PLO leader leader Yasser Arafat. Photo: World Economic Forum.

i24 News – The Yasser Arafat Museum in the West Bank city of Ramallah said Tuesday it removed artwork depicting the iconic Palestinian leader that exaggerated his facial features after accusations that it was insulting to the late former president.

After its installation on Sunday, the 35-piece exhibit faced immediate backlash.

A picture was published by the Shehab News Agency showing the caricatures of a smiling Arafat in his trademark keffiyeh headdress with his nose and mouth oversized and slightly distorted.

Supporters of Arafat, who died in 2004, took to Twitter posting photographs with the caption: “This is the icon we know.”

Activists from Fatah, the Palestinian movement Arafat founded, demanded an investigation into how the images came to be displayed.

In a statement, the museum insisted the images were merely artistic impressions of a revered Palestinian leader.

“The displayed drawings, while some of them are somewhat controversial, represent the viewpoint of their makers regarding their support for the Palestinian cause and the late president Yasser Arafat,” the statement said.

Palestinian leaders denounced the exhibit.

Ihab Bseiso, who sits on the board of the Yasser Arafat Foundation that runs the museum, called the display “absurd.”

The foundation established in 2007 was for years led by Arafat’s nephew Nasser al-Kidwa.

Al-Kidwa was sacked from the organization last year amid a bitter fallout with Fatah after he announced plans to back a list of rival candidates in scheduled Palestinian elections, polls that were ultimately canceled.

In social media posts this week, Kidwa charged that his uncle’s legacy was under assault by those now running the museum.

“Yasser Arafat’s legacy and biography, unfortunately, are not safe,” he said.