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Yasser Arafat

February 15, 2024

"Yasir Arafat" redirects here. For other uses, see Yasir Arafat (disambiguation).

Yasser Arafat (/ˈærəfæt/, US also /ˈɑːrəfɑːt/;[2] August 1929 – 11 November 2004) was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004.[3] Ideologically an Arab nationalist and a socialist, Arafat was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.

Yasser Arafat
ياسر عرفات
Arafat in 1996
1st President of the Palestinian National Authority
In office
5 July 1994 – 11 November 2004
Prime Minister
Succeeded byRawhi Fattouh (interim)
3rd Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
In office
4 February 1969 – 29 October 2004
Preceded byYahya Hammuda
Succeeded byMahmoud Abbas
Personal details
Born
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini

4 or (1929-08-24)24 August 1929
Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt
Died11 November 2004(2004-11-11) (aged 75)
Clamart, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Resting placeArafat's compound
NationalityPalestinian
Political partyFatah
Spouse
​
(m. 1990)​
Children1
Alma materUniversity of King Fuad I
ProfessionCivil engineer
Signature
NicknameAbu Ammar[1]

Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent most of his youth. He studied at the University of King Fuad I. While a student, he embraced Arab nationalist and anti-Zionist ideas. Opposed to the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, he fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Following the defeat of Arab forces, Arafat returned to Cairo and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956.

In the latter part of the 1950s, Arafat co-founded Fatah, a paramilitary organization which sought Israel's replacement with a Palestinian state. Fatah operated within several Arab countries, from where it launched attacks on Israeli targets. In the latter part of the 1960s Arafat's profile grew; in 1967 he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and in 1969 was elected chair of the Palestinian National Council (PNC). Fatah's growing presence in Jordan resulted in military clashes with King Hussein's Jordanian government and in the early 1970s it relocated to Lebanon. There, Fatah assisted the Lebanese National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War and continued its attacks on Israel, resulting in the organization becoming a major target of Israeli invasions during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict and 1982 Lebanon War.

From 1983 to 1993, Arafat based himself in Tunisia, and began to shift his approach from open conflict with the Israelis to negotiation. In 1988, he acknowledged Israel's right to exist and sought a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In 1994, he returned to Palestine, settling in Gaza City and promoting self-governance for the Palestinian territories. He engaged in a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to end the conflict between it and the PLO. These included the Madrid Conference of 1991, the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2000 Camp David Summit. The success of the negotiations in Oslo led to Arafat being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, in 1994. At the time, Fatah's support among the Palestinians declined with the growth of Hamas and other militant rivals. In late 2004, after effectively being confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army, Arafat fell into a coma and died. While the cause of Arafat's death has remained the subject of speculation, investigations by Russian and French teams determined no foul play was involved.[4][5][6]

Arafat remains a controversial figure. Palestinians generally view him as a martyr who symbolized the national aspirations of his people, while many Israelis regarded him as a terrorist.[7][8][9][10] Palestinian rivals, including Islamists and several PLO radicals, frequently denounced him as corrupt or too submissive in his concessions to the Israeli government.

Name

Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (Arabic: محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, romanized: Muḥammad Yāsir ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbd al-Raʾūf ʿArafāt al-Qudwa al-Ḥusaynī‎; 4[11][12] or 24[13][14]: 269  August 1929 – 11 November 2004) was popularly known as Yasser Arafat (/ˈærəfæt/ ARR-ə-fat, US also /ˈɑːrəfɑːt/ AR-ə-FAHT;[2] Arabic: ياسر عرفات, romanized: Yāsir ʿArafāt, pronounced [ˈjaːsɪrˤ ʕɑrˤɑˈfaːt]) or by his kunya Abu Ammar (Arabic: أبو عمار, romanized: ʾAbū ʿAmmār).

Early life

 
Arafat (right) with his sister Khadija and brother Fathi in Cairo, 1942

Birth and childhood

Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt.[15] His father, Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini, was a Palestinian from Gaza City, whose mother, Yasser's paternal grandmother, was Egyptian. Arafat's father battled in the Egyptian courts for 25 years to claim family land in Egypt as part of his inheritance but was unsuccessful.[16] He worked as a textile merchant in Cairo's religiously mixed Sakakini District. Arafat was the second-youngest of seven children and was, along with his younger brother Fathi, the only offspring born in Cairo. Jerusalem was the family home of his mother, Zahwa Abul Saud, who died from a kidney ailment in 1933, when Arafat was four years of age.[17]

Arafat's first visit to Jerusalem came when his father, unable to raise seven children alone, sent Yasser and his brother Fathi to their mother's family in the Mughrabi Quarter of the Old City. They lived there with their uncle Salim Abul Saud for four years. In 1937, their father recalled them to be taken care of by their older sister, Inam. Arafat had a deteriorating relationship with his father; when he died in 1952, Arafat did not attend the funeral, nor did he visit his father's grave upon his return to Gaza. Arafat's sister Inam stated in an interview with Arafat's biographer, British historian Alan Hart, that Arafat was heavily beaten by his father for going to the Jewish quarter in Cairo and attending religious services. When she asked Arafat why he would not stop going, he responded by saying that he wanted to study Jewish mentality.[17]

Education

In 1944, Arafat enrolled in the University of King Fuad I and graduated in 1950.[17] At university, he engaged Jews in discussion and read publications by Theodor Herzl and other prominent Zionists.[18] By 1946 he was an Arab nationalist and began procuring weapons to be smuggled into the former British Mandate of Palestine, for use by irregulars in the Arab Higher Committee and the Army of the Holy War militias.[19]

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Arafat left the University and, along with other Arabs, sought to enter Palestine to join Arab forces fighting against Israeli troops and the creation of the state of Israel. However, instead of joining the ranks of the Palestinian fedayeen, Arafat fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood, although he did not join the organization. He took part in combat in the Gaza area (which was the main battleground of Egyptian forces during the conflict). In early 1949, the war was winding down in Israel's favor, and Arafat returned to Cairo due to a lack of logistical support.[17]

After returning to the University, Arafat studied civil engineering and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) from 1952 to 1956. During his first year as president of the union, the University was renamed Cairo University after a coup was carried out by the Free Officers Movement overthrowing King Farouk I. By that time, Arafat had graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and was called to duty to fight with Egyptian forces during the Suez Crisis; however, he never actually fought.[17] Later that year, at a conference in Prague, he donned a solid white keffiyeh–different from the fishnet-patterned one he adopted later in Kuwait, which was to become his emblem.[20]

Personal life

In 1990, Arafat married Suha Tawil, a Palestinian Christian, when he was 61 and Suha, 27. Her mother introduced her to him in France, after which she worked as his secretary in Tunis.[21][22] Prior to their marriage, Arafat adopted fifty Palestinian war orphans.[23] During their marriage, Suha tried to leave Arafat on many occasions, but he forbade it.[24] Suha said she regrets the marriage, and given the choice again would not repeat it.[24][25] In mid-1995, Arafat's wife Suha gave birth in a Paris hospital to a daughter, named Zahwa after Arafat's mother.[26]

