Arafat's Uniform For Sale: No Takers

The legacy of the late Yasser Arafat has taken a beating this week. First, came news that Arafat's uniform, looted from his mansion during the takeover of Gaza by Islamic militants Hamas, was now on sale –for a mere $20. And still there were no takers. So very low has the Palestinian chief's reputation tumbled in his hometown of Gaza, largely because of the thuggish behavior of Arafat's cronies.

I wonder what price TV's ‘Antique Road Show' would slap on Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal, also stolen by looters in Gaza?

Not much, unless some irate Palestinian, and there are many disilllusioned with the late Chairman's accord with Israel, would want to use the Peace Medal for target practice.

But there was worse news for Arafat's legacy, involving his widow Suha. On 14th Aug. she was stripped of her Tunisian citizenship. Born in Jerusalem to a wealthy Christian family, Suha became a naturalized Tunisian. She served as Arafat's personal secretary and then secretly married him in 1990. Suha has a daughter, Zahwa, now 12.

The Tunisians gave no explanation why Arafat's widow lost her citizenship, but rumors were rife in the Arab press: one London-based daily claimed that Suha, 44, was booted out after the Tunisian president discovered she was having an affair with his brother-in-law. Other reports claimed that Arafat's wealthy widow was forced to leave Tunisia after a business deal went awry. From her new home in Malta, Suha told reporters that she had simply decided to leave Tunisia of her own accord, for “commercial purposes”.

The widow is unlikely to turn homewards. She is no friend of the current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who supposedly resented the influence she held over Arafat, 34 years older than his brassy, dyed-blonde bride. Insiders say that during the height of the peace negotiations between Arafat, the Israelis and the Clinton Administration, Abbas refused to fly to Washington with the Palestinian delegation unless Suha was removed from the plane. Arafat complied, but insiders say the rift between Suha and Arafat's successor was never mended after that.

Nor did it help Suha's standing among Palestinians that while they suffered from poverty in fetid refugee camps under Israeli army occupation, she was often photographed waltzing around ritzy Parisian fashion houses.

In the coffee shops of Ramallah and Gaza, over a puff on the nargila hubble-bubble, Palestinians like to indulge in idle talk about the two great mysteries surrounding their late leader: was he indeed poisoned, as his personal physician claims? And what has happened to his missing millions? His widow Suha may hold the key to both secrets. For now, she isn't talking.

--by Tim McGirk/Jerusalem