Oops, turns out Arafat probably was murdered after all..

[Hauldren Collider]

I think he had enough enemies inside his organization. Not that I'm suggesting that but to think he had no other enemies................
And while I agree that he was on the irrelevant side at the end (except as a symbol) I think there were some in Israel that could have orchestrated it.

If the killer was Israeli, it was likely a rogue. It's hard to imagine the IDF actually wanting to kill him. The risk of being found out (or even just accused) versus the payoff of whatever justice they could get out of ending his life is just too lopsided.

I think it's more likely that he was killed by another Palestinian, perhaps someone who hoped to move up the totem pole in Fatah.

[kentonio]

How available is Polonium? Is it the kind of thing Palestinians could have gotten hold of?

[Hauldren Collider]

Don't forget that the palestinians are supplied by Iran, and pre-2003, Iraq.

I think it is difficult to get a hold of, however (if I recall correctly). That definitely increases the likelihood that an Israeli was behind the supposed assassination. Still, it doesn't make any sense for Israel to have killed him.

[regexcellent]

Polonium-210 pretty much only exists in nuclear reactors, so you'll need one of those.

Don't forget that the palestinians are supplied by Iran, and pre-2003, Iraq.

I think it is difficult to get a hold of, however (if I recall correctly). That definitely increases the likelihood that an Israeli was behind the supposed assassination.

Hmm, did the Iranians have research reactors online at that time? I think they probably did. I guess if they supplied the polonium they would have figured people would blame Israel since everyone knows that the Israelis have a nuclear program and a longstanding grudge with Arafat.

Who knows.

[Hauldren Collider]

Polonium-210 is naturally occuring, actually. Not sure how frequently.

[Dauphin]

If he was murdered, good, he deserved it.

I had heard speculation that he died of AIDS though.

Your jokes are terrible.

[regexcellent]

That one isn't a joke. He did deserve it.

Polonium-210 is naturally occuring, actually. Not sure how frequently.

From wikipedia:

"²¹⁰Po occurs in minute amounts in nature, where it is an intermediate isotope in the radium series (also known as the uranium series) decay chain. It is generated via beta decay from ²¹⁰Bi."

[Sava]

I'm not bored enough to argue about this.

[kentonio]

Polonium-210 is naturally occuring, actually. Not sure how frequently.

It seems like you need a fair bit of it to poison someone with, and that means a major laboratory (according to some quick googling).

[regexcellent]

It seems like you need a fair bit of it to poison someone with, and that means a major laboratory (according to some quick googling).

I think it's fair to say that nobody's going to go digging for polonium to poison someone with it. They'd have used something else. Clearly whoever poisoned him had access to a reactor or sponsorship from someone who did. That narrows it down quite a bit.

[Hauldren Collider]

That one isn't a joke. He did deserve it.

QFT

[Dauphin]

If Litvinenko was also reported to have died of AIDS maybe that would explain how Arafat got AIDS and the Po poisoning.

[Hauldren Collider]

What does Litvinenko have to do with this, other than having died from Po-210?

[regexcellent]

If Litvinenko was also reported to have died of AIDS maybe that would explain how Arafat got AIDS and the Po poisoning.

The AIDS thing comes from people trying to claim he was homosexual after he died. His cause of death was not released at the time. I never set much store by it.

To add about the polonium thing, I think it's reasonable to say whoever poisoned him wanted people to take a guess at who did it. That's certainly true with Litvinenko; it was commented on in the media at the time that very few people would have been able to get something like polonium-210, which basically says a) it was the Russians and b) they wanted everyone to know it (unofficially). This is probably something similar: either someone wanting people to think it was the Israelis, or the Israelis wanting people to think it was them.

[The Mad Monk]

x-kucibro'd

Everything.

Po is not a poison you use when you want to be undetected. It leave one hell of a fingerprint, and the number of nations that have it in any significant quantity can be counted on one hand (Russia, Israel, USA). You use it when you want to leave a message.