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Yasser Arafat (Arabic: ياسر عرفات) (August, 1929 – November 11, 2004), born Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ar-Rauf al-Qudwah al-Husayni, also known as Abu Ammar) was the President of the Palestinian Authority (leader since 1993, elected in 1996); leader of Fatah and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (since 1969), and co-winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.
Biography
Early life
Arafat was born to a Palestinian family. His father was a merchant from a family that had some Egyptian ancestry. His mother was from a prominent Palestinian family in Jerusalem. According to Arafat and other sources, he was born in Jerusalem on August 4, 1929 . His date and place of birth have been disputed; some sources contend that he was born in Cairo on August 24, 1929. .
Arafat’s childhood was divided between Cairo and Jerusalem. Arafat attended the University of King Faud I (later renamed Cairo University) and sought to understand Judaism and Zionism by engaging in discussions with Jews and reading publications by Theodor Herzl and other Zionists .
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Arafat left the university and, along with other Palestinians, sought to enter Palestine to fight for Palestinian independence. He was disarmed and turned back by the Egyptian army which did not allow poorly trained partisans to enter the war zone.
After returning to the university, Arafat joined the Muslim Brotherhood and served as president of the Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956. In 1956, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Arafat served as a second lieutenant in the Egyptian army during the Suez Crisis.
After Suez, Arafat moved to Kuwait, where he worked as an engineer and later set up his own contracting firm.
Fatah and the PLO
In 1957 in Kuwait, Arafat with a group of refugees from Gaza helped found Fatah, an organization dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Fatah's first commando operation was an unsuccessful attempt to blow up an Israeli water pump station in 1964.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964 as a political organization unifying all resistance groups with the common goal of liberation of Palestine and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
After the Six-Day War, Israel started attacking Palestinian resistance organizations. In 1968, Israeli army attacked Fatah in the Jordanian village of Al-Karameh; 150 Palestinians and 29 Israeli soldiers were killed. Despite heavy losses, Palestinians considered this battle a victory because the Israeli army ultimately withdrew. This was a turning point for the resistance movement because it showed that resistance can effect changes. Many Palestinians regarded Fatah and Arafat as heroes for daring to confront the much more powerful Israeli army, and many young Palestinians began joining the ranks of Fatah. Fatah soon became dominant faction within the PLO and in 1969 Arafat was named chairman of the PLO. Arafat became commander in chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces in 1971 and the head of the PLO's political department in 1973.
Jordan
In late 1960s, tensions rose between Palestinian resistance groups and the Jordanian government. Palestinian groups had managed to control several strategic positions in Jordan, including the oil refinery near Az Zarq. Jordan considered this a growing threat to its sovereignty and security and attempted to disarm the Palestinian militias. Open fighting between Jordan and Palestinian resistance groups erupted in June of 1970.
Arab governments attempted to negotiate a peaceful solution, but the Jordan government responded to continued militant activites with escalation in repressive measures; on September 16 Jordanian King Hussein declared martial law. On that same day Arafat became supreme commander of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA), the regular military force of the PLO. In the ensuing civil war the PLO had the active support of Syria, which sent around 200 tanks into Jordan to aid the PLO. The U.S and Israel also got involved: U.S. Navy dispatched its Sixth Fleet to the eastern Mediterranean, and Israel deployed its troops to aid King Hussein if necessary. By September 24 the Jordanian army achieved dominance, and the PLA agreed to a series of ceasefires . See also History of Jordan and Black September.
Lebanon
From Jordan, Arafat and the PLO relocated to Lebanon. Because of Lebanon's weak central government, the PLO was able to operate independently of Lebanese authorities. During the Israeli attacks on Lebanon the PLO began launching artillery strikes and guerilla attacks on Israel from Lebanon.
In September of 1972 the Palestinian group Black September kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games; all hostages and most hostage takers were eventually killed. This attack was widely condemned and Arafat publicly disassociated himself from such attacks. In 1974 Arafat ordered the PLO to stop acts of violence outside Israel and Israel occupied territories. That year Arafat became the first representative of a nongovernmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly.
The Fatah movement continued to launch attacks against Israeli targets. In the late 1970s several new leftist organizations were formed in Palestine and carried out attacks on Israel and Israeli occupation colonies. Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations, but Arafat denied responsibility for acts of other groups.
In 1974, Arab states declared the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinians. The PLO was admitted to full membership in the Arab League in 1976.
Israel claimed that the PLO had played an important part in the Lebanese Civil War. Some Lebanese Christians claimed that the PLO was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens killed by Israel.
