Did treachery have a hand in the death of Yasser Arafat? Allegations that the long-time Palestinian leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate was poisoned have resurrected after Al-Jazeera news channel broadcast an investigation in which experts said they had found high levels of polonium on his personal effects. Arafat died in a French military hospital on November 11, 2004 after being airlifted there for treatment from his Ramallah headquarters. At the time of his death, Palestinian officials alleged he had been poisoned by long-time foe Israel, but an inconclusive Palestinian investigation in 2005 ruled out poisoning, as well as cancer and AIDS. The Al-Jazeera investigation, however, brought back the polonium poison theory. The TV show prompted Arafat's nephew to charge Israel with poisoning him with the lethal radioactive substance, which led to a denial from the Israeli prime minister's office. But Israel had the motive for such a killing. It was Arafat who radically altered the fate of the Palestinian people. It was he who placed their cause on the international map, brought it to the forefront of the UN agenda and transformed it from a simple refugee matter to a question of fundamental human and national rights. His name was rarely absent from the headlines of the international press for over 30 years. His face became a symbol of the Palestinian people and their cause as he led two enormous intifadas against the occupation. Spending the last three years of his life under Israeli siege at his Ramallah compound made Arafat even more of a hero. The Israeli Mossad has a long history of targeted assassinations. One of its lethal methods of choice is poison, evidenced by the unsuccessful attempt by Mossad agents to kill Hamas leader Khaled Mashal by spraying poison in his ear in Amman in 1997. It could be asked what could have led Israel to the peculiar decision to exterminate its enemies by planting on their person or in their food polonium, a highly toxic substance which is rarely found outside military and scientific circles, which is available to only a very few states and which leaves radioactive traces forever. Exhuming Arafat's body, which Palestinian officials say is possible, could offer the last chance to get to the bottom of Palestinian claims that their leader was poisoned. But will a credible autopsy be performed? If so, will full disclosure follow? And most important, if evidence proves Arafat was murdered, will efforts be made to assign blame? Another key point is that sending bone, tissue and other bodily samples to reputable labs abroad reportedly requires Israeli permission. That could be denied, but doing so would raise obvious suspicions that Israel wants potentially incriminating evidence suppressed. It would seem a moot point that an investigation into Arafat's death is being reopened eight years on. The man is dead and digging up his bones will not bring him back. However, if there was foul play, an investigation should be reopened and pursued, not necessarily because Arafat was a towering figure in the history of this part of the world, but because if he was murdered, the perpetrators should not be allowed to get away with it.
