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Israel-Palestine |
2004-10-31 |
B-b-b-but Yassir wears a dirty old uniform. Indisputable proof of his solidarity with The People (TM). These slanderous allegations cannot possibly be true... If anything was guaranteed to annoy the Palestinians, it was a comment made by Yasser Arafat's wife after the birth of their daughter, Zahwa. As Suha Arafat proudly showed off the Palestinian leader's only child at the £1,100-a-night hospital in Paris in July 1995, she declared: "Our child was conceived in Gaza, but sanitary conditions there are terrible. I don't want to be a hero and risk my baby." "Let them eat rusks!" Her remarks highlighted the widening gulf between the Palestinian "first lady" and her people - many of whom live on little more than £3 a day per family. The spendthrift image of Mrs Arafat was further enhanced when French authorities launched an investigation into claims that $11.4 million (£6.22 million) had been transferred from Switzerland to two of her French bank accounts between July 2002 and 2003. The sums were on top of an allowance of $100,000 (£54,500) which Mr Arafat, 75, sent his 40-year-old wife each month. Mrs Arafat and Palestinian representatives in Paris described the claims as Israeli propaganda. No points for imagination, but full marks for consistency. Mrs Arafat, however, failed to deny the transactions outright in an interview with the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Al-Hayat. "Prime minister Ariel Sharon is responsible for this vicious leak," she said. "What's strange about the rais [president] sending money to his wife overseas, especially when I handle Palestinian matters and interests?" A "vicious leak". Freudian? Classic. The truth is clearly not Arafat's friend. Mrs Arafat was born in Jerusalem to a wealthy family. She spent her Business acumen? Is there an Embezzlement and Corruption section in the FT? Maybe MD Suha boned up on the 1986 special feature 'Taking a pseudo-Palestinian piscine dictator as your sleeping partner: dirty work, but worth the investment'. She met Mr Arafat in her mid-twenties on an assignment in Amman for a French newspaper. He hired her as a public relations adviser and later as an economics adviser for the Palestine Liberation Organisation. They married at his house in Tunis in 1990 after she had converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Islam, but the wedding was kept secret for 15 months. The Palestinian leader had had a string of affairs, and had even been close to marriage twice before. But this marriage, when he was 62 and she 28, came as a surprise to many of his followers. Mrs Arafat quickly Truly, um, inspirational. Like a fairytale. One of the nasty ones. |
Posted by:Bulldog |
#7 .. she declared: "Our child was conceived in Gaza,.. Well that's a rather disgusting thought. |
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-10-31 11:43:14 PM |
#6 Fooey... To0 late to get a I love Suha Sign... :( |
Posted by: Shipman 2004-10-31 2:03:10 PM |
#5 --could receive treatment for leukaemia,-- So, the daughter and father have a blood disease??? |
Posted by: anonymous2u 2004-10-31 1:22:11 PM |
#4 If he wants to avoid a heart attack, Yasser had better hope the hospital proscribes all conjugal visits. Remember, Yasser, no heavy lifting. (As if that phrase has ever appeared in his job description.) |
Posted by: Zenster 2004-10-31 10:46:30 AM |
#3 I've seen that hair in photos. She's wasting her money. On the other hand, the standard of beauty in her husband's part of the world is 100 kilos, which she appears to have achieved. |
Posted by: trailing wife 2004-10-31 10:21:28 AM |
#2 Sssooooooouuuiiiieee |
Posted by: Frank G 2004-10-31 9:20:49 AM |
#1 and handy for the Champs-Élyées. So she has choice seats for watching Americans win the Tour de France. Cool! Her hair is expensively highlighted. Lipstick, pig... |
Posted by: Raj 2004-10-31 9:15:05 AM |