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Yasser Arafat (Arabic: ياسر عرفات) (born August 4 or August 24, 1929 as Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ar-Rauf al-Qudwah al-Husayni, also known as Abu Ammar) is the leader of the Palestinian Authority (leader since 1993, President (ra'is) since 1996); Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (since 1969); leader of Fatah, the largest of the factions within the PLO, and co-winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.

In October 2004, Yasser Arafat was seriously ill and was transported to a military hospital in France.

Biography

Arafat was one of seven children born to a merchant. Arafat's date and place of birth have been disputed. His birth certificate, discovered at Cairo University, states that Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt on August 24, 1929. However, some still support the claim that Arafat was born in Jerusalem on August 4, 1929, although even his authorized biographer, Alan Hart, says he was born in Cairo.

At birth, his name was Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat Al Qudua Al Husseini. As explained by Said K. Aburish, an Arab biographer (in Arafat: From Defender to Dictator, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998, p. 7), "Mohammed Abdel Rahman was his first name; Abdel Raouf his father's name; Arafat his grandfather's; Al Qudua is the name of his family; and Al Husseini is the name of the clan to which the Al Quduas belonged."

Claims that he was related to the Jerusalem Husseini clan through his mother (an Abul Saoud) are untrue given that the Husseini clan designation comes from his father's side. Aburish further explains that Arafat was "unrelated to the real Husseini notables of Jerusalem" (Ibid, p. 9) and explains that "The young Arafat sought to establish his Palestinian credentials and promote his eventual claim to leadership... could not afford to admit any facts which might reduce his Palestinian identity. ...Arafat insistently perpetuated the legend that he had been born in Jerusalem and was related to the important Husseini clan of that city." (Ibid, p. 8)

Arafat lived most of his childhood in Cairo, except for four years (following the death of his mother, between the ages of five and nine) when he lived with his uncle in Jerusalem. He then attended the University of Cairo and graduated as a civil engineer. As a student, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood and the Union of Palestinian Students, of which he was president from 1952 to 1956. While in Cairo, he developed a close relationship with Haj Amin Al-Husseini, also known as the Mufti of Jerusalem. In 1956 he served in the Egyptian army during the Suez Crisis. At the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo on February 3, 1969 Arafat was appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader.

Arafat married late in life to a Palestinian Christian. His wife, Suha Arafat, gave birth to a single child, a daughter. His wife and daughter live in Paris, France. Suha Arafat recently became a French citizen. The couple are believed to be estranged, but Arafat supports Suha in an extravagant manner that has attracted media attention.

The establishment of Fatah

After Suez, Arafat moved to Kuwait, where he found work as an engineer and eventually set up his own contracting firm. In Kuwait he also helped found Fatah, an organization dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In 1963 Fatah was employed by Syria as a proxy, to carry out its first military operation - the blowing up of an Israeli water pump in December 1964. The attack was a failure. However, after the 1967 Six-Day War when Israel shifted its attention from the Arab governments to the various Palestinian organizations, one of them was Fatah.

In 1968 Fatah was the major target of an Israeli attack on the Jordanian village of Karameh, in which 150 Palestinian guerrillas and 29 Israeli soldiers were killed, mostly by Jordanian armored forces. Despite the high death toll, the battle was considered a strong showing for Fatah because the Israelis eventually withdrew, and did much to raise Arafat's and Fatah's profile. By the late 1960s Fatah had come to dominate the PLO and in 1969 Arafat was named chairman of the PLO, replacing Ahmed Shukairy, originally appointed by the Arab League.

Arafat became commander in chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces two years later and in 1973 the head of the PLO's political department. During this same time, tensions between Palestinians and the Jordanian government had greatly increased; heavily armed Palestinian resistance elements (fedayeen) had created a virtual "state within a state" in Jordan (eventually controlling several strategic positions in Jordan, including the oil refinery near Az Zarq) and constituted a growing threat to the sovereignty and security of the Hashemite state. Open fighting erupted in June 1970.

Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but by September, continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan -- including the destruction of three international airliners hijacked and held in the desert east of Amman -- prompted the government to take action to regain control over its territory and population. On September 16 King Hussein declared martial law, and 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 invaded Jordan with a force of around 200 tanks. The fighting itself was mainly between the Jordanian army and the PLA, though the United States Navy dispatched the Sixth Fleet to the eastern Mediterranean, and Israel, as a precaution, deployed troops to aid Hussein if necessary. By September 24 the Jordanian army had gained the upper hand, and the PLA agreed to a series of ceasefires . See also History of Jordan and Black September.

