Yasser Arafat Did Not Donate Blood to 9/11 Victims
Photo: Ahmed Jadallah, ReutersRemember the day after 9/11? No, not the Palestinians dancing in the streets; but this:
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today donated blood for the victims of the US terror attacks and condemned ‘‘this horrible attack.’’Well, now it appears it was all a staged propaganda hoax. Noah Pollack at Commentary Magazine reports:
‘‘We are donating our humble abilities to President Bush and to the American people,’’ Arafat said at Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Arafat, one of hundreds of Palestinians who participated in the blood drive, smiled as doctors drew blood from his right arm.
As he came out of the hospital, about 200 Palestinians started chanting, ‘‘We are ready to give our soul and blood for you.’’
Asked if he had a message for the American people, Arafat said, ‘‘God bless you, God Bless you, God bless you.’’
Joel Pollak (no relation) reports on his blog that Charles Enderlin, the France 2 television reporter implicated in the Mohammed al-Dura fabrication, admitted at a talk at Harvard last night that the famous scenes of Yasser Arafat donating blood after the 9/11 attacks were, like the footage of the IDF killing al-Dura, staged:
Enderlin said the event had been staged for the media to counteract the embarrassing television images of Palestinians celebrating in the streets after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
The blood donation story made headlines around the world. It was reported by esteemed news agencies like the BBC, and photographs of Arafat lying with an outstretched arm ran on many front pages. But the whole scene was staged, Enderlin said. Arafat didn’t like needles, and so the doctor put a needle near his arm and agitated a bag of blood. The reporters took the requisite photographs.
Arafat, it’s worth noting, died in 2005 of AIDS, and it is thus a good thing that he didn’t actually donate blood. Is it possible that the reputation of the international press corps in Israel, especially its European members, could get any worse?
Color me unamazed.
Hat tip: Michael Totten
Also blogging:
NewsBusters
Labels: 9/11, Fauxtography, Palestine, Yasser Arafat
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 1/21/2008 12:02:00 PM
8 Comments:
it is stories like this that shows just how contemptuous the msm is of their readers. and they expect us to trust them in regards to the news?
And on the other hand, are you shocked in any way? Arafat wouldn't have given anything away, much less his own blood, to anyone. He had millions and millions stashed away in offshore banks, and France.
BZ
I heard that did try and give blood but he had HIV and couldn't give any. That was a story that floated around for a while during that time. Later while Arafat was dying in Paris that story came up again.
Are you friggen serious?
Arafat had AIDS?
Where the hell did his blood go if he indeed donated some?
I had a blood tranfusion in 2005!
WTF???
Is this just something else for me to be paranoid about?
Jesus Christ!!
marie and jennifer, according to what I linked, apparently he didn't donate. It was just a propaganda scheme to counter the embarrassment of having Palestinians dancing in the streets, celebrating the WTC and Pentagon attacks.
But no one really knows for sure, I don't think.
Philly Steve provided some links in FA cross-post to differing accounts of what Arafat died of. No one really knows.
Don't worry Marie if you had gotten any blood that came from Arafat you'd know it by now. Have the Italian restaurants in your area been complaining that their table cloths are missing? Symptoms
Hmmmm....I don't even remember Arafat's claim to donating blood.
Did the story get much coverage at the time?
ahhhh if he did donate blood i can name the persons who would deserve it, his suicidal bomber friends.
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