Suha Arafat, first lady of Palestine, just can’t get no respect — from the Israelis, the Americans, her mom — and now, reportedly, even from her own husband.
Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat was “furious” with his wife over her infamous speech in Ramallah this month, Time magazine reports in its issue on stands today.
In the speech, Mrs. Arafat accused Israel of using “poisonous gas” against Palestinians and contaminating their water supply — charges hotly denied by Israel.
The speech dunked the blond-tressed, fashionably dressed Mrs. Arafat in hot water all over the globe. It was instantly disavowed by Arafat’s office, and criticized by Americans and Europeans.
“He didn’t appreciate having to defend her,” Time quoted a source saying.
But friends of Mrs. Arafat theorized her disastrous diatribe against Israel was her way of getting attention from her husband, Time reports.
In interviews, the 36-year-old Mrs. Arafat has complained her 70-year-old husband spends too little time with her and their 4-year-old daughter, Zahwa, and that the couple sleeps on separate floors in their seaside apartment in Gaza City.