Lebanon

Following this defeat, Arafat relocated the PLO from Jordan to Lebanon. Because of Lebanon's weak central government, the PLO was able to operate virtually as an independent state (called "Fatahland" by the Israelis). The PLO then began to use this territory to launch artillery strikes on and infiltrate into Israel, attacking and killing Israelis. These attacks occurred in the context of far more destructive Isreali attacks on Lebanon; sometimes retaliatory, often not.

In September 1972 the Black September "group," which is generally believed (although not proved) to have been an operational cover used by Arafat's Fatah organization, kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games, and eventually killed them all. International condemnation of the attack made Arafat publicly disassociate himself from similar acts in the future; in 1974 Arafat ordered the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the same year Arafat became the first representative of a nongovernmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly.

However, critics claim that Arafat's disconnection from terrorism was illusory. The Fatah movement continued to launch terrorist attacks against Israeli targets; moreover, in the late 1970s numerous leftist Palestinian organizations appeared which carried out further attacks both within Israel and outside of it. Israel at that time claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations, and hence by no means abandoned terrorism as a means of policy, a charge which Arafat denies.

In 1974, Arab heads of 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.

The operations of the PLO within Lebanon did not receive much news coverage. It is certain, however, that the PLO had played an important part in the Lebanese Civil War. Some Lebanese Christians allege that Arafat and the PLO were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens.

Israel allied with the Lebanese Christians and conducted two major invasions of Lebanon, the first being Operation Litani (1978), in which a narrow strip of land (the Security Zone) was captured and jointly held by the IDF and South Lebanon Army (SLA). The second being Operation Peace for Galilee (1982), in which Israel occupied most of South Lebanon but retreated back to the Security Zone in 1985. The Sabra and Shatila Massacre occurred during the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Between 800 and 3,500 Palestinian refugees were killed by Lebanese Maronite Christian Phalangist militias (which were allowed into the refugee camps by Israeli forces following the assassination of Lebanon's Christian president Bachir Gemayel). The Israeli invasions of Lebanon and the Phalangist massacre of Palestinian civilians amplified the deep bitterness and mistrust between Palestinians and the then-Minister of Defense, Ariel Sharon (who was found indirectly responsible for the massacre by an Israeli commission of inquiry and subsequently forced to resign).

Tunisia

In September 1982, during the Israeli invasion, the Americans had brokered a cease-fire deal in which Arafat and the PLO were allowed to clear Lebanon; Arafat and his leadership eventually arrived in Tunisia, which remained his center of operations up until 1993.

During the 1980s, Arafat received assistance from Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, which allowed him to reconstruct the badly-battered PLO. This was particularly useful when the First Intifada began in December, 1987. Within weeks, Arafat was in control of the revolt, and it was mainly because of Fatah forces in the West Bank that the civil unrest could continue for any length of time.

On November 15, 1988, the PLO proclaimed the "State of Palestine", a government-in-exile for the Palestinians, under the terms of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (the "1947 partition offer"). In the December 13, 1988 address, Arafat declared acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 242, promised future recognition of Israel and renounced terrorism. On April 2, 1989, Arafat was elected by the Central Council of the Palestine National Council (the governing body of the PLO) to be the president of this hypothetical Palestinian state.

The December 13 address was dictated by the American administration, which was anxious to begin political negotiations (the Camp David accords set the recognition of Israel as a necessary starting point); nevertheless it also indicated a shift from one of the PLO's primary aims - the destruction of Israel (as in the Palestinian National Covenant) - towards the establishment of two separate entities, an Israeli one within the 1967 borders and a Palestinian one in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This in turn allowed the beginning of a political process. In the 1991 Madrid Conference, Israel conducted open negotiations with the PLO for the first time. However, the relationship with Iraq became a major problem for Arafat during the Gulf War of 1991. He was the only Arab party to side with Iraq before the war; consequently, the Americans boycotted him, which impeded the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations already underway.

Palestinian Authority

However, the American disfavor soon passed, leading to the 1993 Oslo Accords, which called for the implementation of Palestinian self rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five year period. The following year Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin. In 1994, Arafat moved to the Palestinian Authority (PA) - the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords.

On January 20, 1996, Arafat was elected president of the PA, with an overwhelming 87% majority (the only other candidate being Samiha Khalil). Independent international observers reported the elections to have been free and fair. However, some critics allege that because most of the opposition movements chose not to participate in the elections the elections were not truly democratic. Further elections were announced for January 2002, but were later postponed, purportedly because of inability to campaign due to Israeli military incursions and restrictions on freedom of movement in the territories.

Since 1996, Arafat's title as Palestinian Authority leader has used the Arabic word ra'is (head) whose translation into English is a matter of dispute. Israeli documents usually translate it as "chairman", while Palestinian documents translate it as "president". The United States usually follows the Israeli practice, while the United Nations usually follows the Palestinian practice.