Name

Arafat's full name was Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini. Mohammed Abdel Rahman was his first name, Abdel Raouf was his father's name and Arafat his grandfather's. Al-Qudwa was the name of his tribe and al-Husseini was that of the clan to which the al-Qudwas belonged. The al-Husseini clan was based in Gaza and is not related to the well-known al-Husayni clan of Jerusalem.[17]

Since Arafat was raised in Cairo, the tradition of dropping the Mohammed or Ahmad portion of one's first name was common; notable Egyptians such as Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak did so. However, Arafat dropped Abdel Rahman and Abdel Raouf from his name as well. During the early 1950s, Arafat adopted the name Yasser, and in the early years of Arafat's guerrilla career, he assumed the nom de guerre of Abu Ammar. Both names are related to Ammar ibn Yasir, one of Muhammad's early companions. Although he dropped most of his inherited names, he retained Arafat due to its significance in Islam.[17]

Rise of Fatah

Founding of Fatah

Following the Suez Crisis in 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser agreed to allow the United Nations Emergency Force to establish itself in the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, precipitating the expulsion of all guerrilla or "fedayeen" forces there—including Arafat. Arafat originally attempted to obtain a visa to Canada and later Saudi Arabia, but was unsuccessful in both attempts.[17] In 1957, he applied for a visa to Kuwait (at the time a British protectorate) and was approved, based on his work in civil engineering. There he encountered two Palestinian friends: Salah Khalaf ("Abu Iyad") and Khalil al-Wazir ("Abu Jihad"), both official members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Arafat had met Abu Iyad while attending Cairo University and Abu Jihad in Gaza. Both would later become Arafat's top aides. Abu Iyad traveled with Arafat to Kuwait in late 1960; Abu Jihad, also working as a teacher, had already been living there since 1959.[27] After settling in Kuwait, Abu Iyad helped Arafat obtain a temporary job as a schoolteacher.[28]

As Arafat began to develop friendships with Palestinian refugees (some of whom he knew from his Cairo days), he and the others gradually founded the group that became known as Fatah. The exact date for the establishment of Fatah is unknown. In 1959, the group's existence was attested to in the pages of a Palestinian nationalist magazine, Filastununa Nida al-Hayat (Our Palestine, The Call of Life), which was written and edited by Abu Jihad.[29] FaTaH is a reverse acronym of the Arabic name Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini which translates into "The Palestinian National Liberation Movement".[28][30] "Fatah" is also a word that was used in early Islamic times to refer to "conquest."[28]

Fatah dedicated itself to the liberation of Palestine by an armed struggle carried out by Palestinians themselves. This differed from other Palestinian political and guerrilla organizations, most of which firmly believed in a united Arab response.[28][31] Arafat's organization never embraced the ideologies of the major Arab governments of the time, in contrast to other Palestinian factions, which often became satellites of nations such as Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and others.[32]

In accordance with his ideology, Arafat generally refused to accept donations to his organization from major Arab governments, in order to act independently of them. He did not want to alienate them, and sought their undivided support by avoiding ideological alliances. However, to establish the groundwork for Fatah's future financial support, he enlisted contributions from the many wealthy Palestinians working in Kuwait and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, such as Qatar (where he met Mahmoud Abbas in 1961).[33] These businessmen and oil workers contributed generously to the Fatah organization. Arafat continued this process in other Arab countries, such as Libya and Syria.[28]

In 1962, Arafat and his closest companions migrated to Syria—a country sharing a border with Israel—which had recently seceded from its union with Egypt. Fatah had approximately three hundred members by this time, but none were fighters.[28] In Syria, he managed to recruit members by offering them higher incomes to enable his armed attacks against Israel. Fatah's manpower was incremented further after Arafat decided to offer new recruits much higher salaries than members of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA), the regular military force of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was created by the Arab League in 1964. On 31 December, a squad from al-Assifa, Fatah's armed wing, attempted to infiltrate Israel, but they were intercepted and detained by Lebanese security forces. Several other raids with Fatah's poorly trained and badly-equipped fighters followed this incident. Some were successful, others failed in their missions. Arafat often led these incursions personally.[28]

Arafat was detained in Syria's Mezzeh Prison when a Palestinian Syrian Army officer, Yusef Urabi, was killed. Urabi had been chairing a meeting to ease tensions between Arafat and Palestinian Liberation Front leader Ahmed Jibril, but neither Arafat nor Jibril attended, delegating representatives to attend on their behalf. Urabi was killed during or after the meeting amid disputed circumstances. On the orders of Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad, a close friend of Urabi, Arafat was subsequently arrested, found guilty by a three-man jury and sentenced to death. However, he and his colleagues were pardoned by President Salah Jadid shortly after the verdict.[34] The incident brought Assad and Arafat to unpleasant terms, which would surface later when Assad became President of Syria.[28]

Leader of the Palestinians

On 13 November 1966, Israel launched a major raid against the Jordanian administered West Bank town of as-Samu, in response to a Fatah-implemented roadside bomb attack which had killed three members of the Israeli security forces near the southern Green Line border. In the resulting skirmish, scores of Jordanian security forces were killed and 125 homes razed. This raid was one of several factors that led to the 1967 Six-Day War.[35]

The Six-Day war began when Israel launched air strikes against Egypt's air force on 5 June 1967. The war ended in an Arab defeat and Israel's occupation of several Arab territories, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Although Nasser and his Arab allies had been defeated, Arafat and Fatah could claim a victory, in that the majority of Palestinians, who had up to that time tended to align and sympathize with individual Arab governments, now began to agree that a 'Palestinian' solution to their dilemma was indispensable.[36] Many primarily Palestinian political parties, including George Habash's Arab Nationalist Movement, Hajj Amin al-Husseini's Arab Higher Committee, the Islamic Liberation Front and several Syrian-backed groups, virtually crumbled after their sponsor governments' defeat. Barely a week after the defeat, Arafat crossed the Jordan River in disguise and entered the West Bank, where he set up recruitment centers in Hebron, the Jerusalem area and Nablus, and began attracting both fighters and financiers for his cause.[36]

At the same time, Nasser contacted Arafat through the former's adviser Mohammed Heikal and Arafat was declared by Nasser to be the "leader of the Palestinians."[37] In December 1967 Ahmad Shukeiri resigned his post as PLO Chairman. Yahya Hammuda took his place and invited Arafat to join the organization. Fatah was allocated 33 of 105 seats of the PLO Executive Committee while 57 seats were left for several other guerrilla factions.[36]

Battle of Karameh

Main article: Battle of Karameh

Throughout 1968, Fatah and other Palestinian armed groups were the target of a major Israeli army operation in the Jordanian village of Karameh, where the Fatah headquarters—as well as a mid-sized Palestinian refugee camp—were located. The town's name is the Arabic word for 'dignity', which elevated its symbolism in the eyes of the Arab people, especially after the collective Arab defeat in 1967. The operation was in response to attacks, including rockets strikes from Fatah and other Palestinian militias, within the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to Said Aburish, the government of Jordan and a number of Fatah commandos informed Arafat that large-scale Israeli military preparations for an attack on the town were underway, prompting fedayeen groups, such as George Habash's newly formed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Nayef Hawatmeh's breakaway organization the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), to withdraw their forces from the town. Though advised by a sympathetic Jordanian Army divisional commander to withdraw his men and headquarters to the nearby hills, Arafat refused,[36] stating, "We want to convince the world that there are those in the Arab world who will not withdraw or flee."[38] Aburish writes that it was on Arafat's orders that Fatah remained, and that the Jordanian Army agreed to back them if heavy fighting ensued.[36]

