Suha Arafat, widow of the late Palestinian Authority (PA), Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah leader Yasser Arafat, has said she was quoted out of context in a recent interview with a Hebrew newspaper.
"Arafat was definitely poisoned, not by Israel, but by a Palestinian," Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot quoted the widow as saying on Friday. In the interview, she was also quoted as saying that the 2000 Palestinian intifada was a "big mistake".
However, later in the day, she claimed she was quoted out of context and her words were misconstrued.
On her Instagram account, Arafat wrote that she does not accuse anyone, “not even Israel, of killing [him], because until now I don’t have evidence against anyone.”
She said that she did not want the issue of her husband’s death to be part of Palestinian “internal political battles.”
Arafat confirmed that she was recently interviewed for an Israeli documentary about her husband, and said that the Second Intifada was a mistake.
“I expressed my opinion that the Intifada was a mistake because we lost a lot and our war with them [Israel] was asymmetrical,” she wrote on her Instagram account. I’m not afraid of expressing my opinion,” she said.
Yediot Ahronot said that its lengthy interview with Arafat was a part of a promotion campaign for a documentary called Enemies.
It is worth noting that Arfat’s statements in the interview with the newspaper surprised and shocked many.
“I do not know who convinced him (Yasser Arafat) to carry out an intifada while he was in the midst of a peace process. I told him that he must stop Hamas attacks because they would eventually lead to a civil war. I explained that after the September 11 attacks nobody wants to see more explosions, and that people don’t want bloodshed,” Arafat told Yediot Ahronot.
“I told him: Hamas or not Hamas, you are committed to the peace process and you must stop the uprising,” she added.
