The family burial plot of the al-Kidwas, Yasser Arafat's paternal family, in Khan Yunis, may be the compromise site for the chairman's internment. The Palestinians want Arafat buried in Jerusalem, in one of the grave sites in the Temple Mount, the Haram al-Sharif. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Akrameh Sabri, said late last week that Arafat wanted to be buried there, and that all Palestinians are united in the opinion that this is where he deserves to be buried.
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But Justice Minister Yosef Lapid put Israel's position bluntly at the end of last week when he said that Jerusalem is where the kings of Israel are buried, not terrorists.
Palestinian commentators have raised the possibility of Arafat's being buried in Abu Dis, at a spot overlooking the Temple Mount, or in Ramallah, or perhaps in a neighboring Arab country. The problem of burial in the territories is how to ensure the safety of the many guests, including heads of state, who will attend.
From a Palestinian standpoint, burying Arafat's anywhere outside Jerusalem is an insult to his national prestige. But burial in Khan Yunis may be more acceptable than elsewhere because it is in keeping with Islamic tradition regarding burial in a family plot. Arafat's father, Abdel-Raouf Arafat al-Kidwa, died in Cairo in 1955 but was buried in the Khan Yunis cemetery.
Yasser Arafat, then a student at Cairo University, did not attend the funeral, partly because he had not been on good terms with his father, and was living in the home of his eldest sister. Ten years ago, when Arafat arrived in Gaza to establish the Palestinian Authority after a decades-long absence, his motorcade drove from the Rafah border through Khan Yunis into Gaza, and several reporters waited near the father's grave, thinking Arafat might pay his respects upon entering Gaza. He didn't, and is not known to have visited the cemetery until December 1999, when his beloved sister Anaem was buried there.
If Khan Yunis is chosen, security will pose a tremendous challenge. The cemetery is in the center of town, in a crowded area with many alleys and a small square. It would not be easy for a crowd to congregate, and certainly would not afford those in attendance a modicum of security
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