From Arafat to Khomeini: Middle East funerals that drew massive crowds and global attention

PARIS, July 5 — Iranian officials paid their final respects on Friday at the start of a week of funeral events for late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in US-Israeli strikes, as Tehran prepared for ceremonies expected to attract millions.

In the Middle East, public turnout at the funerals of political leaders is generally massive and marked by pageantry and patriotic fervour.

Here are some of the biggest funerals that have taken place across the region, often in highly charged atmospheres:

Gamal Abdel Nasser 

On October 1, 1970, several million people accompanied the Egyptian president’s coffin through the streets of Cairo along a 16-kilometre route.

The sea of people prevented Egyptian military personnel, heads of state and dignitaries from 52 countries from following the procession.

Acting president Anwar Sadat and Jordan’s King Hussein fainted, as did several dozen people in the crowd.

Police finally cleared a path to the mosque where the burial was to take place, using the butts of their rifles to push back the crowd.

Ruhollah Khomeini 

On June 6, 1989, the funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic republic, drew the largest crowd in Iran since his return to the country in 1979.

In the feverish assembly, the vehicle carrying his body in the funeral procession in capital Tehran was stormed by mourners.

His shroud was torn and his body fell to the ground.

His body was eventually transported by helicopter for burial several hours later at a cemetery near Tehran.

According to Iranian state news agency IRNA, some 10 million people turned out. The crowd surges left more than ten people dead and over 10,000 injured.

Yitzhak Rabin 

In November 6, 1995, one million Israelis and hundreds of foreign dignitaries, including many Arab leaders, gathered in Jerusalem for the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had been assassinated by a Jewish extremist.

The whole country stood still for two minutes as sirens wailed during the burial, following the most impressive military funeral ever held in the country.

Yasser Arafat 

On November 12, 2004, a sea of Palestinians gathered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to bid a final farewell to their historic leader Yasser Arafat.

Thousands of people forced their way into the headquarters where the leader was laid to rest, after it had been under siege by the Israeli army for nearly three years.

His funeral began with an official ceremony at a military compound in his birthplace of Cairo. The location was chosen by Egypt to allow all Arab heads of state to pay their respects.

At the same time, several thousand Palestinians from refugee camps in Beirut organised symbolic funerals in the Lebanese capital.

Israel categorically opposed his burial in east Jerusalem as he had wished, or even in the city’s suburbs.

Umm Kulthum 

However, it was an artist and a woman, the Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, who drew one of the largest crowds in the region’s history, according to local media.

Several million people flooded the streets of Cairo in 1975 to accompany the coffin of the woman who remains a towering cultural figure across the region. — AFP