Israel allied itself with the Lebanese Christians and conducted two major invasions of Lebanon. In the First invasion in 1978, the Israeli military and South Lebanon Army (SLA) occupied a narrow strip of land, ostensibly as a security zone, and killed several thousand Lebanese and Palestinians. In the Second invasion in 1982, Israel expanded its occupation to most of South Lebanon, but was eventually forced to retreat back to the previously occupied area in 1985. During this invasion Israeli army killed about 18,000 Lebanese and Palestinians and helped the Christian Phalangist militia massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps about 2,750 Palestinian refugees, mostly civilians. Ariel Sharon, Israeli Minister of Defense at the time, was found by the Israeli Kahan Commission "personally responsible" for the massacre and was dismissed from his post; he is now Prime Minister of Israel.
Tunisia
In September 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the U.S. had brokered a cease-fire deal in which Arafat and the PLO were allowed to leave Lebanon. Arafat and his leadership moved to Tunisia, which remained his center of operations up until 1993.
During the 1980s, Arafat received assistance from Arab nations, which allowed him to reconstruct the Palestinian resistance movement in exile. After the spontaneous First Palestinian uprising in December of 1987, Arafat took control of the uprising.
On November 15, 1988, the PLO proclaimed the independent State of Palestine, a government-in-exile for the Palestinians, which initially laid claim to the whole area of the British Mandate of Palestine, rejecting the idea of partition. However, in the December 13, 1988 address, Arafat declared acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 242, promised future recognition of Israel and renounced "terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism" .
The Arafat's recognition of Israel was dictated by the U.S. administration, which had insisted on the recognition as a necessary starting point in the Camp David peace negotiations. Arafat's statement indicated a shift from one of the PLO's primary aims -- liberation of the entire Palestine (which implicitly negates the validity of the proclamation of State of Israel) -- towards the establishment of two separate entities, an Israeli state within the 1949 armistice lines and a Palestinian state in the areas assigned to Palestinians by the U.N.. On April 2, 1989, Arafat was elected president of the proclaimed State of Palestine by the governing body of the PLO.
Subsequently, during the 1991 Madrid Conference Israel began direct negotiations with the PLO for the first time.
In 1991 Arafat opposed the U.S.-led attack on Iraq. As a result the U.S. administration began boycotting him, which impeded the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations underway.
In 1990 Arafat married Suha Tawil, a Palestinian Christian Catholic who converted to Islam.
Palestinian Authority
The U.S. continued pressing both sides to negotiate and this pressure lead to the 1993 Oslo Accords. The main points of this agreement were mutual recognition of Israel and the PLO, Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and implementation of Palestinian self rule. For this peace initiative Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, along with Israeli leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.
On January 20, 1996, Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords. He received an overwhelming 87% majority ovf vote (the other candidate was Samiha Khalil). Independent international observers reported the elections to have been free and fair. Further elections were announced for January 2002, but were later postponed, reportedly because of inability to campaign due to Israeli military attacks and restrictions on freedom of movement in the territories occupied by Israel.
In mid-1996, following multiple suicide bombings in which scores of Israelis were killed, and Israeli attacks in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Palestinian-Israeli relations grew even more hostile as a consequence of continued attacks and counter-attacks. Netanyahu actively obstructed the transition to Palestinian statehood outlined in the Oslo accords. The U.S. President Bill Clinton intervened in 1998, arranging a meeting with the two leaders. The resulting Wye River Memorandum of October 23, 1998 presented steps to be taken by the Israeli government and the PA to implement the Oslo accords.
However, Israel made no visible attempts to live up to either the Oslo or the Wye River agreements; to the contrary, Israel steadily expanded its occupation, doubled the population in occupation colonies and kept obstructing Palestinian self-rule.
Arafat continued negotiations with the next Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. During the Camp David negotiations Barak offered a Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, a return of an unspecified "limited" number of refugees and some unspecified compensation for the rest. However, the proposed Palestinian areas did not include all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and were not contiguous but fragmented and surrounded by Israeli occupation colonies, and criss-crossed by numerous checkpoints and Jewish-only roads. The resolution of the important issue of refugees was unclear and various other issues, such as water rights were unresolved. Despites Clinton's pressure, Arafat rejected the offer. Several months later, in the new round of talks at Taba, Egypt, Barak made a more favorable offer which was viewed positively by Palestinians. However, in the meantime Barak lost his re-election bid and the incoming Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blocked further negotiations. In 2000, after a provocative visit by Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound considered sacred by Muslims, violence broke out, marking the beginning of the Second Palestinian Uprising.
Recent news and commentary
Arafat's long personal and political survival was considered by many as a sign of his mastery of asymmetric warfare and his skill as a tactician, given the extremely dangerous nature of politics of the Middle East and the frequency of assassinations. Some commentators believe his personal survival is largely due to the Israel's fear that he could become a martyr for the Palestinian cause if he were to be assassinated or even just arrested by Israel.
