Challenger

On Nov. 11, 3:30 a.m. Paris time, Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, was announced dead. For the past month, the failing health of Arafat has been a major issue around the world. Arafat, 75, was currently in a deep comatose stage, originally induced by doctors, and was being kept alive by machines. Leila Shahid, the Palestine Liberation Organization representative in Paris, denied reports that the leader is brain dead.

One of the main controversies surrounding this development is where to bury Arafat. The family of Arafat has always wanted him to be buried in Jerusalem, however, Israeli officials have said they would not allow it. Muslim custom requires burial within twenty-four hours of death. Because of this, it was rumored that no one will declare Arafat dead until they found a suitable burial site. Israel will permit a burial in the Gaza Strip, but want to keep Arafat out of Jerusalem where, according to Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid “Jewish kings are buried, not Arab terrorists.” A burial in the Holy City would be seen as strengthening Palestinian claims to the traditionally Arab sector of the city. After his death, Arafat was flown to Egypt where it was decided to hold his funeral.

Although Israel has sought to keep a low profile during the time of Arafat’s failing health, the military is on high alert and Palestinian forces are making plans to keep terrorists calm.

Arafat’s wife Suha has been furiously trying to gain more power. Her accusations that Arafat’s top aides of conspiring to “bury her husband alive” were all too public. Never being popular, Mrs. Arafat is under investigation by authorities for alleged illegal transfers of over $10 million into her account. Many Palestinians claim that Suha is just another person wanting power. When the violence erupted in 2000, she fled to Paris with her young daughter, only returning to the West Bank after Arafat fell ill.

Though Arafat has caused much strife in the Middle East, his people have been mourning since he bid them farewell on his way to Paris. Many fear that, without their strong leader, the Palestinians will be thrown into a possible whirlwind of confusion, chaos, and power struggles, questioning who will become their new leader, and if they will be able to complete Arafat’s dream of making an independent Palestinian state.

In other news, the recent surfacing of Osama bin Laden’s new video on October 29th has caused a ripple of panic for American Homeland officials. It was the first new video of bin Laden since September 10, 2003. It is the first time he has taken responsibility for the September 11th attacks. With this new tape, bin Laden warns America to leave the Middle East alone. “Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked,” bin Laden said in the video and Cnn.com
U.S. intelligence analysts believe the message was authentic and had been produced recently. Bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are, are believed to be alive and hiding in the mountains spanning the Afghan-Pakistan border. However, there has been no hard evidence of their whereabouts for 3 years.