RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Yasser Arafat was remembered Friday on the first anniversary of his death, with successor Mahmoud Abbas laying the cornerstone for an elaborate shrine to the iconic Palestinian leader in the yard of Arafat's former headquarters.
However, many Palestinians today feel ambivalent about the man who once dominated their lives: while legend around him lives on, he is no longer part of the Palestinian national discourse.
Arafat died in a military hospital outside Paris on Nov. 11, 2004, two weeks after being flown from his bullet-scarred Ramallah base, where he had been cooped up for three years under Israeli siege. The cause of death remains unknown.
A year ago, Arafat was buried at his Ramallah compound in a chaotic and anguished funeral that drew tens of thousands of mourners. On Friday, only about 2,000 people turned out to pay their respects at his glass-enclosed tomb.
Abbas laid the cornerstone for a new Arafat memorial, even as he acknowledged his predecessor had no wish for a grandiose building.
"He had no dreams of having a palace in Palestine but only to have a grave in Jerusalem," Abbas said. "God willing, he will be buried in Jerusalem."
The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state and want Arafat reburied there.
The Ramallah memorial is to be built around Arafat's tomb and will include a three-story Arafat museum featuring his personal belongings, including his trademark military fatigues, pistol and headscarves, which he would arrange to resemble a map of Palestine.
A walkway is to connect the museum to the presidential headquarters, known as the Muqata.
While often invoking Arafat's legacy, Abbas has chosen a more moderate path, denouncing violence as counterproductive to achieving Palestinian statehood. In a symbol of that break, Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, plans to build a new presidential compound away from the headquarters that Arafat inhabited.
"Abu Mazen is building his own political system," political scientist Ali Jarbawi said. "He praises Arafat, but he is going ahead with his own program and his own way, seeking his own legitimacy."
At the same time, the Arafat myth is growing.
