buried their stateless leader Yasser Arafat during a chaotic ceremony with gunfire reverberating throughout the West Bank town.
"There is no doubt that with the death of Yasser Arafat an era has ended … for good or bad," explained Israeli Opposition Leader Shimon Peres as he reflected on a day of mourning for Palestinians.
Arafat’s body arrived in Ramallah from his alleged birthplace Cairo, Egypt, where dignitaries from dozens of countries attended a more, orderly, military style funeral service as authorities sealed off main streets to the public amid apparent security concerns. His remains came from France where the 75 year old leader died Thursday, November 11, from yet to be determined ailments in a military hospital.
The New York Times newspaper described the ceremony in Cairo as a "brief, somber choreography of most Muslim funerals, a few moments of prayer followed by a gathering of mourners in a large tent, then a march behind the coffin, draped in a Palestinian flag and resting on a caisson drawn by six black horses."
Grand Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi Azhar gave the opening prayer at Cairo’s al-Jalaal mosque, starting the official funeral ceremony. "Arafat served his people all his life until he faced his God with courage and honesty," Azhar said. "May his soul rest in peace."
ARAFAT’S WIDOW
Arafat’s widow, Suha, and his 9-year-old daughter, Zahwa, were among the crowd of dignitaries looking on as, following the ceremony, the coffin was placed on an Egyptian military cargo plane at an air base before being flown to the West Bank.
Later, near his specially prepared grave site in what was his headquarters in Ramallah, however, there were more chaotic scenes with helicopters struggling to land as a huge crowd overwhelmed the outnumbered and ill prepared Palestinian security forces.
Thousands of people climbed over walls and fences and pushed their way toward one of the two helicopters that carried Arafat’s coffin. The situation seemed out of control when Palestinian police began shooting in the air in a seemingly desperate move to push back the crowd.
MASKED MEN
Nearby, masked men of what is now known as the Yasser Arafat Brigade waved their weapons among people crying for the man they saw as "the father of Palestinians."
After about half an hour guards tried to carry the coffin of Arafat, draped in the Palestinian flag, towards the gravesite, an apparent dangerous and difficult undertaking as Palestinians tried to touch it with some even climbing on the coffin, including security forces.
As the coffin was carried, an emotional crowd chanted in Arabic, "With our blood and our soul we will redeem you Yasser Arafat!"
BATTERED COMPOUND
The Palestinian leader’s body was eventually lowered into the ground at his battered compound known as the Muqata, where he had lived for over three years, besieged by Israeli forces.
Afterward, Muslim clerics read Koranic verses and Arafat’s bodyguards wept and embraced each other. Stretchers reportedly carried away two people who were trampled in the melee.
In nearby Jerusalem, Israeli commentators said the chaos and many gun shots underscored the problems left behind by Arafat, who at Camp David in 2000, walked away from what U.S. negotiators called "the best deal he could ever get": a Palestinian state with its capital in a shared Jerusalem.
TERROR LINKS
"I hated him for the deaths of Israelis … I hated him for not allowing the peace process … to move forward. It is one of the tragedies of the world that he didn’t understand that the terror that began here would spread to the entire world," added Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid.
"The biggest mistake of Arafat was when he turned to terror. His greatest achievements were when he tried to build peace, " said the more moderate Peres. Palestinian Christians however stressed they view Israel, not Arafat, as the problem.
"Arafat loved and cared for the Palestinian people," said Bishara Awad, president of Bethlehem Bible College (BBC) in an interview with Christianity Today magazine.
"PEACE AND JUSTICE"
He described Arafat as someone who was "sincere about trying to work for peace and justice for his people, for the liberation of the Palestinian territory."
"He has been on the scene since 1965 as a leader of the Palestinians—first the PLO and then of the Palestinian Authority after 1993 and the Oslo agreement. The Palestinians have not known any other leader."
Alex Awad, brother of Bishara and pastor of Peace Jerusalem Baptist Church cautioned that "the Christian community particularly will regret the departure of Arafat because he was very, very much at peace and also in solidarity with the Christian community in the Holy Land."
"EXTREMELY DIFFICULT"
He told Christianity Today that many of his advisors were Christians. In Bethlehem, which Christians say was Jesus’ birthplace, Israel has made life "extremely difficult", critics claim. "We have the [security] wall around us," Bishara Awad was quoted as saying. "We are people in a jail." On the other hand, Arafat "has been protecting the Christian church and the defender of the church."
Christian organizations in Jerusalem, such as the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) disagree. In statements the ICEJ, which defends Israel’s right to exist exist, said people have been "deceived into thinking Arafat and the Muslim-dominated [Palestinian Authority] will be a principled and trustworthy guardian of Jewish or Christian shrines and places of worship in the Holy Land."
"Their record so far in Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus is deplorable." Yet several large umbrella organizations of churches have expressed their sadness of Arafat’s death.
LUTHERANS UPSET
The Lutheran World Federation based in Geneva, Switzerland, said Arafat was a strong supporter of the religious rights and freedoms of Palestinian Christians and "always attentive to their place and importance in the Holy Land," BosNewsLife monitored.
Earlier the World Council of Churches, which also attended Arafat’s funeral in Ramallah, made similar comments and condemned Israel for its "occupation" of Palestinian territories.
Christians, Jews and Muslim leaders made clear however that Arafat’s death may force Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the United States to restart stalled peace talks. Sharon and Washington had said that Arafat was no longer a partner and that the peace process could only move forward under a new leadership. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has already said Arafat’s death could be a "turning point" for the Middle East, if the new Palestinian leadership were to "wage a war on terror."
