12.07.2015 Views

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

250 BY WAY OF DECEPTIONthey couldn't say that about Arafat. He actually lives a humble life,with his people. During the siege <strong>of</strong> Beirut he had manyopportunities to escape but he didn't leave until he got his peopleout, so the Mossad can't claim that he operates out <strong>of</strong> self-interest,either. Perhaps they used the story about him liking teenage boysas a substitute.At the time, however, the right-wingers in the Mossad werepushing to have Arafat killed. Their argument was that if theyassassinated Arafat, the Palestinians would replace him withsomeone more militant who would not be acceptable to the West,or to the left in Israel, and therefore there would be no peacefulsolution to the problem. Violent clashes and ultimatelyunconditional surrender were the only way the Mossad couldconceive <strong>of</strong> achieving peace.The argument against killing Arafat is that he is the best <strong>of</strong> a badlot, an educated man, a uniting force among the Palestinians, sothat if talks do get somewhere, there will be someone to talk withwho legitimately represents the Palestinians. Through intelligencein Israel, both the Mossad and the Shaback know that Arafat iswidely respected and yes, revered, in the territories, although theydo not transfer that picture to their political superiors.<strong>By</strong> mid-1986, this debate was just about over. The right waswinning. But Arafat had become too much <strong>of</strong> a public figure. TheMossad didn't have an excuse to get him. But it's still not <strong>of</strong>f theagenda. The moment it's feasible, they'll do it.Another major player at this time was Mostafa Did Khalil, knownas Abu Taan, head <strong>of</strong> the Palestinian Armed Struggle Command(PASC), Arafat's coordination group. It used to be called thePalestinian Coordination Council, but after Arafat denounced theuse <strong>of</strong> force outside Israel in 1974, many <strong>of</strong> the PLO organizationsadopted more militant, bombastic names for internal use, to avoidany suggestion they were going s<strong>of</strong>t.Another group to be kept in mind was the Arab Liberation Front(ALF) headed by Abdel Wahab Kayyale. He was assassinated inBeirut in December 1981 and replaced by Abdel Rahim Ahmad,his second-in-command.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!