establishment of US-Palestinian committee to review such matter (Wye River Memorandum,
Article II.A.1d,e).
*
Act to ensure immediate, efficient and effective handling of any incident involving a threat or
act of terrorism, violence or incitement. Exchange of information and coordination of policies
and activities in this regard (Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, Article 8.a).
*
Immediate and effective response to the occurrence or anticipated occurrence of an act of
terrorism, violence or incitement and shall take all necessary measures to prevent such an
occurrence (Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, Article 8.a).
Prevention of Incitement
*
Abstention from incitement, including hostile propaganda and adoption of legal measures to
prevent such incitement (Interim Agreement, Article XXII).
*
Non-introduction of motifs into educational systems (Interim Agreement, Article XXII).
*
Immediate, efficient and effective handling of any incident involving a threat or act of violence
or incitement (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article II.2).
*
Active prevention of incitement to violence (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article II.3).
*
Apprehension, investigation and prosecution of those directly or indirectly involved in acts of
terrorism, violence and incitement (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article II.3).
*
Reaffirmation of commitment to prevent incitement and hostile propaganda (Note for the
Record).
*
Issuance of a decree, comparable to existing Israeli legislation, prohibiting all forms of incitement
to violence or terror and establishment of mechanisms for acting against all expressions or threats
of violence or terror (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.3a).
*
Establishment of a US-Palestinian-Israeli committee to monitor cases of possible incitement to
violence or terror and to make recommendations and reports on how to prevent such
incitement (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.3b).
*
Immediate and effective response to the occurrence or anticipated occurrence of an act of
terrorism, violence or incitement and shall take all necessary measures to prevent such an
occurrence (Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, Article 8.a).
Prohibition of Illegal Weapons
*
No manufacture, sale, acquisition, importation or introduction of any firearms, ammunition,
weapons, explosives, gunpowder or related equipment into the West Bank or Gaza Strip, except
for those of the Palestinian Police (Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Article IX.3; Interim Agreement,
Article XIV).
15
*
The Palestinian Police will prevent the manufacture of weapons as well as the transfer of
weapons to persons not licensed to possess them (Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article XI.2).
*
Limitations on arms and ammunition for the Palestinian Police (Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Annex I,
Article III.5, Interim Agreement, Annex I, Article IV; Hebron Protocol, Article 5).
*
Reaffirmation of commitment to confiscate illegal firearms (Note for the Record).
*
Ensuring an effective legal framework to criminalize any importation, manufacturing or
unlicensed sale, acquisition or possession of firearms, ammunition or weapons in areas under
Palestinian jurisdiction (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.2a).
*
Establishment and implementation of a systematic program for the collection and appropriate
handling of illegal weapons etc. (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.2b).
*
Establishment of a US-Palestinian-Israeli committee to assist and enhance cooperation in
preventing the smuggling or unauthorized introduction of weapons or explosive materials into
Palestinian areas (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.A.2c).
Continuation of the program for the collection of illegal weapons, including reports (Sharm elSheikh Memorandum, Article 8.b).
*
Security Cooperation with the Israeli Side
*
Establishment of Establishment of a Joint Security Coordination and Cooperation Committee and
District Coordination Offices (Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Article VIII; Annex I, Article II; Interim
Agreement, Article XII).
*
Establishment and operation of Joint Patrols and Joint Mobile Units (Gaza-Jericho Agreement,
Annex I, Article II; Hebron Protocol, Article 4).
*
Establishment of Joint Aviation Committee and Maritime Coordination and Cooperation Center
(Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Annex I, Article XI, XII; Interim Agreement, Annex I Articles XIII, XIV).
*
Arrest and transfer of individuals suspected of, charged with or convicted of an offense falling
under Israeli criminal jurisdiction (Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Annex III, Article II.7; Interim
Agreement, Annex IV, Article II.7).
*
Requests for arrest and transfer of individuals to be submitted to the Joint Legal Committee and
respond to within a twelve-week period (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.B.3)
*
Full and comprehensive bilateral security cooperation (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.B.1).
*
Exchange of forensic expertise, training and assistance (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.B.2).
*
Establishment of high ranking US-Palestinian-Israeli committee to asses current threats, deal with
impediments to effective security cooperation and address steps being taken to combat terror
and terror organizations (Wye River Memorandum, Article II.B.3).
*
Undertaking to implement its responsibilities for security and security cooperation (Sharm elSheikh Memorandum, Article 8).
16