Arafat remains 'powerful symbol for his people,' patriarch says

Published: 2004-12-23

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Even in death, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains a "powerful symbol for his people," said Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem. Patriarch Sabbah said Arafat represented the Palestinian people's struggle for self determination. "We remember him as a prisoner and we salute his great passion," Patriarch Sabbah said in a statement released Dec. 21, the same day the patriarch attended a ceremony in Ramallah that concluded the 40-day period of mourning after Arafat's death. "He was one with his people and he suffered like them with humility. With his strength, he succeeded in changing the humility and suffering into passion and a source of dignity and freedom for his people," he said. Because of Arafat, the world recognized the rights of the Palestinian people, although the Palestinian leader died without achieving his vision of an independent Palestinian state, Patriarch Sabbah said.

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