I don’t wish to offend readers other than perhaps those of the parties of my headline, but I have to say that it, the headline, was the first thought that came into my mind when I learned from the BBC that, according to leaks to the French media, a team of French scientists do not believe Arafat was poisoned and that he died of a “generalized infection”.

And I have to ask, if he really did die of a generalized infection, why the hell did the doctors at the French military hospital fail to detect it before he died?

Also, why the hell did it take so long, years, for French scientists to come to their conclusion, and, more to the point, why was it leaked only after other and much respected expert investigation indicated there was as high probability that Arafat was poisoned with polonium?

My guess is that the order for the generalized infection story to be fabricated and then leaked came from the office of French President Hollande, (an office in which the Zionist lobby has considerable influence); and the following sequence of events is a possible explanation of why.

• Hollande was preparing to visit Israel, so to give himself maximum credibility when he is there, he plays the Netanyahu Iran threat card and blocks the first attempt at a P5+1 interim agreement with Iran.
• On his return to France, and deciding that he really should not offend President Obama too much, Hollande unblocks and says okay to the P5+I interim agreement.
• Then he gets a message from Netanyahu to the effect: “What the hell are you doing? I thought you were backing my line to the hilt!”
• Hollande then says to himself, and perhaps one or two of his advisers, “What can I do to appease Netanyahu’s anger at my game play?”
• Answer: “Kill this story that Arafat was very probably poisoned with polonium provided by Israel and administered by one of its Fat'h leadership collaborators.”

Could I be right? I’m not insisting, only asking.