In mid-1996, following multiple suicide bus bombings, in which scores of Israelis were killed, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Palestinian-Israeli relations grew even more hostile as a consequence of continued terrorist incidents. Benjamin Netanyahu tried to obstruct the transition to Palestinian statehood outlined in the Israel-PLO accord. In 1998 U.S. President Bill Clinton intervened, arranging meeting with the two leaders. The resulting Wye River Memorandum of 23 October 1998 detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and PLO to complete the peace process.

Arafat continued negotiations with Netanyahu's successor, Ehud Barak. Due partly to his own politics (Barak was from the leftist Labor Party, whereas Netanyahu was from the rightist Likud Party) and partly due to immense pressure placed by American President Bill Clinton, Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital, a return of a limited number of refugees and a compensation for the rest, but failing to address other issues seen as vital to the process. In a move widely criticized abroad, Arafat rejected Barak's offer, and refused to make a counter-offer. Following a highly controversial visit by Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the violence which followed, the Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-present) began.

Recent news and commentary

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Arafat's personal and political survival is taken by most Western commentators 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 tactical and political situations is perhaps exemplified by the rise of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizations, fundamentalist groups using Islamic rhetoric to motivate suicide attacks against Israel. 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. Some allege that activities of these groups were tolerated by Arafat as a means of applying pressure on Israel (see PLO and Hamas.) Some Israeli government officials opined in 2002 that the Fatah's faction Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades began attacks on to compete with Hamas.

However, some believe the frequent Israeli military strikes against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat's security infrastructure have made it difficult for Arafat to effectively counter the increasing influence of groups like Hamas. And spokesmen for Hamas and Islamic Jihad have at times publicly supported Arafat, suggesting that the common Palestinian goal of freedom looms large over infighting between these factions.

On May 6, 2002, the Israeli government released a report, based in part on documents allegedly captured during the Israeli occupation of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, with copies of papers apparently signed by Arafat authorizing funding for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' terrorist activities. These documents, however, drew skepticism from various quarters because the Israeli military had forcefully prevented any independent observers or reporters from observing the operation.

Others point to the constraints of the political situation, and argue that Arafat could neither condemn nor constrain the tactics employed; and that any attempt to do so would endanger his rule or his life. Furthermore, ending violent resistance activities would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel refusal to employ terrorism would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel, which has access to weapons that Palestinians so far lack. The use of suicide bombers appears to be a permanent feature of this conflict. 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 and Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Supporters of this declaration saw this offer, which included recognition of Israel by the Arab states, as a historic opportunity for comprehensive peace in the region, while critics of this offer say that it would constitute a heavy blow to Israel's security, while not even guaranteeing Israel the cessation of suicide bombing attacks. Israel ignored the offer.

This was followed by a Palestinian attack on Israel (in which Arafat's group Fatah was involved), that led to the deaths of more than 135 Israelis. Ariel Sharon, who previously pressured Arafat to speak strongly in Arabic against suicide bombings, then declared 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 (see "Operation Defensive Shield".)

There was some speculation that personal animosity between the two men played a part in this escalation.

Persistent attempts by the Israeli government to identify another Palestinian leader to deal with had failed; and Arafat was enjoying the support of groups that, given his own history, would normally have been quite wary of dealing with him or of supporting him. Arafat was finally allowed to leave his compound on May 3, 2002 after intensive negotiations led to a settlement; six terrorists wanted by Israel, who had been holed up with Arafat in his compound, would not be turned over to Israel, but neither would they be held in custody by the Palestinian Authority. Rather, a combination of British and American security personnel would ensure that the wanted men remained imprisoned in Jericho. With that, and a promise that he would issue a call in Arabic to the Palestinians to halt terrorist attacks on Israelis, Arafat was released. He issued such a call on May 8, 2002, but, as was the case before, his public call to halt attacks was ignored.

On July 18, United States President George W Bush stated regarding Yasser Arafat: The real problem is that there is no leadership that is able to say 'help us establish a state and we will fight terror and answer the needs of the Palestinians'. (Le Figaro)

Israel has held Arafat in virtual arrest in his Ramallah compound for more than 2 years, by announcing that if Arafat left the compound he would be barred from returning. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has hinted on several occassions that Arafat could be assassinated by Israel.

In late October 2004 Arafat began to experience health problems, and on October 27, 2004 he reportedly vomited during a meeting and lost consciousness for ten minutes. There was disagreement about the seriousness of his condition, which was initially reported by some as flu. Later, however, Palestinian and Tunisian medical teams were called to his compound, followed on October 29 by doctors from Jordan and Egypt. According to one of his doctors, Arafat is suffering from ITP, a blood platelet deficiency. Some contend that this diagnosis does not adequately explain all the symptoms.