In response to persistent PLO raids against Israeli civilian targets, Israel attacked the town of Karameh, Jordan, the site of a major PLO camp. The goal of the invasion was to destroy Karameh camp and capture Yasser Arafat in reprisal for the attacks by the PLO against Israeli civilians, which culminated in an Israeli school bus hitting a mine in the Negev, killing two children.[39] However, plans for the two operations were prepared in 1967, one year before the bus attack.[40] The size of the Israeli forces entering Karameh made the Jordanians assume that Israel was also planning to occupy the eastern bank of the Jordan River, including the Balqa Governorate, to create a situation similar to the Golan Heights, which Israel had captured just 10 months prior, to be used a bargaining chip.[41][42] Israel assumed that the Jordanian Army would ignore the invasion, but the latter fought alongside the Palestinians, opening heavy fire that inflicted losses upon the Israeli forces.[43] This engagement marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian forces.[44] The Israelis were repelled at the end of a day's battle, having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken around 141 PLO prisoners.[45] Both sides declared victory. On a tactical level, the battle went in Israel's favor[46] and the destruction of the Karameh camp was achieved.[47] However, the relatively high casualties were a considerable surprise for the Israel Defense Forces and was stunning to the Israelis.[48] Although the Palestinians were not victorious on their own, King Hussein let the Palestinians take credit.[48][49][50] Some have alleged that Arafat himself was on the battlefield, but the details of his involvement are unclear. However, his allies–as well as Israeli intelligence–confirm that he urged his men throughout the battle to hold their ground and continue fighting.[51] The battle was covered in detail by Time, and Arafat's face appeared on the cover of the 13 December 1968 issue, bringing his image to the world for the first time.[52] Amid the post-war environment, the profiles of Arafat and Fatah were raised by this important turning point, and he came to be regarded as a national hero who dared to confront Israel. With mass applause from the Arab world, financial donations increased significantly, and Fatah's weaponry and equipment improved. The group's numbers swelled as many young Arabs, including thousands of non-Palestinians, joined the ranks of Fatah.[53]

When the Palestinian National Council (PNC) convened in Cairo on 3 February 1969, Yahya Hammuda stepped down from his chairmanship of the PLO. Arafat was elected chairman on 4 February.[54][55] He became Commander-in-Chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces two years later, and in 1973, became the head of the PLO's political department.[36]

Confrontation with Jordan

See also: Black September
 
Arafat with Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader, Nayef Hawatmeh and Palestinian writer Kamal Nasser at press conference in Amman, 1970

In the late 1960s, tensions between Palestinians and the Jordanian government increased greatly; heavily armed Palestinian elements had created a virtual "state within a state" in Jordan, eventually controlling several strategic positions in that country. After their proclaimed victory in the Battle of Karameh, Fatah and other Palestinian militias began taking control of civil life in Jordan. They set up roadblocks, publicly humiliated Jordanian police forces, molested women and levied illegal taxes—all of which Arafat either condoned or ignored.[38] King Hussein considered this a growing threat to his kingdom's sovereignty and security, and attempted to disarm the militias. However, in order to avoid a military confrontation with opposition forces, Hussein dismissed several of his anti-PLO cabinet officials, including some of his own family members, and invited Arafat to become Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan. Arafat refused, citing his belief in the need for a Palestinian state with Palestinian leadership.[56]

Despite Hussein's intervention, militant actions in Jordan continued. On 15 September 1970, the PFLP (part of the PLO) hijacked four planes and landed three of them at Dawson's Field, located 30 miles (48 km) east of Amman. After the foreign national hostages were taken off the planes and moved away from them, three of the planes were blown up in front of international press, which took photos of the explosion. This tarnished Arafat's image in many western nations, including the United States, who held him responsible for controlling Palestinian factions that belonged to the PLO. Arafat, bowing to pressure from Arab governments, publicly condemned the hijackings and suspended the PFLP from any guerrilla actions for a few weeks. He had taken the same action after the PFLP attacked Athens Airport. The Jordanian government moved to regain control over its territory, and the next day, King Hussein declared martial law.[56] On the same day, Arafat became supreme commander of the PLA.[57]

 
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser (center) mediating an agreement between Arafat and Jordanian King Hussein to end to the Black September conflict, during the emergency Arab League summit, September 1970

As the conflict raged, other Arab governments attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution. As part of this effort, Gamal Abdel Nasser led the first emergency Arab League summit in Cairo on 21 September. Arafat's speech drew sympathy from attending Arab leaders. Other heads of state took sides against Hussein, among them Muammar Gaddafi, who mocked him and his schizophrenic father King Talal. A ceasefire was agreed upon between the two sides, but Nasser died of a massive heart attack hours after the summit, and the conflict resumed shortly afterward.[56]

By 25 September, the Jordanian Army achieved dominance, and two days later Arafat and Hussein agreed to a ceasefire in Amman. The Jordanian Army inflicted heavy casualties on the Palestinians—including civilians—who suffered approximately 3,500 fatalities.[57] After repeated violations of the ceasefire from both the PLO and the Jordanian Army, Arafat called for King Hussein to be toppled. Responding to the threat, in June 1971, Hussein ordered his forces to oust all remaining Palestinian fighters in northern Jordan, which they accomplished. Arafat and a number of his forces, including two high-ranking commanders, Abu Iyad and Abu Jihad, were forced into the northern corner of Jordan. They relocated near the town of Jerash, near the border with Syria. With the help of Munib Masri, a pro-Palestinian Jordanian cabinet member, and Fahd al-Khomeimi, the Saudi ambassador to Jordan, Arafat managed to enter Syria with nearly two thousand of his fighters. However, due to the hostility of relations between Arafat and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad (who had since ousted President Salah Jadid), the Palestinian fighters crossed the border into Lebanon to join PLO forces in that country, where they set up their new headquarters.[58]

Headquarters in Lebanon

Official recognition

 
Yasser Arafat visits East Germany in 1971; background: Brandenburg Gate
 
Yasser Arafat with Bhim Singh, founder of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, in the 1970s

Because of Lebanon's weak central government, the PLO was able to operate virtually as an independent state.[59] During this time in the 1970s, numerous leftist PLO groups took up arms against Israel, carrying out attacks against civilians as well as military targets within Israel and outside of it.[60]

Two major incidents occurred in 1972. The Fatah subgroup Black September Organization hijacked Sabena Flight 572 en route to Vienna and forced it to land at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.[61] The PFLP and the Japanese Red Army carried out a shooting rampage at the same airport, killing twenty-four civilians.[61][62] Israel later claimed that the assassination of PFLP spokesman Ghassan Kanafani was a response to the PFLP's involvement in masterminding the latter attack. Two days later, various PLO factions retaliated by bombing a bus station, killing eleven civilians.[61]

