That was the killer poker game I used to play in my younger days when I thought I had more spending cash. Evidently Abu Mazan and Abu Ala (what about Père Abu?) are headed to Paris to play their own version, according to Haaretz, and to “announce” the death of Arafat on Tuesday. Debka puts it more bluntly. They’re off to negotiate a deal with La Suha – Arafat’s “adoring” wife who didn’t bother to see the rais for three years but is now holding the purse strings – so that she will allow the plug to be pulled. No more sinister skullduggery was ever devised for the Jacobean stage by Webster or Tourneur. Debka also reports that Moammar Qadaffi himself may be the first Arab leader since Sadat to set foot on Israeli soil for the funeral. Is there a Harvey Weinstein connection?
But more interestingly, what is the French connection? Why have they been so solicitous of the Palestinian Terror Mafioso? Wasn’t one Marie Antoinette enough? Don’t you wish you had your own listening devices?
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20 Comments
1. Terrye:This is like an Arab version of the Godfather.
I wonder if Arafat is poisoned and I wonder if the French know whodunit.
BTW I heard the French got a little unilateral in the Ivory Coast today. figures.
Nov 7, 2004 - 6:46 pm 2. richard mcenroe:Terrye ó Nah, it’s like a really evil version of Zorba the Greek, where the other crones gather around the old woman’s deathbed, waiting to steal her things the moment she dies.
If there’s a deity with a mean sense of justice, Arafat can hear all this bickering going on around him.
Nov 7, 2004 - 6:48 pm 3. Laurence Simon:Hint: She was granted French citizenship a while back.
Answer: Estate taxes.
Nov 7, 2004 - 7:11 pm 4. Stefan Sharkansky:It sure would be interesting to see Qadhafi in Israel. But it’s not correct to say that he would be the first Arab leader to “set foot on Israeli soil” since Sadat. All Debka said was that he would be the first to “touch down in Israel”. Indeed, both King Hussein and Pres. Mubarak attended Rabin’s funeral in Jerusalem.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/rabin/funeral/wrap/
Assuming that Debka is correct about “touch down”, I guess that would mean that Hussein and Mubarak arrived by land.
Nov 7, 2004 - 7:16 pm 5. Dymphna:It sure would be interesting to see Qadhafi in Israel.
No doubt we’ll all be seeing more of the infamous poseur. Now that he’s caved re WMD, he’s decided to use the situation to promote himself. He’ll never be likeable but he is far more interesting than, say, Boy Assad.
And he’s a useful idiot–Q,that is, not Boy.
Seeing the gathering of the tribes at the burial of Arafat will be like watching a bad film about dysfunctional families. Someone did mention the Godfather, didn’t they? This is more like the wicked fairies at the funeral. All jostling for position. It would make a good movie script its own self.
Nov 7, 2004 - 7:58 pm 6. Doug:Let’s give them a state. I’m sure such responsible people will be law abiding members of the world community.
Nov 7, 2004 - 8:05 pm 7. yadid:Hey Roger…
Who needs “listening devices?” can’t we all enjoy your wild imagination? Imagine the scene: Suha, Abu ‘ana aref’ and abu ‘whatever’ deliberating on when and how to unplug…Chirak is serving them red wine (well, maybe it’s mineral water, or maybe eau de vie? oh, the irony…) and Shroeder singing the Palastineuse (ich bin ein Palastiner…)
wild, wild world…
Nov 7, 2004 - 8:47 pm 8. napablogger:He’s brain dead, no he’s in a coma, no he’s in an induced coma, can come out of it anytime we want, no he’s fine, yada yada yada.
Arafat is dying the same way he lived his whole life, in a whirlwind of lies. How appropos. There’s your French, Roger.
Nov 8, 2004 - 1:01 am 9. Gordon:“The Facts in the Case of M. Arafat”(sic)
Perhaps his current “stable state” is to be explained by mesmerism?
I wonder if the high level Palestinian delegation flying to his bedside are prepared for this?
Link…
For those who don’t have the time to read the full story here is the final paragraph:-
There was an instant return of the hectic circles on the cheeks; the tongue quivered, or rather rolled violently in the mouth (although the jaws and lips remained rigid as before;) and at length the same hideous voice which I have already described, broke forth:
“For God’s sake! –quick! –quick! –put me to sleep –or, quick! –waken me! –quick! –I say to you that I am dead!”
