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Israel's File on Arafat “Riddled With Omissions, Falsehoods”: Robert Fisk
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Israel’s file proves Arafat’s impotence, rather than his implication: Fisk
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RAMALLAH,
May 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – In a detailed analysis of
a file on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, with which Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intended to prove to the U.S. that Arafat
was “a master of terror” who is personally involved in resistance
attacks on Israel, U.K. journalist Robert Fisk said Thursday, May 9,
that the report “is riddled with errors, omissions and deliberate
misinformation.”
In
the analysis published by leading U.K. daily newspaper, The
Independent, Fisk says that the dossier is doctored in some places,
including deliberate mistranslations of key documents. “At least one
"translation" of a Palestinian document posted on the
Israeli army's website is a palpable falsehood,” Fisk reported.
Rather
than proving that Arafat is the mastermind behind anti-Israeli
attacks, Fisk concluded that the “documents portray Mr Arafat's
military impotence. The papers the Israeli intelligence service have
so far produced – assuming that most of them are genuine – paint a
vivid, pathetic picture of his loss of power within the Palestinian
community over the past 12 months, the suborning of his lieutenants
and the gradual recruitment of his men by Hamas and Islamic Jihad
opponents.”
“The
original Arabic documents,” Fisk continues, “reveal just how the
Israelis, in an exercise in black propaganda, have manipulated their
true meaning.”
Fisk
quoted intelligence reports extensively, and compared the Arabic
originals to the documents displayed in Israel’s file, and stated
that there is a vast difference between the original and the Israeli
version.
“The
Arabic texts suggest that Israel is fighting against men who have long
ago passed outside Mr Arafat's control, who are better funded than his
Palestinian Authority and whose anti-Israeli attacks can only
occasionally be foiled by Mr Arafat's still-loyal intelligence
officers.”
Fisk
cited a case in which 17-year-old Mahmoud Freih attempted a resistance
attack by planting a primitive mine on a road used by Israeli tanks
near Shweikeh. “The attack was aborted because of the presence of
Israeli soldiers. So he moved the bomb, ran a wire from the explosives
to a citrus tree in an orchard.
“Again,
his attack failed. Next day, Freih attended school but returned to the
bomb's location – only to find that the wire had been cut. Waiting
for him there were an official of the Palestinian Authority and an
explosives expert named Samir Abu Naser.”
The
Israeli account, however, Fisk points out, “deleted all reference to
the role played by the Palestinian Authority in foiling the attack on
the Israelis. The full text shows clearly that Mr Arafat's men did
just what the Israelis would wish: they stopped the attack and
persuaded the boy to change sides.”
In
the file, Israel also tries to attach Arafat’s name to funds related
to weapons productions. “An account of money apparently needed for
weapons production carries the legend "Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Troops" on the top of the page. According to the Israelis, it is
addressed to Fouad Shabaki, one of Mr Arafat's confidants.”
Fisk
compared this with the Arabic original and observed that “the
printed Arabic original, Shabaki's name does not appear.”
Another
paper shows detailed costs of bullets and chemicals for explosive
charges and bombs, but again shows “no Arafat connections.”
Fisk
concludes that the documents “provide a rare glimpse into the
powerlessness of Mr Arafat … The last thing they prove is that Mr
Arafat is behind the wave of suicide bombings that continued in Israel
even yesterday.
“But
that is not what Mr Sharon wanted. He wants Mr Arafat removed from
power.”
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