At the Munich Olympic Games, Black September kidnapped and killed eleven Israeli athletes.[63] A number of sources, including Mohammed Oudeh (Abu Daoud), one of the masterminds of the Munich massacre, and Benny Morris, a prominent Israeli historian, have stated that Black September was an armed branch of Fatah used for paramilitary operations. According to Abu Daoud's 1999 book, "Arafat was briefed on plans for the Munich hostage-taking."[64] The killings were internationally condemned. In 1973–74, Arafat closed Black September down, ordering the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[65]

In 1974, the PNC approved the Ten Point Program (drawn up by Arafat and his advisers), and proposed a compromise with the Israelis. It called for a Palestinian national authority over every part of "liberated" Palestinian territory,[66] which refers to areas captured by Arab forces in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War (present-day West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip). This caused discontent among several of the PLO factions; the PFLP, DFLP and other parties formed a breakaway organization, the Rejectionist Front.[67]

Israel and the US have alleged also that Arafat was involved in the 1973 Khartoum diplomatic assassinations, in which five diplomats and five others were killed. A 1973 United States Department of State document, declassified in 2006, concluded "The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat."[68][69] Arafat denied any involvement in the operation and insisted it was carried out independently by the Black September Organization. Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations and therefore had not abandoned terrorism.[70]

In addition, some circles within the US State Department viewed Arafat as an able diplomat and negotiator who could get support from many Arab governments at once. An example of that, we find in March 1973 that Arafat tried to arrange for a meeting between the President of Iraq and the Emir of Kuwait in order to resolve their disputes.[71]

Also in 1974, the PLO was declared the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and admitted to full membership of the Arab League at the Rabat Summit.[67] Arafat became the first representative of a non-governmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly. In his United Nations address, Arafat condemned Zionism, but said:

Today I have come bearing an olive branch in one hand and a freedom fighter's rifle in another. Do not let the green branch fall from my hand.[72]

He wore a holster throughout his speech, although it did not contain a gun.[73][74] His speech increased international sympathy for the Palestinian cause.[67]

Following recognition, Arafat established relationships with a variety of world leaders, including Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin. Arafat was Amin's best man at his wedding in Uganda in 1975.[75][76]

Fatah involvement in Lebanese Civil War

See also: Lebanese Civil War and Battle of Tripoli (1983)
 
Arafat in a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, 1978

Although hesitant at first to take sides in the conflict, Arafat and Fatah played an important role in the Lebanese Civil War. Succumbing to pressure from PLO sub-groups such as the PFLP, DFLP and the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), Arafat aligned the PLO with the Communist and Nasserist Lebanese National Movement (LNM). The LNM was led by Kamal Jumblatt, who had a friendly relationship with Arafat and other PLO leaders. Although originally aligned with Fatah, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad feared a loss of influence in Lebanon and switched sides. He sent his army, along with the Syrian-backed Palestinian factions of as-Sa'iqa and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) led by Ahmad Jibril to fight alongside right-wing Christian forces against the PLO and the LNM. The primary components of the Christian front were the Phalangists loyal to Bachir Gemayel and the Tigers Militia led by Dany Chamoun, a son of former President Camille Chamoun.[77]

In February 1975, a pro-Palestinian Lebanese MP, Maarouf Saad, was shot and killed, reportedly by the Lebanese Army.[78] His death from his wounds, the following month, and the massacre in April of 27 Palestinians and Lebanese travelling on a bus from Sabra and Shatila to the Tel al-Zaatar refugee camp by Phalangist forces precipitated the Lebanese Civil War.[79] Arafat was reluctant to respond with force, but many other Fatah and PLO members felt otherwise.[38] For example, the DFLP carried out several attacks against the Lebanese Army. In 1976, an alliance of Christian militias with the backing of the Lebanese and Syrian armies besieged Tel al-Zaatar camp in east Beirut.[80][81] The PLO and LNM retaliated by attacking the town of Damour, a Phalangist stronghold where they massacred 684 people and wounded many more.[80][82] The Tel al-Zaatar camp fell to the Christians after a six-month siege in which thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed.[83] Arafat and Abu Jihad blamed themselves for not successfully organizing a rescue effort.[77]

 
Arafat with Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (center) and PFLP leader George Habash (right) in Syria, 1980

PLO cross-border raids against Israel grew during the late 1970s. One of the most severe—known as the Coastal Road massacre—occurred on 11 March 1978. A force of nearly a dozen Fatah fighters landed their boats near a major coastal road connecting the city of Haifa with Tel Aviv-Yafo. There they hijacked a bus and sprayed gunfire inside and at passing vehicles, killing thirty-seven civilians.[84] In response, the IDF launched Operation Litani three days later, with the goal of taking control of Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. The IDF achieved this goal, and Arafat withdrew PLO forces north into Beirut.[85]

 
Arafat with Iranian Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, days after Iranian Revolution

After Israel withdrew from Lebanon, cross-border hostilities between PLO forces and Israel continued, though from August 1981 to May 1982, the PLO adopted an official policy of refraining from responding to provocations.[86] On 6 June 1982, Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon to expel the PLO from southern Lebanon. Beirut was soon besieged and bombarded by the IDF;[77] Arafat declared the city to be the "Hanoi and Stalingrad of the Israeli army."[77] The Civil War's first phase ended and Arafat—who was commanding Fatah forces at Tel al-Zaatar—narrowly escaped with assistance from Saudi and Kuwaiti diplomats.[87] Towards the end of the siege, the US and European governments brokered an agreement guaranteeing safe passage for Arafat and the PLO—guarded by a multinational force of eight hundred US Marines supported by the US Navy—to exile in Tunis.[77] Arafat returned to Lebanon a year after his eviction from Beirut, this time establishing himself in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. This time Arafat was expelled by a fellow Palestinian working under Hafez al-Assad. Arafat did not return to Lebanon after his second expulsion, though many Fatah fighters did.[77]

Headquarters in Tunisia

Arafat and Fatah's center for operations was based in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, until 1993. In 1985 Arafat narrowly survived an Israeli assassination attempt when Israeli Air Force F-15s bombed his Tunis headquarters as part of Operation Wooden Leg, leaving 73 people dead; Arafat had gone out jogging that morning.[88] The following year Arafat had his operational headquarters in Baghdad for some time.[89]

First Intifada

During the 1980s, Arafat received financial assistance from Libya, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which allowed him to reconstruct the badly damaged PLO. This was particularly useful during the First Intifada in December 1987, which began as an uprising of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The word Intifada in Arabic is literally translated as "tremor"; however, it is generally defined as an uprising or revolt.[90]

The first stage of the Intifada began following an incident at the Erez checkpoint where four Palestinian residents of the Jabalya refugee camp were killed in a traffic accident involving an Israeli driver. Rumors spread that the deaths were a deliberate act of revenge for an Israeli shopper who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian in Gaza four days earlier. Mass rioting broke out, and within weeks, partly upon consistent requests by Abu Jihad, Arafat attempted to direct the uprising, which lasted until 1992–93. Abu Jihad had previously been assigned the responsibility of the Palestinian territories within the PLO command and, according to biographer Said Aburish, had "impressive knowledge of local conditions" in the Israeli-occupied territories. On 16 April 1988, as the Intifada was raging, Abu Jihad was assassinated in his Tunis household by an Israeli hit squad. Arafat had considered Abu Jihad as a PLO counterweight to local Palestinian leadership in the territories, and led a funeral procession for him in Damascus.[90]