Arafat's ability to adapt to new political situations is shown by his handling of the rise of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizations, which were using religious motives to inspire resistance against Israel's occupation. In the 1990s, these groups seemed to threaten Arafat's capacity to hold together a unified secular nationalist organization with a goal of statehood. They appeared to be out of Arafat's influence and control, and were actively fighting with Arafat's Fatah group. Israel claimed that activities of these groups were tolerated by Arafat as a means of applying pressure on Israel, while many argue that it was Israel's frequent strikes against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat's security infrastructure that made it difficult for Arafat to counter the increasing influence of militant groups. However, despite all the differences and infighting, spokesmen for Hamas and Islamic Jihad had at times publicly supported Arafat, suggesting that the common Palestinian goal of freedom looms large over infighting between various factions.
Some analysts argued that Arafat could neither condemn nor constrain the militant tactics and that any attempt to do so would have endanger his rule or his life. Furthermore, ending violent resistance activities would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel because Israel had never ceded anything, and actually continually expanded its occupation during periods of nonviolent resistance. Due to a huge imbalance in military power between Israel and Palestinians, the use of suicide bombers appears to be a permanent feature of Palestinian resistance. The number and intensity of attacks rose sharply in the first months of 2002.
In March 2002, the Arab League made an offer to recognize Israel in exchange for Israeli retreat from all territories captured in the Six-Day War and statehood for Palestine. Many saw this offer, which included recognition of Israel by the Arab states, as a historic opportunity for comprehensive peace in the region. However, the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon ignored this offer and made visible efforts to neutralize and sidetrack this proposal, with some Israeli officials claiming that it would constitute a blow to Israel's security while not guaranteeing the cessation of suicide bombing attacks.
Israel's refusal of the Arab offer was followed by a Palestinian attack on Israel that led to more than 135 Israelis dead. Ariel Sharon subsequently stated that Arafat "assisted the terrorists and made himself an enemy of Israel and irrelevant to any peace negotiations". This was followed by the major Israeli invasion of the West Bank, during which Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians and razed entire city blocks in Jenin (see "Operation Defensive Shield".)
Attempts by Israel to find another Palestinian leader more pliable by Israel had failed, and Arafat continued enjoying the support of the majority of Palestinians, including groups that would normally have been quite wary of supporting him. So, Israel set out to isolate him, quite literally, by surrounding Arafat's headquarters and effectively imprisoning him there.
Israel held Arafat in virtual arrest in his Ramallah headquarters for his last three years of life, by announcing that if he left the compound he would be barred from returning. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hinted on several occassions that Arafat could be assassinated by Israel. In 2003 Israel offically declared a decision to "in principle, remove Arafat"; because of Israel's refusal to state what "remove" meant this was taken by some as a veiled assassination threat.
Financial dealings
As the leader of Palestinian resistance Arafat was the subject of Israeli campaigns to discredit him. Arafat was occasionally criticised by some, including Arab media, alleging corruption of the Palestinian Authority he headed. The U.S. business magazine "Forbes", which frequently publishes pro-Israel opinions of its management, placed Arafat as sixth on its 2003 list "Kings, Queens and Despots" , estimating his personal wealth to "at least $300 million", without indicating its source for this claim.
However, as Arafat lived frugally and had no known major possessions, these claims appear to have been based solely on Arafat's control over Palestinian public-funds.
In 2003 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted an audit of the Palestinian Authority and stated that Arafat diverted $900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by Arafat and the PA Chief Economic Financial Advisor. The IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties and it specifically stated that most of the funds have been used to invest in Palestinian assets, both internally and abroad. An investigation of PA finances by European Union also found no improprieties.
World support
Arafat enjoyed generally strong support throughout the world, and especially among Arab and Third world nations, as a symbol of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. Arafat was by far the most popular Arab leader among the general populace of Arab nations.
The U.S government, which regularly aligns itself with Israel, hesitantly supported Arafat largely for strategic and diplomatic reasons. After George W. Bush became U.S. president and September 11 attacks occured the minimal U.S. support declined precipitiously and in June 2002 Bush called for replacement of Arafat. The U.S., however, repeatedly warned Israel not to harm Arafat.
Illness and death
On October 25, 2004, Arafat was reported to be ill "from flu". On October 28 he became unconscious for a short period during a meeting. On October 29, after visits by other doctors Arafat was taken to a military hospital near Paris, France for further testing. According to some reports, on November 3 Arafat lapsed into a gradually deepening coma and after suffering progressive organ failure he was placed on life-support. He died at the hospital on November 11, 2004, around 2:30am UTC, at age 75. The cause of his illness and death has not been made public.
Israel refused Arafat's wish to be buried in or near East Jerusalem. Following a state funeral in Cairo, attended by many Arab leaders, Arafat was laid to rest on November 12 within his former headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank.