After these reports, Israeli government stated that Arafat was free to leave his compound for medical treatment. Initially, he had refused to go because of Israel's stated policy on barring his return. After Israel reiterated that Arafat's return to Ramallah would not be prevented if he went abroad for medical treatment, his doctors announced that Arafat would be moved abroad for additional medical tests. On October 29, Arafat was flown out to Paris, France, for medical treatment.

Relations with the Arab world

Many in Europe and the United States assume that all Arab governments support Yasser Arafat, or assume the Arab nations have united policies and views. In contrast, Arafat has had a mixed relationship at best with the leaders of other Arab nations. At various times he has come under withering criticism from Arab leaders and press. In the last few years growing disenchatment with Arafat and his peers has surfaced within the general Arab press. However, he remains by far the most popular Arab leader amoung the general populace.

Arab Times (Kuwait): 'Mr Arafat should quit his position because he is the head of a corrupt authority. There is no point for him to remain in politics... He has destroyed Palestine. He has led it to terrorism, death and a hopeless situation... All Arab leaders know this fact. It won't be possible for us to gain from the Middle East road map for peace if this man remains in power.'

BBC quoted a Jenin Martyrs' Brigade spokesman: 'With all due respect to President Arafat, the Palestinian Authority cannot continue being monopolised by and his relatives...we have our own ways to show our rejection.'

Al-Quds Al-Araby (London): 'What is happening in Gaza is a healthy phenomenon because it is a revolution against corruption and the corrupt... This is a warning not only to Mr Arafat... but to all Arab regimes which subjugate their people by turning a deaf ear to their calls for comprehensive change.'

Arafat's support from Arab leaders tends to increase whenever he is pressured by Israel; for example, in 2003 when Israel declared it had taken the decision, in principle, to remove him from the Israeli-controlled West Bank.

Financial dealings

As the leader of Palestinian resistance Arafat has been subject of Israeli campaigns to discredit him.

The Israeli Military Intelligence Chief claimed in August of 2002 that Arafat's personal wealth is US$ 1.3 billion, providing no substantiation for this claim. The pro-Israel U.S. business magazine "Forbes" 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 lives frugally and has no known major possessions, these claims appear to be 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 by European Union of claims of financial improprieties also found no improprieties. According to "Forbes", the new PA Finance Minister is tasked with reviewing PA finances, which may result in weakening of Arafat's control over them.

There were also unconfirmed claims by unnamed sources that Arafat's wife, Suha, receives a stipend of $100,000 each month. In an interview with the London-based newspaper Al Hayat, Mrs. Arafat accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of spreading rumors about money-laundering to distract media attention away from corruption allegations against him. In October 2003, French government prosecutors opened an money-laundering probe of Suha Arafat after Tracfin alerted the prosecutors to transfers of nearly $1.27 million each with some regularity from Switzerland to Mrs. Arafat's accounts in Paris.

FBI investigation for murder of American diplomats

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened an investigation of Arafat's role in the murder of two United States diplomats in Khartoum, Sudan on March 1st, 1973. On that date, eight members of the Black September terrorist organization stormed the Saudi embassy and took as hostages U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel, Charge d'Affaires George Curtis Moore and Belgian diplomat Guy Eid among others. The next day these three diplomats were killed by their captors. Among other material, the FBI is investigating National Security Agency copies of intercepts of conversations in which Arafat is believed to have ordered the killings. To date, the NSA has not produced the intercepts. Arafat's deputy, Saeeb Erekat, has denied the allegations.

Quotes

1972 "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: do not let the olive branch fall from my hand."

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 United Nations, New York

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)

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.

February 29, 2004 "Let it collapse, it will be the fault of Israel and the Americans." Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, to Edward G. Abington, a former State Department official who is now a Washington consultant to the Palestinian Authority regarding the future of the Palestinian Authority

External links

• The Israeli Reference Site on Arafat
• The Nobel e-Museum - Biography of Yasser Arafat
• Trailer of a documentary with video clips of Arafat's speeches, mostly towards the end of the trailer
• ABC News - Arafat Biography
• Yasir Arafat: Psychological Profile and Strategic Analysis
• Yasser Arafat from the Open Directory Project
• Yasser Arafat from Yahoo!
• Interview with Israeli Major General Amos Gilad in HaAretz
• Interview with Gilad's superior Amos Malka, accusing Gilad of misrepresenting the evidence
• Someone Was Going to Kill Newsweek Interview of Mahmoud Abbas (June 21 Issue)
• Life and times of Yassir Arafat, Profile: Yassir Arafat from Times Online, UK

• Current events
• 1929 births
• Nobel Peace Prize winners
• Palestinian people