The most common tactic used by Palestinians during the Intifada was throwing stones, molotov cocktails, and burning tires.[91] The local leadership in some West Bank towns commenced non-violent protests against Israeli occupation by engaging in tax resistance and other boycotts. Israel responded by confiscating large sums of money in house-to-house raids.[90][92] As the Intifada came to a close, new armed Palestinian groups—in particular Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)—began targeting Israeli civilians with the new tactic of suicide bombings, and internal fighting amongst the Palestinians increased dramatically.[90]

Change in direction

In August 1970, Arafat declared: "Our basic aim is to liberate the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. We are not concerned with what took place in June 1967 or in eliminating the consequences of the June war. The Palestinian revolution's basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it."[93] However, in early 1976, at a meeting with US Senator Adlai Stevenson III, Arafat suggested that if Israel withdrew a "few kilometers" from parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and transferred responsibility to the UN, Arafat could give "something to show his people before he could acknowledge Israel's right to exist".[94]

On 15 November 1988, the PLO proclaimed the independent State of Palestine. Though he had frequently been accused of and associated with terrorism,[95][96][97] in speeches on 13 and 14 December Arafat repudiated 'terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism'. He accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242 and Israel's right "to exist in peace and security" and[98] Arafat's statements were greeted with approval by the US administration, which had long insisted on these statements as a necessary starting point for official discussions between the US and the PLO. These remarks from Arafat indicated a shift away from one of the PLO's primary aims—the destruction of Israel (as entailed in the Palestinian National Covenant)–and toward the establishment of two separate entities: an Israeli state within the 1949 armistice lines, and an Arab state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On 2 April 1989, Arafat was elected by the Central Council of the Palestine National Council, the governing body of the PLO, to be the president of the proclaimed State of Palestine.[90]

Prior to the Gulf War in 1990–91, when the Intifada's intensity began to wear down, Arafat supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and opposed the US-led coalition attack on Iraq. He made this decision without the consent of other leading members of Fatah and the PLO. Arafat's top aide Abu Iyad vowed to stay neutral and opposed an alliance with Saddam; on 17 January 1991, Abu Iyad was assassinated by the Abu Nidal Organization. Arafat's decision also severed relations with Egypt and many of the oil-producing Arab states that supported the US-led coalition. Many in the US also used Arafat's position as a reason to disregard his claims to being a partner for peace. After the end of hostilities, many Arab states that backed the coalition cut off funds to the PLO and began providing financial support for the organization's rival Hamas and other Islamist groups.[90] Arafat narrowly escaped death again on 7 April 1992, when an Air Bissau aircraft he was a passenger on crash-landed in the Libyan Desert during a sandstorm. Two pilots and an engineer were killed; Arafat was bruised and shaken.[99]

Palestinian Authority and peace negotiations

Further information: Palestinian views on the peace process § Yasser Arafat and the PLO

Oslo Accords

 
Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Arafat during the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993
 
Arafat, Shimon Peres and Rabin receiving the Nobel Peace Prize following the Oslo Accords, 10 December 1994

In the early 1990s, Arafat and leading Fatah officials engaged the Israeli government in a series of secret talks and negotiations that led to the 1993 Oslo Accords.[70][100] The agreement called for the implementation of Palestinian self-rule in portions of the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five-year period, along with an immediate halt to and gradual removal of Israeli settlements in those areas. The accords called for a Palestinian police force to be formed from local recruits and Palestinians abroad, to patrol areas of self-rule. Authority over the various fields of rule, including education and culture, social welfare, direct taxation and tourism, would be transferred to the Palestinian interim government. Both parties agreed also on forming a committee that would establish cooperation and coordination dealing with specific economic sectors, including utilities, industry, trade and communication.[101]

Prior to signing the accords, Arafat—as Chairman of the PLO and its official representative—signed two letters renouncing violence and officially recognizing Israel. In return, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, on behalf of Israel, officially recognized the PLO.[102] The following year, Arafat and Rabin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Shimon Peres.[103] The Palestinian reaction was mixed. The Rejectionist Front of the PLO allied itself with Islamists in a common opposition against the agreements. It was rejected also by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan as well as by many Palestinian intellectuals and the local leadership of the Palestinian territories. However, the inhabitants of the territories generally accepted the agreements and Arafat's promise for peace and economic well-being.[104]

Establishing authority in the territories

In accordance with the terms of the Oslo agreement, Arafat was required to implement PLO authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He insisted that financial support was imperative to establishing this authority and needed it to secure the acceptance of the agreements by the Palestinians living in those areas. However, Arab states of the Persian Gulf—Arafat's usual source for financial backing—still refused to provide him and the PLO with any major donations for siding with Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.[104] Ahmed Qurei—a key Fatah negotiator during the negotiations in Oslo—publicly announced that the PLO was bankrupt.[105]

In 1994, Arafat moved to Gaza City, which was controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)—the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords.[103] Arafat became the President and Prime Minister of the PNA, the Commander of the PLA and the Speaker of the PLC. In July, after the PNA was declared the official government of the Palestinians, the Basic Laws of the Palestinian National Authority was published,[106] in three different versions by the PLO. Arafat proceeded with creating a structure for the PNA. He established an executive committee or cabinet composed of twenty members. Arafat also replaced and assigned mayors and city councils for major cities such as Gaza and Nablus. He began subordinating non-governmental organizations that worked in education, health, and social affairs under his authority by replacing their elected leaders and directors with PNA officials loyal to him. He then appointed himself chairman of the Palestinian financial organization that was created by the World Bank to control most aid money towards helping the new Palestinian entity.[104]

Arafat established a Palestinian police force, named the Preventive Security Service (PSS), that became active on 13 May 1994. It was mainly composed of PLA soldiers and foreign Palestinian volunteers. Arafat assigned Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub to head the PSS.[104] Amnesty International accused Arafat and the PNA leadership of failing to adequately investigate abuses by the PSS (including torture and unlawful killings) against political opponents and dissidents as well as the arrests of human rights activists.[107]

Throughout November and December 1995, Arafat toured dozens of Palestinian cities and towns that were evacuated by Israeli forces including Jenin, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Nablus, Qalqilyah and Tulkarm, declaring them "liberated". The PNA also gained control of the West Bank's postal service during this period.[108] On 20 January 1996, Arafat was elected president of the PNA, with an overwhelming 88.2 percent majority (the other candidate was charity organizer Samiha Khalil). However, because Hamas, the DFLP and other popular opposition movements chose to boycott the presidential elections, the choices were limited. Arafat's landslide victory guaranteed Fatah 51 of the 88 seats in the PLC. After Arafat was elected to the post of President of the PNA, he was often referred to as the Ra'is, (literally president in Arabic), although he spoke of himself as "the general".[109] In 1997, the PLC accused the executive branch of the PNA of financial mismanagement causing the resignation of four members of Arafat's cabinet. Arafat refused to resign his post.[110]

Other peace agreements

 
Arafat with PNA cabinet members Yasser Abed Rabbo (left) and Nabil Shaath (right) at a meeting in Copenhagen, 1999

