The Israeli government has long argued that Yassir Arafat is not merely failing to uproot terror groups — he’s actively supporting them.
Some new evidence emerged yesterday (via Ha’aretz):
A confession by a member of Fatah’s armed branch in Nablus has shed new light on the extent of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s involvement in terror. The terror suspect told Shin Bet security service interrogators that money he received from Arafat was used to purchase weapons and to carry out shooting attacks in the West Bank.
Raaf Mansur, from the Nablus area, was detained by Israel Defense Forces soldiers last February. Mansur headed a wing of Fatah’s military branch, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. His cell was responsible for attacks in the Nablus and Jenin areas.
Letters confiscated by Israeli security forces from Mansur’s home included pleas sent to Arafat for money to fund armed activities. Mansur told interrogators that his appeals to Arafat resulted in a monthly NIS [new Israeli shekels] 7,500 [about $1,650] payment to him. The allocations continued up to the time of Mansur’s arrest.
For more on what Israel has on Arafat, which is almost never reported in the western press, see this article from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and the HonestReporting communique The Fatah-Al Aqsa Brigades.
