MIDEAST . . . ARAFAT BOOTED FROM FUNERAL

Palestinian extremists' rancor towardYasser Arafat, who they blame for signing the Israel peace treaty, peaked today when members of the militant group Islamic Jihad unceremoniously threw the PLO chairman out of the Gaza mosque where he was attending the funeral of 35-year-old Hani Abed, an Islamic Jihad leader killed Wednesday in a car-bombing. The murder was the first major act of violence sincePalestinian self-rule began in May. The reception: Mourners knocked off the PLO leader's headdress, shouting "Arafat is a collaborator," and shoved him out a back door into the rain. Many Palestinians blame Israel -- and, by implication, Arafat -- for the killing, despite no evidence and Abed's strained history with rival group Hamas.Post your opinion on theInternationalbulletin board.