In mid-1996, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Palestinian-Israeli relations grew even more hostile as a result of continued conflict.[111] Despite the Israel-PLO accord, Netanyahu opposed the idea of Palestinian statehood.[112] In 1998, US President Bill Clinton persuaded the two leaders to meet. The resulting Wye River Memorandum detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and PNA to complete the peace process.[113]

 
Arafat with Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton at Camp David Summit, 2000

Arafat continued negotiations with Netanyahu's successor, Ehud Barak, at the Camp David 2000 Summit in July 2000. 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 insistence for compromise by President Clinton, Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state in 73 percent of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian percentage of sovereignty would extend to 90 percent over a ten- to twenty-five-year period. Also included in the offer was the return of a small number of refugees and compensation for those not allowed to return. Palestinians would also have "custodianship" over Al-Aqsa, sovereignty on all Islamic and Christian holy sites, and three of Jerusalem's four Old City quarters. Arafat rejected Barak's offer and refused to make an immediate counter-offer.[100] He told President Clinton that, "the Arab leader who would surrender Jerusalem is not born yet."[114]

After the September 2000 outbreak of the Second Intifada, negotiations continued at the Taba summit in January 2001; this time, Ehud Barak pulled out of the talks to campaign in the Israeli elections. In October and December 2001, suicide bombings by Palestinian militant groups increased and Israeli counter strikes intensified. Following the election of Ariel Sharon in February, the peace process took a steep downfall. Palestinian elections scheduled for January 2002 were postponed—the stated reason was an inability to campaign due to the emergency conditions imposed by the Intifada, as well as IDF incursions and restrictions on freedom of movement in the Palestinian territories. In the same month, Sharon ordered Arafat to be confined to his Mukata'a headquarters in Ramallah, following an attack in the Israeli city of Hadera;[114] US President George W. Bush supported Sharon's action, claiming that Arafat was "an obstacle to the peace."[115]

Political survival

Footage of Arafat speaking and meeting international leaders

Arafat's long personal and political survival was 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.[116] Some commentators believe his survival was largely due to Israel's fear that he could become a martyr for the Palestinian cause if he were assassinated or even arrested by Israel.[117] Others believe that Israel refrained from taking action against Arafat because it feared Arafat less than Hamas and the other Islamist movements gaining support over Fatah. The complex and fragile web of relations between the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states contributed also to Arafat's longevity as the leader of the Palestinians.[116]

Israel attempted to assassinate Arafat on a number of occasions, but has never used its own agents, preferring instead to "turn" Palestinians close to the intended target, usually using blackmail.[118] According to Alan Hart, the Mossad's specialty is poison.[118] According to Abu Iyad, two attempts were made on Arafat's life by the Israeli Mossad and the Military Directorate in 1970.[119] In 1976, Abu Sa'ed, a Palestinian agent working for the Mossad, was enlisted in a plot to put poison pellets that looked like grains of rice in Arafat's food. Abu Iyad explains that Abu Sa'ed confessed after he received the order to go ahead, explaining that he was unable to go through with the plot because, "He was first of all a Palestinian and his conscience wouldn't let him do it."[120] Arafat claimed in a 1988 interview with Time that because of his fear of assassination by the Israelis, he never slept in the same place two nights in a row.[121]

Relations with Hamas and other militant groups

Arafat's ability to adapt to new tactical and political situations was perhaps tested by the rise of the Hamas and PIJ organizations, Islamist groups espousing rejectionist policies with Israel. These groups often bombed non-military targets, such as malls and movie theaters, to increase the psychological damage and civilian casualties. In the 1990s, these groups seemed to threaten Arafat's capacity to hold together a unified nationalist organization with a goal of statehood.[116]

An attack carried out by Hamas militants in March 2002 killed 29 Israeli civilians celebrating Passover, including many senior citizens.[122] In response, Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield, a major military offensive into major West Bank cities. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, stated in September 2010 that Arafat had instructed Hamas to launch what he termed "military operations" against Israel in 2000 when Arafat felt that negotiations with Israel would not succeed.[123]

Some Israeli government officials opined in 2002 that the armed Fatah sub-group al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commenced attacks towards Israel in order to compete with Hamas.[124] On 6 May 2002, the Israeli government released a report, based in part on documents, allegedly captured during the Israeli raid of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, which allegedly included copies of papers signed by Arafat authorizing funding for al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' activities. The report implicated Arafat in the "planning and execution of terror attacks".[125]

Attempts to marginalize

Persistent attempts by the Israeli government to identify another Palestinian leader to represent the Palestinian people failed. Arafat was enjoying the support of groups that, given his own history, would normally have been quite wary of dealing with or supporting him. Marwan Barghouti (a leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades) emerged as a possible replacement during the Second Intifada, but Israel had him arrested for allegedly being involved in the killing of twenty-six civilians, and he was sentenced to five life terms.[126]

Arafat was finally allowed to leave his compound on 2 May 2002 after intense negotiations led to a settlement: six PFLP militants, including the organization's secretary-general Ahmad Sa'adat, wanted by Israel, who had been holed up with Arafat in his compound, would be transferred to international custody in Jericho. After the wanted men were handed over the siege was lifted.[127] With that, and a promise that he would issue a call to the Palestinians to halt attacks on Israelis, Arafat was released. He issued such a call on 8 May. On 19 September 2002, the IDF largely demolished the compound with armored bulldozers in order to isolate Arafat.[128][129][130] In March 2003, Arafat ceded his post as Prime Minister to Mahmoud Abbas amid pressures by the US.[131]

The Israeli security Cabinet on 11 September 2003 decided that "Israel will act to remove this obstacle [Arafat] in the manner, at the time, and in the ways that will be decided on separately".[132] Israeli Cabinet members and officials hinted on Arafat's death,[133][134][135] the Israeli military had begun making preparations for Arafat's possible expulsion in the near future,[136][137] and many feared for his life. Israeli peace activists of Gush Shalom, Knesset members and others went into the Presidential Compound prepared to serve as a human shield.[138] The compound remained under siege until Arafat's transfer to a French hospital, shortly before his death.

In 2004, President Bush dismissed Arafat as a negotiating partner, saying he had "failed as a leader", and accused him of undercutting Abbas when he was prime minister (Abbas resigned the same year he was given the position).[139] Arafat had a mixed relationship with the leaders of other Arab nations. His support from Arab leaders tended to increase whenever he was pressured by Israel; for example, when Israel declared in 2003 it had made the decision, in principle, to remove him from the Israeli-controlled West Bank.[114] In an interview with the Arabic news network Al Jazeera, Arafat responded to Ariel Sharon's suggestion that he be exiled from the Palestinian territories permanently, by stating, "Is it his [Sharon's] homeland or ours? We were planted here before the Prophet Abraham came, but it looks like they [Israelis] don't understand history or geography."[114]

Financial dealings

Under the Oslo Peace Accords, Israel undertook to deposit the VAT tax receipts on goods purchased by Palestinians into the Palestinian treasury. Until 2000, these monies were transferred directly to Arafat's personal accounts at Bank Leumi, in Tel Aviv. [140]

In August 2002, the Israeli Military Intelligence Chief alleged that Arafat's personal wealth was in the range of US$1.3 billion.[141] In 2003 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted an audit of the PNA and stated that Arafat had diverted $900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by himself and the PNA Chief Economic Financial adviser. However, the IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties, and it specifically stated that most of the funds had been used to invest in Palestinian assets, both internally and abroad.[142][143]

