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| By: israelinsider staff and partners |
| Published: May 26, 2005 |
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A new plaza on Jerusalem Avenue was inaugurated Wednesday in honor of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, despite criticism from the Israeli Embassy in Sal Salvador.
"We are making a monument to the maximum leader of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine," said one of the promoters, businessman John Nasser, as the square with a large bust of Arafat was inaugurated.
Palestinan migrants flowed to El Salvador for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and several families became prominent in business and politics. Both President Tony Saca and his rival in last year's election, Schafik Handal, are sons of families that migrated from Bethlehem.
Handal, whose Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front governs the capital city, took part in the ceremony. Saca was not present.
"We will struggle from this small country so that Palestine has its own state with its own capital, Jerusalem," Nasser said, referring to Arafat's longtime goal.
In February, the Israeli Embassy issued a communique to local newspapers saying that plaza was "a provocation" that was counterproductive for Salvadoran-Israeli relations.
The AP contributed to this report.
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