Written by: Al-Mutawakel Taha

His keffiyeh was objectively equivalent to the map of Palestine, and his nickname was one of its names. We knew the world through his appearance, and he worked miracles that made him come forward with cosmic names, from Che Guevara to Mandela, so that his brown “station” would become a cover for every rebel’s heart and a mark of sacrifice. He was, deservedly and rightly, the father of Palestinian patriotism, and one of its contemporary revolution, whose trigger was triggered by the pioneering founders of the martyrs and the owners of shining paths.

Perhaps, due to his uniqueness, no one expected his departure! Because it survived more than certain death, and it appeared a real phoenix, giving the legend its sap, its feasibility, and its sparkling coals.

The human being, Yasser Arafat, passed away, but his resounding presence remained moonlit despite the darkness, calm despite the darkness, the oppressors and the treacherous, and a stimulant to the spirit, to continue its neighing and scatter the silver of its rivers across the country.

Metaphorically gone, he is not completely dead! But Palestine, after him, is incomplete, to the point of wounding.

In Yasser Arafat was the pure angel’s suite, and in his pocket was the market books, which made him walk on the rocks of the air, and escape the traps of relatives and the stabs of cement and carriers. And he held the banner in his hand to achieve through it the collection of shrapnel to be a solid shield in the face of burial and cancellation, and he became miraculous in his ability to strike this lightning in the ruins of the diaspora, and to bring down its clouds in the wide fire of the country. He crafted his diamond tangible legend from the scattering of superhuman endurance, foresighted awareness, and a broad, brave heart.. He was as bold as music!

Yasser Arafat; The father, the leader, the friend, who eluded death and its calamities in all the homes, gave us his hands that raise the roof of our house from Jerusalem to the return, without the ember of the dream fading in the rising dawns and school chants. And they will search for a cod in his honorable shirt, and they will pierce his lips with their suspicious wilt.

The man’s strength stems from the weakness of his partners or their deep absence, the gap in his authority in his Barmaki lining, and the officials who went too far in adopting the enemy’s opposite statements, which made them a new weight for the Palestinian back.

Yasser Arafat’s excess power is what covered the entire institution, so it was more present and shining, and this explains a lot of flotation, protrusions and chaos, as well as the fragility of those around him and their meager influence, and their going towards personal salvation, instead of searching for a working formula based on the institution and the law. They were selfish or marginal, and his strength was very similar to their weakness.

As for his enemies, they were afraid of his cunning and out of his insight.. They surrounded him as they had besieged him before, until he struck with his fist at the gates of Jerusalem, which is only a pulse away from the “Muqata’a” from which they also besieged, paralyzing all their threads, and worked to cut them and prevent their completion. The weaving, which was aimed at strangling the noose for himself or for Palestine, makes no difference!

the genius of Yasser Arafat; The kohled ram of Palestine, I see it, was able to plant the seed of the state in the land of the state, despite the validity of the other opinion.. But it is a seed that will not die, and it will drink a lot of our blood, it seems, until it grows and grows.. and shades us! Certainly, this will not be done under the slogans of the suicide bombers, or the immersion in the sea of ​​enemies, no matter how they appear, false, pure and soft. The dialogue is between equals, not between masters and slaves, or the victim and her tormentor, and the sun will not be covered by the sun of America and the occupying power.

And Yasser Arafat, who was shown by his enemies as a serious obstacle, after they imposed on us the “solution” and “the alternative,” and after they distorted our national alternative, and worked to eliminate it, and after they convinced many that our protest would scare us more, to be positive victims! They will continue to persuade us to sew our shrouds with our own hands, to change our vocabulary, our spirit, and our form, and to cut our lengths to be worthy of the coffin garments they have separated for us. The surrounding region, and they applied to the neck of the earth, and they will forget, as usual, that the people of the mighty, whose origin was the “Choice” had sprouted this man from whom cities, villages, hamlets, and sheds were cloned.

We will throw the shirts of our martyrs on the face of the day, and we will remember in our homes and ranks a man who gave his life, undiminished, to this bereaved pregnant Palestine, and then; There is nothing wrong with possible exaggeration when we say: We have a friend who is flexible and intimate to the point of chills or closeness… without a veil, and that his name is Yasser Arafat.