However, in 2003, a team of American accountants—hired by Arafat's own finance ministry—began examining Arafat's finances. In its conclusions, the team claimed that part of the Palestinian leader's wealth was in a secret portfolio worth close to $1 billion, with investments in companies like a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ramallah, a Tunisian cell phone company and venture capital funds in the U.S. and the Cayman Islands. The head of the investigation stated that "although the money for the portfolio came from public funds like Palestinian taxes, virtually none of it was used for the Palestinian people; it was all controlled by Arafat. And none of these dealings were made public."[144] An investigation conducted by the General Accounting Office reported that Arafat and the PLO held over $10 billion in assets even at the time when he was publicly claiming bankruptcy.[145]

Although Arafat lived a modest lifestyle, Dennis Ross, former Middle East negotiator for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, stated that Arafat's "walking-around money" financed a vast patronage system known as neopatrimonialism. According to Salam Fayyad—a former World Bank official whom Arafat appointed Finance Minister of the PNA in 2002—Arafat's commodity monopolies could accurately be seen as gouging his own people, "especially in Gaza which is poorer, which is something that is totally unacceptable and immoral." Fayyad claims that Arafat used $20 million from public funds to pay the leadership of the PNA security forces (the Preventive Security Service) alone.[144]

Fuad Shubaki, former financial aide to Arafat, told the Israeli security service Shin Bet that Arafat used several million dollars of aid money to buy weapons and support militant groups.[146] During Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, the Israel army recovered counterfeit money and documents from Arafat's Ramallah headquarters. The documents showed that, in 2001, Arafat personally approved payments to Tanzim militants.[147] The Palestinians claimed that the counterfeit money was confiscated from criminal elements.[148]

Illness and death

Unsuccessful Israeli assassination attempts

The Israeli government tried for decades to assassinate Arafat, including attempting to intercept and shoot down private aircraft and commercial airliners on which he was believed to be traveling.[149] The assassination was initially assigned to Caesarea, the Mossad unit in charge of Israel's numerous targeted killings. Shooting down a commercial airliner in international airspace over very deep water was thought to be preferable to make recovery of the wreckage, and hence investigation, more difficult.[149] Following Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon created a special task force code named "Salt Fish" headed by special operations experts Meir Dagan and Rafi Eitan to track Arafat's movements in Lebanon to kill him because Sharon saw Arafat as a "Jew murderer" and an important symbol, symbols being as important as body counts in a war against a terrorist organization. The Salt Fish task force orchestrated the bombing of buildings where Arafat and senior PLO leaders were believed to be staying. Later renamed "Operation Goldfish", Israeli operatives followed Israeli journalist Uri Avnery to a meeting with Arafat in an additional unsuccessful attempt to kill him. In 2001, Sharon as prime minister is believed to have made a commitment to cease attempts to assassinate Arafat. However, following Israel's successful assassination in March 2004 of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a founder of the Hamas movement, Sharon stated in April 2004 that "this commitment of mine no longer exists."[149]

Failing health

The first reports of Arafat's failing health by his doctors for what his spokesman said was influenza came on 25 October 2004, after he vomited during a staff meeting. His condition deteriorated in the following days.[150] Following visits by other doctors, including teams from Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt—and agreement by Israel to allow him to travel—Arafat was flown from Ramallah to Jordan by a Jordanian military helicopter and from there to France on a French military plane. He was admitted to the Percy military hospital in Clamart, a suburb of Paris.[151][152][153] On 3 November, he had lapsed into a gradually deepening coma.[154]

Arafat was pronounced dead at 03:30 UTC on 11 November 2004 at the age of 75 of what French doctors called a massive hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident (hemorrhagic stroke).[155][156] Initially, Arafat's medical records were withheld by senior Palestinian officials, and Arafat's wife refused an autopsy believing that it went against Muslim practices.[157] French doctors also said that Arafat suffered from a blood condition known as disseminated intravascular coagulation, although it is inconclusive what brought about the condition.[158][159] When Arafat's death was announced, the Palestinian people went into a state of mourning, with Qur'anic mourning prayers emitted from mosque loudspeakers throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and tires burned in the streets.[160] The Palestinian Authority and refugee camps in Lebanon declared 40 days of mourning.[161][162]

Funeral

 
Arafat's "temporary" tomb in Ramallah, 2004
 
Wikinews has related news:
  • Brazilian delegation returns from Arafat funeral

On 11 November 2004, a French Army guard of honour held a brief ceremony for Arafat, with his coffin draped in a Palestinian flag. A military band played the French and Palestinian national anthems, and a Chopin funeral march.[163] French President Jacques Chirac stood alone beside Arafat's coffin for about ten minutes in a last show of respect for Arafat, whom he hailed as "a man of courage".[164] The next day, Arafat's body was flown from Paris aboard a French Air Force transport plane to Cairo, Egypt, for a brief military funeral there, attended by several heads of states, prime ministers and foreign ministers.[165] Egypt's top Muslim cleric Sayed Tantawi led mourning prayers preceding the funeral procession.[151]

 
Honour guard at attention over Yasser Arafat's tombstone in mausoleum, opened 10 November 2007 at the PNA presidential headquarters in Ramallah

Israel refused Arafat's wish to be buried near the Masjid Al-Aqsa or anywhere in Jerusalem, citing security concerns.[166] Israel also feared that his burial would strengthen Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem.[167] Following the Cairo procession, Arafat was "temporarily" buried within the Mukataa in Ramallah; tens of thousands of Palestinians attended the ceremony.[151] Arafat was buried in a stone, rather than wooden, coffin, and Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat said that Arafat would be reburied in East Jerusalem following the establishment of a Palestinian state. After Sheikh Taissir Tamimi discovered that Arafat was buried improperly and in a coffin—which is not in accordance with Islamic law—Arafat was reburied on the morning of 13 November at around 3:00 am.[168] On 10 November 2007, prior to the third anniversary of Arafat's death, President Mahmoud Abbas unveiled a mausoleum for Arafat near his tomb in commemoration of him.[169]

Theories about the cause of death

Main article: Cause of Yasser Arafat's death
 
Arafat mausoleum

Numerous theories have circulated regarding Arafat's death, with the most prominent being poisoning[170][171][172][173] (possibly by polonium) and[174] AIDS-related illnesses,[175][176][177] as well as liver disease[178] or a platelet disorder.[179]

In September 2005, an Israeli AIDS expert claimed that Arafat bore all the symptoms of AIDS based on obtained medical records.[175] But others, including Patrice Mangin of the University of Lausanne and The New York Times, disagreed with this claim, insisting that Arafat's record indicated that it was highly unlikely that the cause of his death was AIDS.[180][181] Arafat's personal doctor Ashraf al-Kurdi and aide Bassam Abu Sharif maintained that Arafat was poisoned,[170][171] possibly by thallium.[172] A senior Israeli physician concluded that Arafat died from food poisoning.[175] Both Israeli and Palestinian officials have denied claims that Arafat was poisoned.[175][182] Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath ruled out poisoning after talks with Arafat's French doctors.[182]

