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Saluting Abu Ammar
i salute him for his love of his land and people
November 12, 2004
iranian.com
long time ago when i was probably ten or eleven, when i had
just begun to actually hear things on TV and pay attention to them, i saw a
man in a military uniform
with a big smile and a "chapyeh" wrapped on his head. the tv announcer
said something to this effect: "Yasser Arafat, rahbar-e terrorist-haaye
Felestin..." (Yasser Arafat, leader of terrorists in Palestine)
i paused and thought about that word . i asked my mother about
who he was and what a terrorist
was? she told me a little bit about Palestine and the occupation of it by
Israel. then she told me that i was too young to understand what terrorism
was. she just
added that he
wasn't one!
when i was fourteen i started reading
about Palestine and its leader Arafat -- "Abu Ammar" -- who was visited
Iran after the revolution.
an analysis of his career is best left to political scientists. but i have
always been interested in the Palestinian struggle for independence. i am also
an absolute
believer in non violent approaches to world problems. it
is of great importance to me to remember him as a leader who lived for the
independence of his people in the face of difficulties.
he was not a perfect leader, then again, who is? he didn't take advantage
of all the opportunities he had to bring more sense to the issues facing the
Palestinian struggle. but again i don't know of any world leader who hasn't
failed at that task. unlike Fidel Castro, Arafat took more steps from his
past and towards the future. in the peace process, he called Israeli Prime
Minister Yitshak Rabin "my
brother",
a giant step which was very costly for Arafat's reputation.
he
also
fought Sharon and didn't bow.
i believe he wanted a more liberal approach to the peace process than he
actually talked about. after all he was Abu Ammar and could only do so much
and go so far. he belonged to a sense of nostalgia that a lot of us still have
and need to revisit.
 i am not sure how much of a burden he had become for the new generation
of Palestinian leaders. perhaps his role as a leader was long over. i am
sure one can fault his strategies and decision making on many different occasions.
however, i salute him for his love of his land and people, i salute him for
a life he spent fighting injustice, i salute him for the sacrifices he
made in his personal life...
i think the lesson that needs to be learned from his life and role as a leader
is to be strong in the face of difficulties, believe in the greater interest
of the people, know where you stand in the history of your people's struggle,
and perhaps more importantly, know when to step aside.
i think one of the brightest moments of the Palestinian struggle for justice,
belongs to Abu Ammar and what he represented.
in the name of justice and peace; may his soul rest in peace.
.................... Say
goodbye to spam!
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