# Arafat's Illness **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911 "2004-10-29T19:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/1 "2004-10-29T19:46:55Z")
So Yasser Arafat has been confined to his compound, surrounded by enemies for what, two or three years now? Suddenly he becomes gravely ill with a mysterious intestinal disorder and no doctors in Jerusalem can figure out what’s wrong with him. Did someone poison the old bastard? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/2 "2004-10-29T20:38:34Z")
I’ve heard “stomach cancer.” I’ve also been reading that “there are fears that with Arafat’s death, Palestine will descend into turmoil.” What with it being so, you know, peaceful and serene _now_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/3 "2004-10-29T21:48:30Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > So Yasser Arafat has been confined to his compound, surrounded by enemies for what, two or three years now? Suddenly he becomes gravely ill with a mysterious intestinal disorder and no doctors in Jerusalem can figure out what’s wrong with him. Correction: no doctors from Egypt and Tunis could figure out what was wrong. Doctors from Jerusalem or anywhere else in Israel were not allowed near him. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/4 "2004-10-29T22:10:07Z")
Well, he IS old after all. 🙂 He’s supposedly flying to Paris today, isn’t he? They just had to move all the junk they had put up in his compound to prevent the Israeli’s from popping in and snatching him (wasted effort IMO…if they REALLY wanted him he’d be a trophy already). -XT ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/5 "2004-10-29T22:13:06Z")
He’s in Paris. He looked awake and alert in some photos. Pity really. He’s in my dead pool. I need some more points. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/6 "2004-10-29T22:19:01Z")
It surprised me, really. Arafat flying to Paris. He had vowed he wanted to die in his compound. As a martyr. I guess that means he’s expecting to recover fully and then fly back. Maybe we get to see another pic of him, in his jammies, holding hands with a couple of pals. So cute. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/7 "2004-10-29T22:59:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Correction: no doctors from Egypt and Tunis could figure out what was wrong. Doctors from Jerusalem or anywhere else in Israel were not allowed near him. Actually, I said “in Jerusalem”, not “from Jerusalem”, but he wasn’t in Jerusalem anyway. I should have said “in Arafat’s compound”. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/8 "2004-10-30T01:03:34Z")
Clearly Arafat has been poisoned by Zionist saboteurs. ---
**Author:** ![Snaggletooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Snaggletooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snaggletooth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/9 "2004-10-30T04:46:31Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Did someone poison the old bastard? 😃 one can hope it will be slow and painful 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/10 "2004-10-30T09:09:02Z")
I mean, does this guy EVER shave?I don’t know how he manages it,but he seems to combine the facila features of a camel, goat, and a rather mangy dog, all in one. Plus, that stubbly beard! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/11 "2004-10-30T13:44:51Z")
He would be treated by a team specialized in “blood diseases”, whatever this means, in a military hospital. There are suspicions he would have leukemia, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/12 "2004-10-30T16:43:31Z")
CNN reports he is suffering from leukemia and dementia. They say he will never leave Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arafats-illness/271911/13 "2004-10-30T17:04:28Z")
Looks like CNN is backing away from that claim. They are now saying that its not leukemia. Who knows what the original source was.