GAZA, November 11, 2007 (WAFA)-All Palestinians at home and in exile commemorate today the third anniversary of passing away the legendary leader Yasser Arafat who sacrificed himself for the sake of freedom and independence. His life was a continued history of struggle and strife that founded a new and modern history for Palestine.

A central and public festival is organized Today in Ramallah under the patronage of President Mahmoud Abbas and tomorrow in Gaza.

Al-hajj Abu Ibrahim of Jabalya refugee camp described the passing away of the great Leader as a big national loss all people feel on eve of Hamas seized armed control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June.

“Arafat's body had gun but his spirit is living among all Palestinians and he paved for us a way for freedom and establishment of an independent state. He was a historic leader, our teacher and a symbol of our national struggle.. Arafat is the one who reaches the Palestinian cause to all international forums and capitals,” said Abu Ibrahim.

The child Omar 10-year-old said, as he commemorates in his school the third anniversary, that ” Abu Ammar is my father… he was very compassionate and we missed him a lot.”

Spokesperson of Fateh Movement, Ahmed Abdul Rahman said that the celebrations marking the third departure of the immortal martyr Yasser Arafat, reflecting the determination of the Palestinian people and determination of the "Fatah" and the determination of all peace-lovers to continue the path and achieve the goals for which he died as a martyr after three years of siege at the Muqtada.

He added that the people who was brought up at the hands of Yasser Arafat and who believed in his message and goals for independence , freedom and the establishment of a Palestinian state declare to the world today that he is honest to Yasser Arafat and that he was determined to continue the struggle and steadfastness in order to achieve the goals that Arafat scarified himself for.

Arafat was a man who produced dignity, resilience, who himself lived a very austere life in parallel with the way many Palestinians live. He gave the Palestinian people hope and that is really the difficulty of losing him.