Funeral of a freedom fighter

Funeral of a freedom fighter — or terrorist?

Photographer Q. Sakamaki of the East Village was in the West Bank last month to cover the funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Sakamaki’s photos on this page show a Palestinian child amid a crowd mourning Arafat at a candlelight vigil the day of Arafat’s death, Nov. 11, at the Damascus Gate in the Old City in Jerusalem; a child waiting on Nov. 12 for Arafat’s body to be returned to the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in Ramallah; the chaotic situation as Arafat’s body — flown in from Egypt by helicopter — is carried through the crowd of people that poured over the walls and into the compound, as people struggle to see and touch his coffin — from which the Palestinian flag draped on top disappeared after a certain point; Palestinians praying for Arafat at his burial at Muqatta in Ramallah; the Palestinian Authority’s elite soldiers, F-17 (Force 17), saluting Arafat at his grave the day after his burial in Muqataa; a Palestinian woman still mourning Arafat two days after his burial.