August 14, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 11, 1429

RAMALLAH, Aug 13: Poet Mahmoud Darwish, who gave a voice to the Palestinians’ longing for independence, was buried on Wednesday in a pomp-filled ceremony fit for a head of state.

Thousands marched behind the casket, draped in a Palestinian flag and covered with wreaths, as it was driven through Ramallah in a black pickup truck. Uniformed officers sat to either side of the casket and many in the crowd waved Palestinian flags. Huge posters of Darwish were draped across Ramallah’s main square.

“We feel a huge loss. We feel we have lost a symbol,” said civil servant Mohammed Abdel Rahman, 50, as he watched the procession pass through the main square. Abdel Rahman said he wasn’t much of a reader, but was familiar with Darwish poems that had been set to music and sung by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife.

Darwish, 67, died on Saturday following heart surgery in a Houston hospital. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a mourning period of three days, and flags were lowered to half-staff at government offices in the West Bank.

On Wednesday morning, Darwish’s body was flown in a Jordanian air force helicopter from Amman, Jordan, to a memorial service at Abbas’ government compound in Ramallah.

Addressing a crowd of some 500, including foreign diplomats and a small group of Israeli peace activists, Abbas eulogized the poet as a “pioneer, a leader and a teacher.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Abbas in a phone call that Darwish drew attention to the Palestinians’ “long path toward freedom and independence.”

Darwish was buried next to Ramallah’s Cultural Palace, where he frequently gave poetry readings to overflow crowds. A plot was prepared for him in a grass-covered area ringed by palm trees, an honour guard fired a 21-gun salute, and the building was renamed the Darwish Cultural Palace.

In the past year, Darwish had expressed growing concern about internal Palestinian fighting and the split between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the Abbas-controlled West Bank. Hamas leaders issued a statement of condolence earlier this week, but there was no sign of government-sponsored mourning in Gaza.

Some Gaza residents said they were disappointed they could not attend the ceremony. “Mahmoud Darwish, we will remember your words forever,” said Rajai Abu Daka, sitting in a Gaza City coffee shop and watching the funeral, broadcast live on Palestine TV.

Darwish’s poetry has been translated into more than 20 languages and he won numerous international awards. He first gained prominence in the 1960s with the publication of his first poetry collection, “Bird without Wings.” Many of his poems have been put into music — most notably “Rita,” “Birds of Galilee” and “I yearn for my mother’s bread”-- and have become anthems for at least two generations of Arabs.—AP