WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The nephew of the late Palestine Liberation Organization, Fatah and Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat, says that his uncle’s legacy is “unsafe,” Al Watan Voice has reported.
Nasser al-Qudwa made his comment after a wave of anger hit social media when the Arafat Foundation showed “offensive” caricatures of the former Palestinian leader at an event it had organized.
Al-Qudwa was fired from his role running the foundation following his criticism of the current PLO, Fatah and PA President Mahmoud Abbas last year.
“The Arafat Foundation and its museum were hijacked when they were taken over forcibly last year,” he said. “The illegal managers of the foundation cannot be the guardians of the legacy of Yasser Arafat and this was very clear in the offensive caricature drawings that appeared in the show inaugurated in Ramallah to commemorate his death.”
What happened, he added, outweighs the offence to Arafat himself and his symbolic status, because it outraged the Palestinians in Palestine and the diaspora. “Arafat’s legacy and career are unsafe in the hands of his false heirs. We have warned about this before.”
The Yasser Arafat Museum said Tuesday it had removed artwork depicting the iconic Palestinian leader that exaggerated his facial features, after accusations they were insulting to the late president.
The 35-piece exhibit at the museum in Ramallah, in the West Bank, faced immediate backlash after it was installed on Sunday.
Shehab News Agency published a picture of the caricatures showing a smiling Arafat in his trademark keffiyeh headdress with his nose and mouth oversized and slightly distorted.
Supporters of Arafat, who died in 2004, took to Twitter posting photographs with the caption: “This is the icon we know”.
Activists from Fatah, the Palestinian movement Arafat founded, demanded an investigation into how the images came to be displayed.
In a statement, the museum insisted the images were merely artistic impressions of a revered Palestinian leader.
“The displayed drawings, while some of them are somewhat controversial, represent the viewpoint of their makers regarding their support for the Palestinian cause and the late president Yasser Arafat,” the statement issued late Monday said.
A museum spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that pieces had been taken down.