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Gone is Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
He has gone quietly but forever, with his long cherished wishes unfulfilled.
We wish him a peaceful trip to Ramallah, his beloved homeland, where the great and pious Islamite will be permanently laid to rest.
His life was full of legend. Throughout his life, the veteran Palestinian leader miraculously survived several assassination attempts plotted by Israeli intelligence agencies, several plane and car accidents, and a serious stroke.
His life was also one of struggle. He struggled with his much stronger enemy for peace, human rights, livelihood, and statehood for his impoverished compatriots.
He said in April 2002 that he would rather die than leave his territories when the Israeli Cabinet declared him an enemy and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered him permanent exile.
He kept his promise.
Until he was airlifted on October 29, he remained in, or was confined to his simple residence in the West Bank since the Israeli army started a siege more than two and a half years ago. Then, two weeks ago, a special plane took him to a French military hospital for treatment of his worsening health condition.
"I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand," he once said.
These famous words spoke of his life experience and of his dreams.
Since he secretly established the Fatah Movement in 1958, Arafat has been the symbol of Palestinian struggle with Israel.
As early as 1988, he said in a speech at a special UN session in Geneva that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) renounced terrorism and supported "the right of all parties concerned in the Middle East conflict to live in peace and security, including the state of Palestine, Israel and other neighbors."
As a result of his unceasing travels around the world for peace for Palestinians, Israelis, and the whole Middle East, he gained a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for their efforts in the region's peace process.
As the "Father of the Nation" of Palestinians, Arafat was adored not only by his own people but also by others in the world because of his unremitting efforts to seek an independent state and return Palestinian refugees to the homes they lost to Israelis.
But he did not live to see his lifelong goals fulfilled.
It was a great regret.
Now Arafat is gone and so is the symbol of peace and independence for Palestinians.
But we earnestly hope he will not take with him the established framework of peace talks between Palestine and Israel.
We also hope whoever succeeds Arafat will carry forward his unfulfilled wishes and restart talks with Israel to pave the way for a final peace between the two peoples and in the whole region.
(China Daily November 12, 2004)
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