How often has the sky seen the coffin of a General be accompanied by 40 heads of states? How often have you seen a death being commemorated around the world? How often have you seen a funeral of a leader being completely taken over by the ordinary masses from the authorities and organizers? And how often have you seen a stateless hostage imprinting his significance and relevance throughout the region after being declared irrelevant by the Caesars and Czars of Washington and Israel.
His departure from Ramallah was the departure of a popular leader. The state ceremony on his departure from Paris was the departure befitting a revolutionary. His funeral in Cairo was the funeral of the biggest leader of the region. And his burial in Ramallah was the burial of a freedom fighter, peoples' leader (US needs democracy in the Middle East yet they were not willing to talk to the most popular leader of Palestine). In the words of an Indian columnist – The icon is dead but the legend lives on.
Arafat’s life has been a life of a fighter. He picked up the Palestinian cause from the abyss of ignorance and turned it into the topmost item on international agenda. He raised voice for a nation without a state scattered in the refugee camps all around the Arab World and left it with a semi-state under the banner of Palestinian Authority and the whole World agreeing to the existance of a free Palestinian state. No one ever considered Palestinians to be a nation before he raised voice for their cause. To get a homeland for a nation gives you immortality but giving the sense of nationhood to group of humans scattered in 6 different countries is even bigger an achievement and he will be remembered in history for this mammoth achievement.
He was being criticized by Americans for missing the opportunity to peace by refusing a settlement, compromising the status of Jerusalem and return of refuges. On the other hand, he has been criticized by radical Islamists for compromising the Palestinian cause. If one looks at both the criticisms, only one could be true. And the fact that Israelis refused to talk to him after his refusal to compromise on the abovementioned issues is a good enough indicator to truth.
Last but not the least, though his death was mourned all around the world by people who support the cause of freedom and human rights, the silence of the religious circles of Pakistan on his death is shameful to say the least. Not even a single Namaz-e-Janaza was offered for the man who undoubtedly was the biggest warrior for the fight of third holiest place of Islam. After years of struggle, exiles, encounters with death, and house arrests for the cause of Palestine and AlQuds, did Arafat still need a certificate of belief from these mullahs? It’s a food for thought for all Muslims.
His departure from Ramallah was the departure of a popular leader. The state ceremony on his departure from Paris was the departure befitting a revolutionary. His funeral in Cairo was the funeral of the biggest leader of the region. And his burial in Ramallah was the burial of a freedom fighter, peoples' leader (US needs democracy in the Middle East yet they were not willing to talk to the most popular leader of Palestine). In the words of an Indian columnist – The icon is dead but the legend lives on.
Arafat’s life has been a life of a fighter. He picked up the Palestinian cause from the abyss of ignorance and turned it into the topmost item on international agenda. He raised voice for a nation without a state scattered in the refugee camps all around the Arab World and left it with a semi-state under the banner of Palestinian Authority and the whole World agreeing to the existance of a free Palestinian state. No one ever considered Palestinians to be a nation before he raised voice for their cause. To get a homeland for a nation gives you immortality but giving the sense of nationhood to group of humans scattered in 6 different countries is even bigger an achievement and he will be remembered in history for this mammoth achievement.
He was being criticized by Americans for missing the opportunity to peace by refusing a settlement, compromising the status of Jerusalem and return of refuges. On the other hand, he has been criticized by radical Islamists for compromising the Palestinian cause. If one looks at both the criticisms, only one could be true. And the fact that Israelis refused to talk to him after his refusal to compromise on the abovementioned issues is a good enough indicator to truth.
Last but not the least, though his death was mourned all around the world by people who support the cause of freedom and human rights, the silence of the religious circles of Pakistan on his death is shameful to say the least. Not even a single Namaz-e-Janaza was offered for the man who undoubtedly was the biggest warrior for the fight of third holiest place of Islam. After years of struggle, exiles, encounters with death, and house arrests for the cause of Palestine and AlQuds, did Arafat still need a certificate of belief from these mullahs? It’s a food for thought for all Muslims.
Comments
It shows how Arafat went from being a freedom fighter to a man who surrendered to Israeli pressure by signing the Oslo Accords, which won his nation nothing.