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Arafats billions
2004-02-21
Yasser Arafat diverted nearly $1 billion in public funds to insure his political survival, but a lot more is still unaccounted for.
(No shit Sherlock)
Jim Prince and a team of American accountants are searching Arafat’s books. Given what they’ve already uncovered, Arafat may be rethinking his decision to allow his Finance Ministry to hire the anti-corruption team. So far, Prince’s team has determined that part of the Palestinian leader’s wealth was in a secret portfolio worth close to $1 billion — with investments in companies like a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ramallah, a Tunisian mobile phone company, and venture capital funds in the US and the Cayman Islands. 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. Prince says none of these deals was made public: "Our whole point is to bring it out of control of any one person." The portfolio money is now under the control of Salam Fayyad, a Dead man walking former World Bank employee who Arafat was forced to appoint finance minister in 2002 after crowds began protesting his corrupt regime. Fayyad says, "There is corruption out there. There is abuse. There is impropriety and that’s what had to be fixed." Statements like that have earned Fayyad a reputation for bravery — which was enhanced when he posted the details of Arafat’s secret portfolio on the Internet.
(anyone got a link for that?)
The stockpile went beyond the portfolio. Arafat accumulated another $1 billion with the help of the Israelis. Under the Oslo Accords, it was agreed Israel would collect taxes on goods bought by Palestinians and transfer those funds to the Palestinian treasury. Martin Indyk, a top Middle East adviser with the Clinton administration and now head of the Saban Centre, a Washington think-tank, says, "That money is transferred to Yasser Arafat to, among other places, bank accounts which he maintains off-line in Israel." Until three years ago, Israel put the tax revenues into Arafat’s account at Bank Leumi in central Tel Aviv, no questions asked. Indyk says: "The Israelis came to us and said, basically, ’Arafat’s job is to clean up Gaza. It’s going to be a difficult job. He needs walking-around money,’ because the assumption was he would use it to get control of all of these terrorists who’d been operating in these areas for decades."
That worked well, didn't it?
Obviously that hasn’t happened. Dennis Ross, a former Mid-East negotiator and now head of the Washington Institute for Near East policy, says Arafat’s "walking-around money" financed a huge patronage system. Like a political ward boss in some of the more corrupt cities in the US, Arafat still doles out lots of money. Fayyad says he pays his security forces alone $20 million a month, all of it in cash.
(Not anymore:-)
US officials estimate Arafat’s personal nest egg at between $1 billion and $3 billion.
(Conservative estimate IMHO)
Those same officials ask: Did Arafat steal from his own people?
(Does a wild bear go potty in the woods?)
Dennis Ross answers, "He defines himself as being the embodiment of the Palestinian people. So what’s good for him is good for them. Did they benefit? The answer is no. Did they lose? The answer is yes."
"L'etat c'est moi."
Fayyad is trying to make sure it’s the people’s money, but many say his one-man reform effort is having only limited success. Arafat sent armed men last year to prevent Fayyad from replacing the head of the civil service, who runs Arafat’s patronage apparatus. That has led some to think Fayyad himself could be in danger. He has upset many powerful people and his offices have already been ransacked more than once. But Fayyad says he does not feel threatened: "It’s a dangerous neighbourhood. But you know this is about, you know, doing the right thing for the people Dude."
Posted by:Evert Visser

#3  It's the JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS fault that Arafat stole the money. It's aways the JOOOOOOOOOOOOS fault.
Posted by: AKScott   2004-2-21 4:23:44 PM  

#2  The Paleos are getting toward the bottom but they haven't bottomed out yet. That said, exposing the money trail and what has been done with it is an important step in the downfall of the Arafish. Completion of the Fence Barrier Wall Good Neighbor Device will force the Paleos to look inward or as Frank sez, have a civil war to clean up the criminals.

It will be an ugly process, kinda like maggots going through a rat's carcass. Oh, the imagery...
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-2-21 12:20:02 PM  

#1  If the Paleos ever want to rise above the cesspool they've made of their society, they'll need a lot more courageous people like Fayyad with loud voices and the will to use them. Civil war to clean up the criminals, professional thugs and terrorists seems to be the only answer
Posted by: Frank G   2004-2-21 11:47:19 AM  

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