This man has different opinions about him, but we do not disagree with him on his positions that he insisted on, calling for the Palestinian people to be able to obtain their rights and establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

The leading man remained the symbol of choice… preserving the youth of the forests and the turning of the sweet waves, from the mountains to the ports, until the ripe prostration on the promised sand of grass, anthem and stone.

It seems ordinary, because it is the clear distance, which extends the springs in the noon of thirst.. to the flute of weddings, in the evenings of the country. You see it firmly, because it is the sword of the barricade, it cuts between the carbuncle and the wound, and it remains a bridge for young and varicose veins.

The branch of his hands handed the lover’s star, his voice the heavy dark eraser, and his insight beyond the forest marching to the castle.

Ashamed of the mountain almond. It sap mercy and feasts. You hear the murmur of his pocket whenever a meteor falls, or you find a horse at the berms of fire. The humility of the impossible dynasty, and the pardon of the desolate dove.

Tear him a lemon flower, and his smile a river dress. He is the ruler of the storm, and the planter of the branches of the oath. It blooms in the night of ginger, and rises on the foam of speech. Accidents do not shake him, and he grabs the ground with his two fingers.. He will not leave it even the watchful, or let its matter come by night or by day. The third of the two, Al-Faruq and Salah Al-Din. Portable on the right bashq. He hates sand and likenesses. Only the stars are heard. He skipped the question and became a part of every home. It is worthy of us and befits him in difficult seasons .. and we continue to love him!

A leader and a father in deed and metaphor, giving and forgiving, to the point of incapacitating his opponents, and gathering those who are attracted by their different tongues and faces. He did not learn and did not muzzle the sadder in his anger or anger, he gives the equation its balance until it is completed, as he kisses the hand of the wounded and the forehead of the bereaved or holds the young in his lap as if they were more than his steel. And because he made history and was not dust on his pages, he knew well the importance of culture, with all its components and its social meaning, which he granted all the land of pardon, and an innate freedom that made it breathe deeply, even though they included it at the bottom of the agenda, and it was, at its best, an accessory for beautification and deception!

“Khayar” was daring and reached the age of seventy-two years, with a resonant presence, and eyes that pierced the curtains and dust. Modest to the point of normal, and resilient to the point of softness, but he does not break and does not leave a drop of water except with his permission and full desire. He spent his life fighting for the cause of his people, which made him a symbol of this people’s struggle and their tumultuous and bloody march. And based on this – at least – he alone deserves appreciation, respect and gratitude, no matter how different you are with him or your visions, attitudes and assessments differ.
He believes in the people, and in the intense moment that he sees crystal clear, which is his sure victory. It does not have the fangs of the ruling sultan or the claws of the bloody ones, it accepts the other opinion, and it accommodates criticism and signs of distress and anger.

Often you do not understand him, and he seems vague, for his clarity, especially with regard to some personalities, undesirable to the masses, and who are considered close to him (it seems that trees always need fertilizer.. to grow!) simply because, he does not have to this repulsive relationship !. He gives without reckoning, and seldom gets held accountable.. What brought us into the corrupt flotation. He enters the mud, but he remains clean, and does not lower his eyes, but keeps them suspended in the sky. He clearly loves children and poets, trusts women’s abilities and presents them in his councils over men. It seems to me shy and closer to a fleshy statue that does not show signs of fatigue, burdens, or disasters that surround it on all sides. There is the neutrality of the prepared profile, but the signs of anger highlight every cell in his face and hands, and then he should be silent!

We have not yet discovered the importance of this man, his vital role, and the meaning of his presence among us. Familiarity breeds recklessness. I think this man did not sleep, as we do! It is not fear, for he is brave and is known for his courage and steadfastness of a full heart, but a person who carries on his shoulders the cause of Palestine, its sanctities, its people, and what is exposed to it, cannot enjoy a light dream or a deep sleep. The pomp of his desk and its surroundings.

