Arafat memorial service draws diverse attendants

To commemorate the life of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, numerous Muslim and Arab groups on campus sponsored a memorial service in the Ben Franklin Room of Houston Hall last night.

Though the ceremony was brief, the 45-minute service was packed with passionate poems and assorted anecdotes from the course of Arafat's life.

College junior Nathan Piper, one of approximately 30 attendees, commented not only on the diversity of ethnicities present, but also on the diversity of beliefs among the crowd.

"Not everyone here definitely agrees with what Arafat said," Piper noted. "But, over his 40 years of hard work, he has become a big symbol of the Palestinian movement and their struggle for freedom."

Arafat's symbolic importance was also noted by College junior and Free Palestine Action Network member Ahmed Moor.

As a native Palestinian, Moor said he felt a sense of personal loss after Arafat's death. During the eulogy, Moor said, "When I was 9 or 10, I asked my mom who the president of Palestine was before Arafat. She replied, 'Before Arafat, there was no Palestine.'"

Moor also spoke of the importance of commemorating Arafat within the University community, noting that it was an opportunity to display the leader in a different light.

"Ultimately, Arafat made mistakes, but then all leaders do," Moor said. "Arafat dedicated more of his life to the Palestinian people and our struggle than anybody ever has. If it was not for his efforts, nobody would have ever talked of a peace plan, much less accused him of disrupting it."

Not every Penn student agreed, however, with this evaluation of Arafat.

Israel activist and College senior Alexander Chester, who did not attend the ceremony, said that Arafat's removal from the region provides an opportunity for moderate Palestinian leadership to emerge. This would allow American and Israeli officials who rejected Arafat's leadership a chance to start fresh with new Palestinian leaders.

According to professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Heather Sharkey, "Arafat ... functioned as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, which enabled him to win the respect, sometimes grudging, of many Palestinians, including those whose sympathies were outside the [Palestine Liberation Organization] sphere. It will be interesting to see how historians -- including Palestinians, Israelis and others -- interpret his legacy in future years."

The service consisted of a eulogy, followed by a moment of silence, and concluded with the reading of three poems and a prayer from the Quran.

"Arafat embodies a cause that is sensitive and important to Muslims worldwide. Our sympathies, prayers and thoughts are with him," College junior and member of the Muslim Students Association Amir Memon said.

Many of those attending wore kaffiyehs, the traditional black-and-white scarf that Arafat managed to associate very strongly with the Palestinian movement.

The event was sponsored by the Muslim Law Students Association, the Arab Law Students Society, the Penn Arab Student Society and the FPAN.

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