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The Funeral of Yasser Arafat: World Leaders Pay Respects
in Cairo, Tens of Thousands Attend Ramallah Burial
Iraq on Fire: Resistance Spreads as the Fallujah Death Toll
Rises
U.S. Army Veteran Sues Over "Back-Door Draft" Recall
to Active Duty
The Funeral of Yasser Arafat: World Leaders Pay Respects
in Cairo, Tens of Thousands Attend Ramallah Burial
The funeral of Yasser Arafat is underway. A private state
funeral was held in Cairo as kings, presidents and heads of
state paid their respects to the lifelong Palestinian leader.
A helicopter then flew Arafat's body to the West Bank to be
buried at his compound in Ramallah where he was confined in
his final years. Tens of thousands of Palestinian mourners
swarmed the coffin as it was carried to the burial site. We
go to Cairo to speak with an Egyptian reporter on the ground,
to the West Bank to hear from an independent reporter attending
the funeral in Ramallah and to Gaza to speak with veteran
politician and political leader Haider Abdel Shafi and we
speak with scholar Phyllis Bennis.
The funeral of Yasser Arafat is underway. A helicopter carrying
the body of the Palestinian leader has landed at in the West
Bank headquarters compound in Ramallah where he spent his
final years as a virtual prisoner. Tens of thousands of Palestinian
mourners swarmed the aircraft and police struggled to hold
them back by firing their weapons in the air. Palestinian
leader Mahmoud Abbas tried to emerge from the helicopter,
but was kept back by the huge crowd.
After his death Thursday, Arafat's body was flown out of
Paris on Thursday on a French government plane. In Cairo,
the coffin, accompanied by Arafat's widow Suha Arafat, was
met by the Egyptian president's wife Suzanne Mubarak and leading
officials.
At the United Nations, the General Assembly observed a minute
of silence to remember the lifelong Palestinian leader. UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan later spoke about Yasser Arafat.
- Kofi Annan,UN Secretary General speaking at the United
Nations, November 11, 2004.
In South Africa, former president Nelson Mandela also spoke
about Arafat's death.
- Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, November
11, 2004.
A private state funeral was held in Cairo today with prayers
over Arafat's coffin in the mosque in a northeastern suburb.
Palestinian officials, including Mahmoud Abbas - the new head
of the PLO - then greeted leaders from around the world at
a carpeted funeral tent. Egypt had agreed to host the funeral
in exile because Arab leaders in particular could not travel
to the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Among those attending, were Jordan's King Abdullah II, Lebanese
President Emile Lahoud and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State William Burns were also there. No Israeli officials
attended.
The mourners walked behind a horse-drawn gun carriage carrying
Arafat's flag-draped coffin to a nearby airbase. The streets
were lined with policeman and closed to the public. The coffin
then loaded on an Egyptian military plane and flown to Sinai
where a helicopter took Arafat's body to the West Bank.
Arafat's body is due to be buried before sunset in the grounds
of the Ramallah compound in which he was confined by Israeli
forces for more than two-and-a-half years. People worked through
the night to prepare the grave.
Israeli troops have gone on their highest security alert
in more than two years. The army has closed off towns and
cities in the West Bank and will not allow ordinary Palestinians
to travel there from the Gaza Strip. Instead, Gaza City will
hold its own symbolic funeral service while the West Bank
burial takes place.
Palestinians see Arafat's burial site as temporary. They
hope that one day he will be buried at the Al-Aqsa mosque
in Jerusalem - a move rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon.
- Amira Howeidy, reporter with Al-Ahram
Weekly, Egypt's oldest English-language newspaper. She
attended a separate ceremony open to the public at the Azhar
mosque in old Cairo.
- Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute
for Policy Studies in Washington DC, specializing in
Middle East and United Nations issues. She is the author
of the book "Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy
and the September 11th Crisis."
