3 ms·
I think a lot of people may agree that "of course he was killed," but it is particularly interesting because of the poison used (polonium-210) which has only be
by jdmitch 13y ago
I think a lot of people may agree that "of course he was killed," but it is particularly interesting because of the poison used (polonium-210) which has only been confirmed in one other poisoning case, that of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian dissident.
Secondly, it is of interest because Arafat's movements and those he had contact with were very limited around the time that he fell ill, so it raises interesting questions about who could have done it.
Hopefully this won't have a negative impact on ongoing peace negotiations.
- mcantelon 13y agoThe IDF had him more or less confined to a small area, IIRC.
- rooshdi 13y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukataa#Arafat.27s_compound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukataa#Arafat.27s_compound
- eli 13y agoHere's a really interesting long form article on Litvinenko's death and the mechanics of how poisoning via Polonium works: https://www.readmatter.com/a/bad-blood-the-life-and-death-of-alexander-litvinenko/ https://www.readmatter.com/a/bad-blood-the-life-and-death-of... The substance has a very short half life, which suggests only people with access to a nuclear reactor could have created it.
- gadders 13y agoThanks for that link. Awesome article.
- eli 13y agoThanks! I'm actually sort of addicted to long-form journalism. Here's a list of some of my favorites: http://esd.io/worthreading/ http://esd.io/worthreading/
- mikk0j 13y agoAwesome list, thanks! There's worse things to be addicted to...
- jmpe 13y agoYou might want to check out Adam Curtis, if you don't know him yet. Start with "all watched over by machines of loving grace". It's a series available for download on archive.org.
- KenyaDonDraper 13y agoI love your list. Here are my favorite. If you like them add to your list. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/28/060828fa_fact2?currentPage=all http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/28/060828fa_fact2?c... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/magazine/the-professor-the-bikini-model-and-the-suitcase-full-of-trouble.html?_r=1& http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/magazine/the-professor-the...
- moioci 13y agoIf I'm reading correctly, the half-life is 138 days, or 4-1/2 months. If you start with 5 times the lethal dose (still a very small quantity), you've got a year to administer it.
- lostlogin 13y agoPeace negotiations? Those are a joke. A new settlement is announced and a Palistinian community in Jerusalem is scheduled for demolition. I'm unaware of such extreme provocation from the Palistinian side, but I'm sure it is there. Peace isn't wanted anywhere near enough by anything like enough people.
- zmoreira 13y agoAlexander Litvinenko was no dissident, just a gun for hire.