In his asceticism there is pride and depth, and in his patience there is space for planets and weights, and in his chest there is a goal that flows like a spring between flint rocks. In short, he wants to pray in liberated Jerusalem, to write history that Jerusalem, which was conquered by Omar Ibn Al-Khattab and liberated by Salah al-Din – may God be pleased with them – was re-liberated by Yasser Arafat, and this is his right, and it was his right that we should help him on that, despite all that we disagree with him on , on issues, despite their importance, seem secondary to this great goal.

His opponents are often the opponents and enemies of his people, and his lovers are peoples who chant for Palestine and its sanctities. Rather, his enemies sought to insult him to announce their desire to break his thorn and humiliate him, even though they know that he will not give them his golden signature on the document of surrender, but rather will grant this signature to the agreement of sovereignty and the state with its capital in Jerusalem and the return of the refugees. And they will not find anyone but him who can sign agreements, and his Palestinian people trust him. That is why his enemies were unable to kill him and unable to swallow him.. They wanted to get rid of him because he is a serious obstacle in the way of their unjust settlement of the issue of our people, and he insists on them to obtain our legitimate rights within their reasonable and acceptable limits, and they do not want to Get rid of him because he is the only one who is able to control the Palestinians and give their consent to the agreements, so they torture and imprison him and direct their anger and insult to him, and he is a steadfast patient, aware of the difficult game that is exacerbating around him. Their conspiracy, but he refused.. so they killed him!

We saw him wearing the clothes of the teams that play, and even playing with the same ball and in the same field, and under the same conditions as the referee, but he always sought to return the ball to the other half, or to the opposing team. Perhaps he has to, because heavy international and regional reasons push him to that unpleasant stadium, and Abu Ammar knows very well that this “play” comes at a high price, his experience on his skin and soul.

The dilemma of Yasser Arafat was, historically, to find a satisfactory answer to the question of giving up Palestine that was occupied in 1948, despite all the justifications offered by those who pushed for Oslo and the “national authority”, which has merit, and it is difficult not to pay attention to it. However, the failure to find a solution to the issue of the seven million Palestinian refugees in the diaspora, the immersion in the geographical solution (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) and the failure to keep the Palestine Liberation Organization a legal and representative cover for the refugees, deepens this dilemma, and keeps the doors wide open for criticism and accusations.

Although the strength of the Palestinian objective conditions that surrounded Yasser Arafat, and infiltrated some of the policies of the leadership and the leader, in particular, Abu Ammar was more immune to being invaded or controlled by these conditions. The paradox, too, is that some of the leader’s policies have greatly affected the Palestinian community, and their manifestations have appeared, more than once, in an apparent way.

The enemies of Yasser Arafat who criticized his authority with corruption are liars, because their interest requires that the authority be corrupt. However, these enemies use this phenomenon to insult Yasser Arafat, blackmail his image and pressure it. All of the criticisms directed at Yasser Arafat target what Yasser Arafat represents nationally and symbolically, and do not target his person or the existing disadvantages that affect the Palestinian people. This does not mean that Abu Ammar is infallible, or that he was not required, as a Palestinian, to repeat and correct many of the phenomena, to be ignorant of those around him, and to sort out many overlapping lines. I do not demand the sanctification of the person of Yasser Arafat, but I oppose the gratuitous abuse of this man who was right and wrong .. But – despite all that – he is still that fighter who did not give up Jerusalem, and did not give his horse to the wind and the enemies.

Yasser Arafat is the legend of the people, who agreed that his stature could bear their burdens, obsessions and desires, so every Palestinian and Arab put something of himself in Abu Ammar, and it became the property of all the good people, who responded to them, identified with their aspirations and dreams and expressed them, and became their conscience and the chanting of their soul, And he became their star that they sought, and took his positions and words, memorized and repeated, which explains that Jamahiriya and the unparalleled turnout, to meet him and take pictures with him and put them on the walls of bragging and belonging.. and how were the scenes of his exceptional funeral!

For this, every Arab and human, feels that his “share” was trapped in this feat of giant, and that he is part of the state of his symbol, which he is proud of and brags about.. and he will remain.