Yasser and Arafat born in Gaza
2004-11-12 09:03
Gaza city - When expectant Palestinian mother Safra Hassan went into labour on Thursday morning, she told her husband, Rafiq, she wanted to call the child Yasser, after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died in a Paris hospital hours earlier.
It was only in the delivery room at Gaza's Shifa Hospital that Hassan, 32, discovered she was carrying twin boys.
"I looked at my husband and I said, we will call them Yasser and Arafat," she said. "I'm so proud that the name of Yasser Arafat will be in my house every day, just as the name of Yasser Arafat will be in every Palestinian house forever."
The two boys, each weighing just over two kilogrammes, are doing well, doctors said. The Hassans already have two children, a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son.
Safra said that naming the newborns after the dead Palestinian leader was a small gesture compared to the sacrifices he made in pursuit of Palestinian statehood.
"I hope that my children will grow up in peace and will witness Yasser Arafat's dreams become reality," she said. - AP
- SAPA