The man the world – including the Israeli government – is touting as a man of peace has just unveiled a mausoleum to perhaps the biggest terrorist leader of the 20th century.
A $1.75 million mausoleum, no less.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas unveiled a $1.75 million (1.2 million euros) mausoleum for Yasser Arafat on Saturday, in a pomp-filled ceremony that helped him draw on the continued popularity of his iconic predecessor as he headed into peace talks with Israel.
The mausoleum, made of glass and beige Jerusalem stone, is surrounded on three sides by water, and a piece of rail track is entombed underneath Arafat’s grave. The water and piece of track are meant to symbolize the temporary nature of the grave, officials said, with Palestinians planning to rebury their leader one day in Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital.
That’s a lot of money to be spending on a tomb, especially for the supposedly cash-starved palestinian authority. Especially while you claim your people are starving.
During the ceremony, Abbas laid a wreath in the colors of the Palestinian flag on the tombstone and honored his one-time rival with a moment of silence.
In a brief speech, Abbas pledged to reclaim part of Jerusalem for his people. The fate of the city, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as a capital, is one of the most explosives issues in peace talks, expected to resume after a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference in Annapolis, Maryland, later this month.
“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,” Abbas said.
You should all know by now what the path of Arafat was. And for the oblivious among you, Abbas is giving you a great clue by using the word “martyred.”
Arafat buried in the holy city of Jerusalem? Over my dead body.
