Middle East Grief and Anger in Nablus

A bad time for reason and moderation on the West Bank

Bobbing and dipping above the heads of the crowd of 50,000, the plain wooden coffin was borne through the narrow streets of Nablus, the largest town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. At the front of the funeral procession, among mourners with drums and cymbals, fluttered the black, white, green and red flag of the Palestinians. Groups of youths, their faces hidden by kaffiyehs, flashed the V sign. Here and there among the hundreds of black-bordered portraits of the dead man were pictures of Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The deceased: Zafer al Masri, 44, the slain mayor of...

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