Chief PA official: Arafat not in a coma

Arafat deputy and chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat spoke with WorldNetDaily about Yasser Arafat’s current condition and the future of the Palestinian Authority. Erekat spoke from Ramallah, where he has been in continuous meetings to deal with the present situation.

WND: What is the current state of Arafat’s health. There are plenty of news reports claiming that he’s in a coma.

Erekat: I spoke to his doctor about five minutes ago, and he told me the following – all that is being said about Arafat being unconscious, being sustained by machines, that his situation is deteriorated rapidly, these things are all unfounded and completely untrue. The president’s situation is not deteriorating. Of course, it’s not a good situation, but it’s not getting worse. He is not in a coma.

WND: So you’re telling me he’s conscious and able to speak?

Erekat: Yes. I also spoke with his wife Suha a few minutes ago. She is with him in his room now. And Arafat is not unconscious. She said that yesterday when [French President Jacques] Chirac came to visit him, Arafat shook his hand.

WND: Any word on his diagnosis? It’s been a week of hospitalization and testing, you must know something by now.

Erekat: I’m not going to speculate on that, it is up to French doctors to diagnose Arafat. Most tests they ran – they ran a CT and biopsies, they say the tests are coming back OK. I’m personally not a specialist, so I can’t tell you what he has. But I know the situation is absolutely not deteriorating, and rumors about him being clinically dead are unfounded.

WND: Who is with Arafat right now?

Erekat: Right now, in the hospital room with him and right outside are his wife, his chief of staff Ramzi Khoury, his nephew, and his doctor.

WND: You say Ramzi Khoury is with him. The AP claims Khoury called one of their reporters a few hours ago and said, “I am standing next to the president’s bed, he is in grave condition.” Is this a false quote then?

Erekat: Well, the information isn’t accurate. I can’t take responsibility for the quotes of every Palestinian official.

WND: Based on all the information you have, do you personally think Arafat will leave the hospital, or is he there for good?

Erekat: The point of Arafat entering the hospital was to get well and come home. And I believe Arafat will get well and be coming back to Ramallah.

WND: If Arafat dies, what effect will it have on the Palestinians? On the region?

Erekat: Well, look, as far as the Palestinians are concerned, we’re not idiots who will not exist without Arafat. We’ve reached a 97 percent literacy rate, as we announced last week. We have institutions, basic law, we will have presidential elections. So we will get by.

As far as Israel and Sharon, I don’t know how Sharon will survive without Arafat. He made Arafat into a terrorist and used that as an excuse for every one of his policies. I can tell you Sharon doesn’t want to dismantle the settlements. He doesn’t want to withdraw from Gaza. He doesn’t want to end the occupation. Sharon will use anything about Arafat’s new situation as an excuse to escalate the conflict. He had to hide behind Arafat to get elected, so if anything happens to Arafat, who will he hide behind next?

WND: Israel beefed up its security, anticipating possible violence if Arafat dies. What precautions are you taking to deal with any violence?

Erekat: Our security people are handling all matters as they come in. But I hope the Israeli government will not use these new circumstances for escalation of the conflict. I hope they learn one day they can’t talk to us with bullets and F16s.

WND: WorldNetDaily spoke earlier with [chief Sharon spokesperson] Raanan Gissin, and he told us if Arafat dies, he hopes the PA will go in a new direction. That the era of Arafat will be over. New leaders will emerge who will not use terror as a weapon, but will seek the path to peace. Is this going to happen?

Erekat: You think we are such bad neighbors for Israel? Yesterday, when it was announced wrongly the president died, there were Israelis dancing in the streets! It was disgusting to see Israelis dancing in the street because they thought Arafat died! Israel is the country that needs to go in a new direction.

WND: How can you say that when we have an enormous amount of footage of Palestinians dancing in the streets after Israelis are killed in terrorist attacks. Of Palestinians joyously handing out candy when they learned of the September 11th attacks?

Erekat: Yes, and that was very heartbreaking. We never condoned such things. I condemned every single suicide bombing. But with the Israelis, you never see them condemning immorality such as yesterday’s dancing. This is not Judaism. This is not Jewish values.

WND: What will be the structure of the PA after Arafat’s demise?

Erekat: We are holding meetings every few hours to assess the situation. In fact, I am in one right now. Arafat will not die, so we’re not talking about that. We are holding meetings just to continue the daily running of the Palestinian Authority. We are now handling all administrative matters while the president gets better.

WND: Who will control Arafat’s money after his departure? There has been a lot of speculation it can go to fund the continuation of the intifadah?

Erekat: That is not a question I can answer. Only Arafat knows what he wants to do with money. But these stories about Arafat paying for terrorism, they are lies and Israeli propaganda. This is the way Sharon gets American support, by making up these crazy lies.