Jihad: Israel responsible for Arafats death

11/11/2004 5:00:00 PM GMT

The leader of Jihad movement accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday of plotting to get rid of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Khaled al Batesh told UPI that Arafat's sudden illness was not due to natural causes, and that "Sharon had a hand in killing Arafat."

Al Batesh said that during Sharon's last visit to the U.S., he told U.S. President George W. Bush, "We will help God to get rid of him."

"The siege imposed on him (Arafat) is one of the reasons for the deterioration of his health," Batesh said.

Senior Jihad leader in Gaza, Nafez Azzam, told reporters that Jihad’s members were expressing their sorrow for the death of the veteran Palestinian leader who devoted his life serving the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli illegal occupation.

"We don't feel pessimistic on this particular day, in spite of the great grief and sadness.

What is happening in Palestine urges us to keep carrying the flag of the armed resistance and keep confronting the occupation," Azzam said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian embassy in New Delhi accused Israeli of ha

stening Arafat’s death, and said that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died, but his struggle for freedom will not die.

"Why do we need permission from Israel to move around? Why do we need Israel's permission to take Arafat to the hospital? Why should Israel tell us where to bury our leader? Arafat died because he was attended to 15 days late. It was because Israel wouldn't allow it," said Osama Musa, the Palestinian Ambassador to India.

"Arafat loved India, mostly because Indians could understand our situation, our struggle. As even India was under forced occupation by the British for 200 years. Indians too were beaten up," Musa said. "The Indian freedom struggle inspired Arafat."

"No, we will not appreciate it if Israel stops beating us up to assert their supremacy. Israel is guilty and will always be guilty. You can't clap for those that stop beating you up, for they shouldn't be beating you in the first place. That's what we believe. It's what our leader taught us," he said.

"Arafat's thinking, his teachings, his struggle for freedom will always be alive," said Musa. "We will continue to fight for what he dreamt of - our freedom from Israel."

Musa said even though Arafat, 75, who led the Palestinians for four decades was not with them anymore, "we would not let it affect our unity in our struggle for freedom."

"He brought us together. Before him, we were just refugees. He began the freedom movement for us, and we will continue to do what he taught us with even greater determination now," the Palestinian envoy said. "After all, we have to put soil on his grave."

"Arafat taught us that we aren't fighting Israel, we are fighting the tanks that have been forced into our bedrooms. We are fighting the occupants," Musa said.

On the other hand, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Hatem Abed al-Kader accused Israel on Thursday of being responsible for Arafat's death.

Israel confined Arafat in his Ramallah headquarters for more than three years, which had its negative impact on the Palestinian leader’s health.