Analysis / A symbolic maneuver

The Palestinian leadership's decision to bury Yasser Arafat, when the time comes, in the Muqata, the Ramallah compound that served as his headquarters, is a sophisticated symbolic maneuver aimed at preventing Israel from raising any objection to his being buried in the West Bank. It puts Jordan in a sensitive position.

Arafat made the first stage of his trip to the hospital in Paris in a Jordanian helicopter, which took him from the Muqata to Amman. From there, a French jet took him to Paris. His body will be returned to Ramallah in the same way, and Israel is unlikely to want to spark a confrontation with the Hashemite Kingdom by refusing to let a Jordanian helicopter land in Ramallah just because it is carrying Arafat's body.

Though publicly, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has only said he will not allow Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem, the government is also opposed to having him buried in the West Bank. Israel's position is that the Palestinians should either bury Arafat abroad - as they did with their previous leader, Jerusalem mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, who died and was buried in Lebanon - or in the Gaza Strip, at one of the Arafat family plots, which are located in Khan Yunis and Sheikh Redwan.

Jordan has not taken any public stance on where Arafat should be buried, but it is unlikely to want to be seen as cooperating with Israel on such a sensitive matter.

Arafat himself left no will, but his desire to be buried on the Temple Mount was well known: Over the past two years, he has made several attempts to buy one of the Husseini family's burial plots on the Mount. However, the Husseinis turned him down.

The Palestinians have yet to make any official application to Israel regarding Arafat's burial. But his burial in the Muqata would also have symbolic value for them. The Muqata is where he was "imprisoned" by Israel over the last two years. The Americans prevented Israel from capturing the compound and deporting Arafat, but it was in the Muqata that Arafat was forced to recognize that President George W. Bush, and not only Sharon, had ceased to consider him a partner for peace. From the Muqata, Arafat made unsuccessful efforts to return to center stage and new negotiations with Israel but, at the same time, he also called again and again for "a million martyrs" to march to Jerusalem - something that Israel viewed as encouraging suicide bombers.

If Arafat is buried in the Muqata, it will become a Palestinian pilgrimage site - even though the Palestinians will almost certainly declare that it is merely a temporary grave, meant to serve until their leader can be transferred to a permanent resting site on the Temple Mount.