Massive Monument to Arafat by Abbas on Eve of Annapolis
by Hana Levi Julian
(IsraelNN.com) A massive monument to one of the most bloodthirsty Arab masterminds of terrorism against the Jewish State was inaugurated Saturday by the man in whom the Israeli government has placed its hopes for peace.
The $1.75 million complex was unveiled by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Sunday as PA Arabs prepared to mark the third anniversary of the death of Abbas's mentor, Palestine Liberation Organization founder and chairman Yasser Arafat. PA Arabs in Hamas terror-controlled Gaza will mark the day on Monday.
The tomb containing Arafat's body is surrounded by water. His body is laid over a railroad track.
The $1.75 million mausoleum, which measures 11 meters by 11 meters (120 sq. ft) was built of glass and the famed sunrise-colored Jerusalem stone. Its unveiling marks Sunday's third anniversary of his death in 2004 in a French hospital. The cause of death was never publicized, though speculation included rumors of AIDS and/or poisoning by undercover Israeli agents.
A mosque was built next to the mammoth structure, with a museum honoring Arafat – a Nobel laureate whose famed handshake with assassinated Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin won them both the Nobel Peace Prize. Arafat subsequently turned down an offer by Israel during U.S.-brokered talks at Camp David to hand over more than 90 percent of the land of Judea, Samaria and Gaza..
Because the Jewish State drew the line at Jerusalem, Arafat returned empty-handed to the Palestinian Authority, using his failure as an excuse to fuel the next round of terrorism directed at innocent Israeli citizens.
Abbas is headed for Annapolis, Maryland, to participate in a Middle East summit with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as leaders of an undetermined number of Arab states in the region, all of whom are unwilling to compromise on PA demands.
Like his terrorist predecessor, Abbas has consistently maintained he will not relinquish his demand that Israel hand over half of Jerusalem, including its holy sites, to the PA to use as the capital of a new Arab state.
"We will continue on the path of the martyred President Yasser Arafat to be reburied in Jerusalem which he loved…Jerusalem, which he tried to make and which all our people are trying to make the capital of the Palestinian state," said Abbas at the unveiling ceremony.
The head of the Palestinian Economic Council for Economic Development and Reconstruction which built the site, Mohammed Ishtayeh, said mosque featured a laser light pointing at Jerusalem, a few miles away. The railway tracks under Arafat's body signify the temporary nature of his grave, which PA Arabs plan to eventually re-inter in Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest city.
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