TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority’s official TV network has been airing a video several times a day baselessly accusing Israel of poisoning former PA President Yasser Arafat and further claiming that Israel is targeting current President Mahmoud Abbas next.
Arafat died at the age of 75 on November 11, 2004, just outside of Paris. A French forensic team examined his remains and concluded that there were no traces of poison in his body.
Nevertheless, every year around the anniversary of his death, the PA disseminates the libel that Israel murdered him.
This year’s clip, translated by Israeli monitoring group Palestinian Media Watch, features footage of Arafat signing the ill-fated Oslo Accords with Israel.
“The scheme: Israel and its allies found Arafat to be an insurmountable obstacle to their occupation aspirations and plans, and therefore they [laid] the siege and [committed] the murder by poison,” the narrator is heard saying.
“The knight [Arafat] got off his horse, and on the back of the revolution rose another man: [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas. He tried again, out of a belief in a just peace, but the same cover of injustice remained. … The leader understood how matters are conducted, and began an international legal battle in order to internationalize the [Palestinian] cause. He tore off the cover of injustice, while screaming out the Palestinian right. [He made] achievements one after another, in a critical international battle while adhering to the principles,” the narration continues.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman – to whom the PA often refers to as the “Israeli Minister of Death” – is shown in the clip alongside a fictitious quote reading: “We must get rid of the PA and it is essential that Abbas go away.”
The clip continues with the claim that a WikiLeaks document proves that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “wants to get rid of Abbas.” No such document exists.
The narrator can then be heard saying: “The plot is renewed and history repeats itself. The Palestinian president is again under attack. On the 12th anniversary of the death as a Martyr of late President Yasser Arafat – the commitment remains, the oath remains, and this is a revolution until victory.”
Last week, Breitbart Jerusalem reported on Palestinian officials who repeated the claim that Israel assassinated Arafat and was out to get Abbas next.
On Thursday, Abbas himself fueled the fire by claiming to know who killed Arafat.
During a ceremony honoring the late leader, Abbas told a crowd of thousands in Ramallah:
“You ask me who killed him, I know — but my testimony alone is not enough.”
“A commission of inquiry is digging into that, but you’ll find out at the earliest opportunity and be amazed when you know who did it,” he said.
“I do not want to mention names, because these names do not deserve to be remembered,” he added.
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