Efter otte år i koma døde den tidligere israelske præsident Ariel Sharon lørdag d. 11. januar. Tusinder har passeret ekspræsidentens kiste, svøbt i det israelske flag, for et sidste farvel. Mandag begraves Sharon på sin gård.
Draped in a flag, his coffin lay in state outside the parliament building in Jerusalem, BBC online writes Sunday.
A state funeral will take place on Monday before a military burial ceremony at his ranch near Sderot.
Israeli and world figures have paid tribute to Mr Sharon but there was little sorrow among Palestinians.
But the end of that long and agonising period for his family when he lay suspended between life and death has prompted an outpouring of grief and reflection.
Sharon was a part of the generation that created the state of Israel and even Israelis who didn’t much care for his politics recognised his stature.
Given the bitterly divided history of the modern Middle East it’s inevitable perhaps that a man eulogised by Israelis would be demonised by its Arab enemies. Nothing in that would have surprised Sharon who understood the region well and saw his role as the establishment and protection of the Jewish state in which he passionately believed..
Prayers were said as flags flew at half mast. President Shimon Peres laid a wreath and stood in silence beside the coffin.
A steady stream of thousands of people filed past the podium. Many took pictures while others lit candles in memory of the former leader.
A state funeral will be held at the Knesset on Monday, before Mr Sharon’s body is taken to his farm, Sycamore ranch, near Sderot in southern Israel where he will be buried in a military ceremony next to his wife Lili, who died in 2000.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to accompany the coffin on his final journey, Israeli army radio reports.
Ariel Sharons biografi: http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Sharon
