Arafat's Millions

[NewsGuy]

I hesitate to place any reports of Palestinian corruption in the "News" section, because it is hardly news. Like in all Arab countries, corruption runs rampant in the Palestinian terrorist authority, as well. The monetary misdeeds start at the very top of the Palestinian government, most notably from Arafat and all the way down to the local Palestinian warlords.

While the world is stumbling all over itself to provide funds for the "poor" Palestinians, their brutal and corrupt leaders are robbing the population and shamelessly plundering the foreign aid, which incredibly, keeps on pouring in to the Palestinian territories.

Next time you read that the Palestinians are in need of funds, don't believe it. There is plenty of money set aside for the Palestinian needs, but it's being stolen to the tune of hundreds-of-millions by their very own Palestinian brothers.

Want to feed the entire Palestinian population for the next 10 years? Just crack open the secret Swiss bank accounts of Arafat and his terrorist warlords.

This report is from today's Washington Times:

Arafat accused of stashing millions

Israeli sources say Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat recently transferred $5 million to his wife in Paris and that other leading Palestinians have transferred tens of millions to private bank accounts abroad as fears grow that the Palestinian Authority is near collapse.

"We have recently identified the transfer abroad of tremendous sums by Palestinian leaders who are preparing nest eggs for the future," an unnamed senior Israeli political figure was quoted by the Tel Aviv newspaper Yediot Achronot.

The official told the newspaper that the money sent by Mr. Arafat to his wife, Suha, who lives in Paris with their young daughter, came from funds provided by Saudi Arabia for assistance to the Palestinian people.

The Israeli source said the second-ranking man in the Palestinian hierarchy, Abu Mazen, recently channeled $70 million in Palestinian Authority funds to European banks through his brother, a wealthy businessman operating in the Gulf states.

Reports of transfers of Palestinian funds have also appeared in Arabic newspapers, including El-Wattan el-Arabi, published in Paris, and the Jordanian newspaper Asabil."

[cerulean]

I hesitate to place any reports of Palestinian corruption in the "News" section, because it is hardly news.

You're right, it's hardly news, but important to mention just the same.

From the NYPost:
http://www.nypost.com/commentary/52439.htm
‘CORRUPT’ YASSER’S $11B STASH

By URI DAN
July 14, 2002 -- JERUSALEM.
...
"Some of Arafat’s people revealed to me that they hate him - but they are afraid of him. They claim he is corrupt and controls assets estimated at $11 billion in three different accounts."
[...]
But how did his secret stash reach $11 billion? Here’s the answer.
For years Arafat has been receiving gigantic payments from Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms and Iraq to finance the PLO.
...

[Mediocrates]

I'm tempted to believe this - I've heard numbers as high as 20B before. But, If I were your average al-Azziz Saud Prince what would I think about my ROI on this investment? What have they achieved with 11-20B. Tha Saud family funds world wide Wahabbist schools to the tune of 20B as reported on MEMRI. But at least there you have buildings, people and whatnot. Picture the call

"Arafat"

"Salaam Yasser, your benefactor here, got a minute?"

"For you I would lay prostrate before a hundred angry camels"

"Uh yeah....anyway, You know that 11 billion we gave you?"

"In'shallah of course it is Allah's bounty"

"No It's MY Bounty - what did you do with it?"

"It is an expensive effort to break the chains of millions and build a homeland"

"You betcha - now about that accounting.."

"No accounting we are in control.."

"We? Listen I hear it's you and Wife #1 sign all the checks"

"That is true - what better way to guard against the infidels"

"I want to know where the money is, what you did with it and what's going on...it's not like we can pump it out of the ground, uh wait wait, anyway I want to know what I get for my 11 with 9 zeros after it."

"You get the struggle, the most holy jihad against the zionist devil"

"Sure, your heart may belong to Allah but they are kicking your ass - so what did you do?"

"brrrrrcchc brrrrchcch crk wumf eeothalth khalssssssss"

"WTF was that"

"brrrrrmmmmfffff you're breaking up crkkkkkk"

"If you hang up I will ****ing cut your heart out and eat it."

click

Hello? Hello? That's it you are one dead MoFo. Slam.

[NewsGuy]

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cerulean]

===
A June 2001 IMRA article about the hidden PLO funds. As this article, and a quick search indicates, this problem has indeed been known about for a long time.

http://www.kokhavivpublications.com/...06241515g.html

Quote:
Long before the Oslo accord, in 1990 the CIA estimated that the PLO had between $8 billion and $14 billion worth of assets generated from a 5 percent tax on every Palestinian working in Arab countries. However, according to a 1993 British National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) report published on the eve of the famous 'handshake' on the White House lawn, most of the PLO's assets originated from 'donations, extortion, payoffs, illegal arms dealing, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, etc.'

A little-noticed report by the London Daily Telegraph on Dec. 6, 1999, revealed that computer hackers had broken the security code of the PLO's computer system. The hackers discovered records of about $8 billion the PLO held in numbered bank accounts in New York City, Geneva and Zurich. In addition, it held smaller secret accounts in North Africa, Europe and Asia.
====

By all accounts, Arafat does not live the life of a billionaire, although his wife is a shopping fiend in Paris. I think he wants the money almost solely for the power it provides in how he can dole it out to loyal associates.

====
Side questions:
To what extent are 'donations, extortion, payoffs, illegal arms dealing, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, etc.' going on, and who is in charge of this side of things?

Who was termed a "Palestinian" for the purpose of the PLO collecting the income tax mentioned in the article?

[cerulean]

Arab nations halt funding after reports Arafat embezzled aid

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtri...reaking_2.html
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, July 26, 2002
RAMALLAH — Several Arab countries have cut off financing for the Palestinian Authority after press reports charged that chairman Yasser Arafat had embezzled funds meant to aid Palestinians.

Palestinian sources said the Arab League funding was meant to finance the Palestinian health system as well as to improve infrastructure. The Arab states froze more than $200 million in funding pledged to the PA after reports in the Gulf Arab media asserted that Arafat had embezzled $5 million in Arab allocations, the sources said. ...

===
The European Union, on the other hand, decided a few weeks ago to continue its funding of the Palestinian Authority.