Marking the end of the 40 days of mourning, AFP calls Yasser Arafat “the Palestinian patriarch”:
PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas marked the end of 40 days of mourning with lavish praise for the “eternal” Yasser Arafat, vowing the Palestinian patriarch would one day be buried in his beloved Jerusalem.
Arafat shouldn’t be confused with another patriarch who made news today. Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah said Israel’s security fence “makes Bethlehem a big prison.” Should Sabbah worry about the media cheapening his title? After all, media officials might think one man’s patriarch is another man’s terrorist.
