I recall meeting President Yasser Arafat at the historic Islamic Summit in Pakistan held in 1974. During that Summit, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was recognised by the Muslim world as the sole voice of the Palestinian people. It was during that Summit, that President Arafat was recognised by the Muslim world as the President of the PLO. He remained the President throughout his life until he died in 2004. This is a ringing testimony to his leadership qualities and to the trust he inspired amongst the Palestinian people. He never abandoned them and they never abandoned him through years of trial and tribulation. President Arafat was the symbol of Palestinian identity, nationhood and its struggle for a separate homeland for the Palestinian people.

President Arafat lived courageously in a life that was dogged by the shadow of assassination and war. He led his last years held almost a prisoner in his compound but his spirit and will never caved in. He never gave in. President Arafat was the man who made peace with President Rabin of Israel which led to the creation of a Palestinian Authority. This was done under the Declaration of Principles giving Palestinians self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. However, the undecided issues of Jewish settlements on occupied land, the future of Palestinian refugees from 1948 and the future of Jerusalem haunted the tentative steps to a peaceful resolution of the Middle East problem.

President Rabin's assassination was a blow to the Middle East peace process. Since his assassination, the situation deteriorated in the Middle East with violence and death plunging the area into bloodshed. This situation led President Arafat into a new period of test. Following the second Intifida and the collapse of the Clinton initiated Middle East talks, the new Israeli leadership refused to deal with President Arafat calling for regime change. However, his people refused to change a leader to whom they had given a mandate.

Ultimately the Middle East problem will be resolved. When it is, it will owe much to the man with the will to uphold the Palestinian flag for more than half a century, a man who lived and died for the Palestinian cause. The man who wrote in his own blood the message, "Don't forget Palestine. " People of Pakistan join the people of Palestine in mourning a leader who personified for them
the identity of the Palestinians, who was a brave man, a man of steel who withstood the coldest of political winters with the conviction that his cause was a cause worth sacrificing for. He was and will remain the Father of the Palestinian people. A Father who will forever be remembered by his sons and daughters in coming generations.

Top