- Title: WEST BANK: ARAFAT FAMILY MEMBERS VISIT GRAVE IN RAMALLAH.
- Date: 16th November 2004
- Summary: (U7) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 15, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. GV/CU: VARIOUS OF GUARDS MARCHING, CLOSE OF MATCHING FEET (2 SHOTS) 0.29 2. MCU: LATE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT'S FAMILY MEMBERS AT GRAVESIDE (GRAVE NOT SEEN) 0.34 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARAFAT'S COUSIN, WHO CAME FROM EGYPT TO SITE, SAYING: "What's my feeling, well I mean he is my brother and my blood and my friend and my student and my teacher and he is our leader. I mean all put in one place, I mean this is something that is not easy to overcome and not easy to forget and we hope that God will give him paradise. Inshallah, inshallah. He has sacrificed all his life for his target, for his goal, to liberate this country which was occupied by the Israelis in 1948." 1.08 4. MV: FAMILY MEMBERS AT GRAVESIDE (GRAVE NOT SEEN) 1.18 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOHSEN ARAFAT, ARAFAT'S YOUNGER BROTHER WHO CAME TO THE WEST BANK FROM ABU DHABI, SAYING: "It's my feeling is now more than the Palestinian people. Everybody feels that this moment is very sad moment. Abu Ammar (Arafat) lived to all his people, maybe more and spent more time than me (Question: what do you think about the grave here in Ramallah?) This I think it's not the wish of Abu Ammar. He considers his first stage, we think of Jerusalem. We think that this could be in the near future (Question: Are you going to fight for taking his body to Jerusalem to be buried) We will do our best." 2.22 6. MCU: PULL OUT TO FAMILY MEMBERS 2.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st December 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVAEBNLR4S5DXL2R7SWNYEP3BJTK
- Story Text: Late President Arafat's family visits the leader's
grave.
In a rare public appearance the younger brother of
late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat visited the
national icon's grave in the West Bank city of Ramallah on
Monday (November 15, 2004) Mohsen Arafat, from Abu Dhabi,
alongside Arafat's
cousin from Egypt and various other family members, placed
flowers and shed tears at his graveside in the West Bank.
"What's my feeling, well I mean he is my brother and my
blood and my friend and my student and my teacher and he is
our leader," said Arafat's cousin. "I mean all put in one
place, this is something that is not easy to overcome and
not easy to forget."
"He has sacrificed all his life for his target, for his
goal, to liberate this country," he continued.
Arafat, the guerrilla icon turned Nobel Peace Prize
winner who ended up isolated and locked in renewed conflict
with Israel, died on Thursday (November 11).
He was buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah on
Friday (November 12), in a concrete tomb that Palestinians
hope could be moved later to Jerusalem according to
Arafat's wishes. Israel refused the request, fearing this
would give Palestinians more of a claim to East Jerusalem
which Israel annexed and regards as part of its capital in
a move never recognised internationally.
Asked if they would fight to bring Arafat's body to
Jerusalem, his younger brother Mohsen, who had travelled
from Abu Dhabi, said they would do their best.
The grand Muslim mufti of Jerusalem said that
Palestinian leaders had ordered Arafat's body placed in a
concrete box that could later be moved, and that such a
grave "is legal in Islam".
It is not clear exactly how many brother or sisters
Arafat had, although there are reports that he had as many
as eight siblings. His father is buried in Gaza, his sister died in
Egypt in August 2003 of an unknown illness, while
his brother Fathi died of terminal cancer in Egypt.
Mohsen Arafat, Arafat's younger brother who strikes a
strong physical resemblance, came to the West Bank from Abu
Dhabi. He said that he wanted to see Arafat buried in
Jerusalem. "This (current burial place) I think it's not
the wish of Abu Ammar (Arafat). He considers his first
stage, we think of Jerusalem. We think that this could be
in the near future."
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