- Haidar Abdel Shafi, a veteran Palestinian politician
and political leader from Gaza. He has led several Palestinian
delegations to peace talks, most prominently at the 1991
Madrid Conference and the subsequent Washington talks. He
is also a physician and is head of the Red Cresent in the
Gaza Strip. He joins us from Gaza.
Iraq on Fire: Resistance Spreads as the Fallujah
Death Toll Rises
As the US siege of the Iraqi city of Fallujah continues,
Iraqi resistance fighters are stepping up their campaign against
the US occupation across Iraq. We go to Baghdad to speak with
Dahr Jamail, one of the few independent reporters in Iraq.
As the US siege of the Iraqi city of Fallujah continues,
Iraqi resistance fighters are stepping up their campaign against
the US occupation across Iraq. In Fallujah, at least 18 US
soldiers have been killed since the start of the American
ground attack on the city on Monday while more than 100 US
soldiers seriously wounded during the offensive arrived in
2 planeloads at the US military hospital in Germany with more
expected to arrive over the weekend. The injured soldiers
are the latest in a steady stream of arrivals at the hospital
since the siege of Fallujah began. The military claims it
has killed more than 600 resistance fighters in the city.
But with almost no unembedded journalists operating in the
city, independent information is very difficult to obtain.
The reporting of journalists embedded with the US military
is subjected to heavy restrictions from US forces. But Fallujah
residents who have managed to escape the city describe the
bodies of dead civilians laying in some streets and aid groups
say the city is now facing a humanitarian catastrophe. There
are an estimated 50,000 civilians remaining in Fallujah. Many
of the city"s 300,000 residents fled the city ahead of
the US offensive. Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesperson says
that 2 US Super Cobra helicopters have been downed in separate
incidents.
In other areas of Iraq, the resistance has taken control
of some key areas of the country, raising questions about
the US counterinsurgency strategy. Some analysts say the recent
gains by the resistance are a direct result of the US focusing
its campaign in a city where most of the fighters had already
moved to other areas of Iraq. It now appears that the US is
facing a dramatic escalation of a coordinated resistance across
the country. In Iraq"s third largest city, Mosul, five
Iraqi police stations were bombed and the Iraqi resistance
has taken over major portions of the city. Reuters is now
reporting that the US has begun airstrikes in Mosul. Meanwhile,
parts of Ramadi and Sammarah have now been seized by the Iraqi
resistance. In Baghdad, The Asia Times is reporting that resistance
groups have taken control of several suburbs on the outskirts
of Baghdad. We go now to the Iraqi capital where we are joined
by independent journalist Dahr Jamail, one of the few unembedded
journalists in Iraq right now.
- Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist currently based
in Baghdad. He is one of the only independent, unembedded
journalists in Iraq right now. He publishes his reports
on a blog called DahrJamailIraq.com.
U.S. Army Veteran Sues Over "Back-Door Draft"
Recall to Active Duty
Former U.S. Army soldier David Miyasato filed a lawsuit
seeking to restrain the Army from involuntarily recalling
him to active duty. On the eve of Veterans Day, he received
word that the Army has revoked its order. We speak with David
Miyasato and his attorney, Eric Seitz.
A former U.S. Army soldier has filed a lawsuit seeking to
restrain the Army from involuntarily recalling him to active
duty. David Miyasato enlisted in the Army in 1987 and served
in the 1991 Gulf War. He was honorably discharged on August
15, 1991.
In September of this year, the Army issued orders directing
David Miyasato to report to a military facility in South Carolina
on November 9, 2004. He said no and filed suit.
On the eve of Veterans Day, David Miyasato received word
that the Army has revoked its order directing him to report
for active duty.
- David Miyasato, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District
Court seeking to restrain the Army from involuntarily recalling
him to active duty. He enlisted in the Army in 1987 and
served in the during the 1991 Gulf War. He was honorably
discharged on August 15, 1991. He is married and has a 7-month
old daughter.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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