I was thoroughly unnerved, and for an instant remained undecided what to do. At first I made an endeavor to re-compose the patient; but, failing in this through total abeyance of the will, I retraced my steps and as earnestly struggled to awaken him. In this attempt I soon saw that I should be successful –or at least I soon fancied that my success would be complete –and I am sure that all in the room were prepared to see the patient awaken.
For what really occurred, however, it is quite impossible that any human being could have been prepared.
As I rapidly made the mesmeric passes, amid ejaculations of “dead! dead!” absolutely bursting from the tongue and not from the lips of the sufferer, his whole frame at once –within the space of a single minute, or even less, shrunk –crumbled –absolutely rotted away beneath my hands. Upon the bed, before that whole company, there lay a nearly liquid mass of loathsome –of detestable putridity
Nov 8, 2004 - 1:19 am 10. Lola:The trip’s off because of Suha’s hysterical outburst. Auuuggghh. This certainly isn’t a Dumb Blonde. Here’s more info about her.
Nov 8, 2004 - 2:52 am 11. scaramouoche:Great minds, Roger. I saw it as opera too–Madama Iron Butterfly or The Unmerry Widow (see my blog for more).
Nov 8, 2004 - 4:43 am 12. rastajenk:I too used to participate in guts/trips; nice to see a reminder in odd places of days gone by.
Although I voted otherwise in CNN’s weekly poll, I think Israel should let the Fish be buried in Jerusalem…on the condition that the violence stop once and for all. At the next suicide bombing, though, they would be free to dig him up and dump his remains from a gunship over Gaza in the most the most insufferably humiliating way possible. Just one final concession to see if the new Palis can keep a promise.
Nov 8, 2004 - 6:09 am 13. promoguy:Thought I was gonna have a double double this past week. Damn bastard didn’t die. Although, I could count Tuesday through Monday as the week as in seven days and hope the Fishhead checks out today. If that wife of his lets him
Nov 8, 2004 - 6:53 am 14. Bruce W.:Jerusalem Post article quotes a senior Fatah official as saying:
“She’s holding the president hostage…”
A Fatah official concerned about hostage-taking? Ah, the poetic justice of it all!
Nov 8, 2004 - 7:21 am 15. Lola:Looks like the PA caretakers are coming to France after all . . . wouldn’t do for their image to be pushed around by a woman.
Nov 8, 2004 - 8:22 am 16. Bruce W.:Lola:
It’s too late, they already appear to have been pushed around by her. They never liked her, now they have great cause to hate her. These are not people you want to antagonize in Arabic on their most-watched “news” organization.
She will not make it to the start of 2006…if not sooner.
She should have covered her hair and visited sugar daddy a litle more often. I bet even Chirac is ready to be done with her.
Nov 8, 2004 - 10:11 am 17. Old Grouch:French Connection?
Local talk radio this AM had an unsourced story claiming that a lot of the bank transfer orders for the missing PA/PLO aid funds were “written in french.” It is known much of the EU’s aid targeted to the Palestinians wound up in accounts that were personally controlled by Arafat, and that a lot of that cash is now missing. Can anyone say “oil for food, again?” Thought you could!
Nov 8, 2004 - 10:19 am 18. Kevin P:Roger:
Words of warning from Suha Arafat in this mornings LA Times- “I appeal to you to be aware of the scope of the conspiracy. They are trying to bury Abu Amr alive”.
The French may regret taking Arafat in for treatment. In most communities this might be taken as the ravings of a grieving widow. But in a community where The protocols of Zion are swallowed whole, where the lie that it was the Jews that piloted the planes into the Twin Towers is seriously considered, this should be taken by the French as a warning of retribution. The fact that she used her life partner’s nom de guerre and not his diplomatic name should give Chirac shivers up his spine. Suha may just use some of her pilferred millions to pay for a well placed human bomb to take revenge.
Nov 8, 2004 - 11:54 am 19. Kevin P:Roger:
This might be slightly off topic but this is part of the whole Arafat mess. “Drone Enters Israeli Airspace” LA Times, Monday November *, 2004.
The story speculates that it came from Lebanon and was a Hezbollah drone furnished by Iran. Just a thought for those who ripped President Bush about including Iran in the axis of evil speech and who think that Iran has peacefull intentions and that Israeli shouldn’t take out Iran’s nuke sites. Iran is at war with Israel and no matter what the EU does they will not stop their plans to their stated goals, The elimination of the state of Israel.
Nov 8, 2004 - 12:02 pm 20. Buddha:LMAO @ PËre Abu!!
although what a play about a rapacious, murderous despot has to do with Arafat, well, lemme ponder that a while longer….
Nov 8, 2004 - 2:46 pm