"Before Arafat, there was no Palestine"

That's the opinion not of a die-hard Zionist disputing the existence of a "Palestine" before the 1960s, but of a Palestinian nationalist quoted by her admiring son, one Ahmed Moor, in the context of mourning Arafat and celebrating his achievements. Inadvertently, of course, the mother is telling the truth – that the idea of Palestine is a modern one. (She dates it to the start of Arafat's career; I more liberally go back to 1920, but we agree on the key point that this is not some hoary notion.)

Oh, and it bears noting that Moor makes this statement in the context of a memorial service for Yasir Arafat held in the Ben Franklin Room in a hall on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The student newspaper reports that "the 45-minute service was packed with passionate poems and assorted anecdotes from the course of Arafat's life. … The service consisted of a eulogy, followed by a moment of silence, and concluded with the reading of three poems and a prayer from the Quran." Many of those attending wore kaffiyehs. The event was sponsored by the Muslim Law Students Association, the Arab Law Students Society, the Penn Arab Student Society, and the Free Palestine Action Network. As you'd expect - more good sense and smart politics from the campus. (November 16, 2004)

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