On November 11, Arafat's official functions were transferred. Pending elections, Speaker Rawhi Fattuh succeeded Arafat as President of the Palestinian Authority. Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas became leader of the PLO and Foreign Minister Farouk Kaddoumi became head of Fatah. Ahmed Qurei remained as Prime Minister and took additional security responsibilities.
Statements by World Leaders
A number of world leaders made statements summarizing Arafat's life and legacy:
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: "For nearly four decades, he expressed and symbolized in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people".
The U.S. President George W. Bush said: "My first reaction is: God bless his soul. My second reacton is that we will continue to work for a free Palestinian state that's at peace with Israel."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "A great political leader of international significance".
Chinese President Hu Jintao said: "An outstanding leader of the Palestinian cause and... an outstanding politician.".
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "President Arafat came to symbolise the Palestinian national movement. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 jointly with Yitzhak Rabin in recognition of their efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. He led his people to a historic acceptance and the need for a two-state solution. That goal - of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel - is one that we must continue to work tirelessly to achieve."
French President Jacques Chirac said: "With him disappears a man of courage and conviction who for 40 years incarnated the Palestinians' fight for recognition of their national rights."
Statements by Palestinian leaders
Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said: "Arafat's legacy will be the one, the leader, the president who united the Palestinian people, the leader who kept the Palestinian national identity from extinction, the man who initiated the peace of the brave, the man who united the Palestinian people and it's his legacy of peace. It's the determination today that we continue the path of freedom and independence and peace, the path of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."
Maher A-Taher, spokeperson for the Popular Front for Palestine Liberation said: "The history will register his historic stance in Camp David when he rejected the huge Israeli and American pressures exercised on him and kept clinging to the goal of independent state, Jerusalem and the right to return. The march of president Arafat has some major achievements and some other failures."
Khaled Mesha'al, Hamas leader said: "I do not hesitate accusing Israel of killing Yasser Arafat and I call on my brothers in Fatah and in the PNA not to keep silent in this regard. I call on my brothers at Fatah movement to reinforce the unity of the movement since it is the interest of Hamas and the entire Palestinian people that Fatah be united and strong. I call them also to avoid any dispute and in return we in Hamas and the entire Palestinian people will reinforce our national unity."
Arafats personal adviser, Jebril Rjoub, said: "The term of President Arafat has ended, however, the commitments and loyalty to his march concerned with the establishment of the state and the reinforcement of our identity are now the responsibility of the entire Palestinian people."
Statements of Israeli leaders
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said: "The recent events could be a historic turning point for the Middle East. Israel is a country that seeks peace and will continue its efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians without delay."
Israeli Labor Party leader Shimon Peres said: "There is no doubt that with the death of Yasser Arafat an era has ended... for good or bad. The biggest mistake of Arafat was when he turned to terror. His greatest achievements were when he tried to build peace."
Israeli right-wing groups were uniform in welcoming Arafat's death. Israeli Justice Minister Yossef Lapid said: "(It is) good that the world is rid of him... The sun is shining in the Middle East."
Quotes
These are some of the notable statements Yasser Arafat made over the years:
1968: "Zionism is an embodiment of neo-Nazism ..., intellectual terrorism and racial exploitation."
November 13, 1974: "I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand." - Speech to the UN General Assembly.
November 13, 1974: "Those who call us terrorists wish to prevent world public opinion from discovering the truth about us and from seeing the justice on our faces. They seek to bide the terrorism and tyranny of their acts, and our own posture of self-defence." Speech to the UN General Assembly.
1988: "Neither (I) nor anyone for that matter can stop the Intifada (Palestinian uprising) ... The intifada will come to an end only when practical and tangible steps have been taken towards the achievement of our national aims."
January 15, 2002: "This child, who is grasping the stone, facing the tank, is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a martyr? We are proud of them" (Palestinian Authority Television)
January 21, 2002: "I swear to God, I will see , whether as a martyr or alive. Please, God, give me the honor of becoming a martyr in the fight for Jerusalem."
September 11, 2003: "This is my homeland; no one can kick me out." Yasser Arafat's reply to Ariel Sharon's threat to expel him from the occupied territories.
See Also
External links
- The Nobel e-Museum - Biography of Yasser Arafat
- Life and times of Yassir Arafat, Times Online, UK
- Profile: Yassir Arafat from Times Online, UK
- Obituary, The Guardian
- Trailer of a documentary with clips of Arafat's speeches towards the end
- Yasir Arafat: Psychological Profile and Strategic Analysis
- Yasser Arafat from the Open Directory Project
- Yasser Arafat -- Yahoo!
- The Israeli Reference Site on Arafat
- Someone Was Going to Kill Newsweek Interview of Mahmoud Abbas (June 21 Issue)
Updates: Fix lost link + quote, add quote, rephrase "Forbes" etc, wikify + typos
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