On 4 July 2012, Al Jazeera published the results of a nine-month investigation, which found that rumors Arafat had died of cancer, cirrhosis, or AIDS were not true, because he was in good health until he fell ill suddenly on October 12, 2004 – but revealed that tests carried out by Swiss experts found traces of polonium in quantities much higher than could occur naturally on Arafat's personal belongings.[180][183] On 12 October 2013, the British medical journal The Lancet published a peer-reviewed article by the Swiss experts about the analysis of the 38 samples of Arafat's clothes and belongings and 37 reference samples which were known to be polonium-free, suggesting that Arafat could have died of polonium poisoning.[184][185]

On 27 November 2012, three teams of international investigators, a French, a Swiss, and a Russian team, collected samples from Arafat's body and the surrounding soil in the mausoleum in Ramallah, to carry out an investigation independently from each other.[186][187][188]

On 6 November 2013, Al Jazeera reported that the Swiss forensic team had found levels of polonium in Arafat's ribs and pelvis 18 to 36 times the average,[189][190] even though by this point in time the amount had diminished by a factor of 2 million.[185] Francois Bochud, the head of the Swiss team, said that the poisoning hypothesis by polonium is "reasonably supported",[191] while forensic scientist Dave Barclay, retained by Al Jazeera, stated, "In my opinion, it is absolutely certain that the cause of his illness was polonium poisoning. ... What we have got is the smoking gun - the thing that caused his illness and was given to him with malice."[192][189] Derek Hill, a professor in radiological science at University College London who was not involved in the investigation, said "I would say it's clearly not overwhelming proof, and there is a risk of contamination (of the samples), but it is a pretty strong signal. ... It seems likely what they're doing is putting a very cautious interpretation of strong data."[193]

But on 26 December 2013, a team of Russian scientists released a report saying they had found no trace of radioactive poisoning—a finding that came after the French report found traces of polonium. Vladimir Uiba, the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, said that Arafat died of natural causes and the agency had no plans to conduct further tests.[194] Unlike the Swiss report, the French and Russian reports were not made public at the time.[185] The Swiss experts read the French and Russian reports and argued that the radiologic data measured by the other teams supported their conclusions of a probable death by polonium poisoning.[185] In March 2015, a French prosecutor closed a 2012 French inquiry, stating that French experts maintained that the polonium and lead traces found were of an environmental nature.[195] Palestinian official Wasel Abu Yousef said of the 2013 report, "The French report is politicized and is contrary to all the evidence which confirms that the president was killed by poisoning", and "This report is an attempt to cover up what happened in Percy hospital."[196]

Legacy

Places named in his honor include:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Helena Cobban (before Yasser Arafat's marriage): "Yasser Arafat is not married, but is called 'Abu 'Ammar' as an inversion of the name of the heroic early Muslim warrior 'Ammar bin ('son of) Yasser. The idea, presumably, that if Yasser Arafat had a son, he would or should be as heroic as the earlier Ammar [ibn Yasir]", The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power and Politics (Cambridge Middle East Library), p. 272, Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Definition of Arafat". www.dictionary.com. Random House. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  3. ^ Some sources use the term Chairman, rather than President; the Arabic word for both titles is the same. See President of the Palestinian National Authority for further information.
  4. ^ "Yasser Arafat: French rule out foul play in former Palestinian leader's death". The Guardian. 16 March 2015.
  5. ^ "France drops investigation into Arafat's death". The Jerusalem Post. 2 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Yasser Arafat investigation: Russian probe finds death not caused by radiation". CBS News. 26 December 2013.
  7. ^ Creed, Richard D. Jr. (2014). Eighteen Years in Lebanon and Two Intifadas: The Israeli Defense Force and the U.S. Army Operational Environment. Pickle Partners Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-78289-593-0.
  8. ^ As'ad Ghanem Palestinian Politics after Arafat: A Failed National Movement:Palestinian Politics after Arafat, Indiana University Press, 2010 p.259.
  9. ^ Kershner, Isabel (4 July 2012). "Palestinians May Exhume Arafat After Report of Poisoning". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  10. ^ Hockstader, Lee (11 November 2004). "A Dreamer Who Forced His Cause Onto World Stage". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  11. ^ Kumaraswamy, P. R. (24 July 2009). The A to Z of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Scarecrow Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-8108-7015-4.
  12. ^ "Yasser Arafat Mausoleum". Alluring World. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  13. ^ Hart, Alan (1989). Arafat, a Political Biography. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-253-32711-6.
  14. ^ Dunn, Michael (2004). "Arafat, Yasir". In Mattar, Philip (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa: A–C. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference. pp. 269–272. ISBN 978-0-02-865769-1. Arafat and his family have always insisted that he was born 4 August 1929. in his mother's family home in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, an Egyptian birth registration exists, suggesting that he was born in Egypt on 24 August 1929...
  15. ^ Not certain; Disputed; Most sources including Tony Walker, Andrew Gowers, Alan Hart and Said K. Aburish indicate Cairo as Arafat's place of birth, but others list his birthplace as Jerusalem as well as Gaza. See here [1] and here [2] for more information. Some believe also that the Jerusalem birthplace might have been a little known rumor created by the KGB [3].
  16. ^ Bernadette Brexel (2003). Yasser Arafat. Rosen Publishing Group. p. 12.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h Aburish, Said K. (1998). From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 7–32. ISBN 978-1-58234-049-4.
  18. ^ "Yasser Arafat: Homeland a dream for Palestinian Authority Chief". CNN News. Cable News Network. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  19. ^ Rubenstein, Dany (1995). The Mystery of Arafat. New York: Steerforth Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-883642-10-5.
  20. ^ Aburish, Said K. (1998). From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-58234-049-4.
  21. ^ Aburish, Said K. (1998). From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 246–247. ISBN 978-1-58234-049-4.
  22. ^ "Profile: Suha Arafat-Blonde, convent-educated and with a rumored penchant for designer suits, Suha Arafat made an unlikely wife for the leader of the Palestinian resistance". BBC News. 17 November 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  23. ^ "Milestones". Time. 19 December 1994.
  24. ^ a b . The Daily Star. 9 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  25. ^ "Suha Arafat: I wish I'd never married him". The Times of Israel.
  26. ^ Aburish, Said K. (1998). From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 290. ISBN 978-1-58234-049-4.
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Further reading

External videos
  Booknotes interview with John and Janet Wallach on Arafat: In the Eyes of the Beholder, 23 December 1990, C-SPAN

External links

February 15, 2024
yasser, arafat, yasir, arafat, redirects, here, other, uses, yasir, arafat, disambiguation, also, ɑːr, ɑː, august, 1929, november, 2004, palestinian, political, leader, chairman, palestine, liberation, organization, from, 1969, 2004, president, palestinian, na. Yasir Arafat redirects here For other uses see Yasir Arafat disambiguation Yasser Arafat ˈ aer e f ae t US also ˈ ɑːr e f ɑː t 2 August 1929 11 November 2004 was a Palestinian political leader He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO from 1969 to 2004 and president of the Palestinian National Authority PNA from 1994 to 2004 3 Ideologically an Arab nationalist and a socialist Arafat was a founding member of the Fatah political party which he led from 1959 until 2004 Yasser Arafatياسر عرفاتArafat in 19961st President of the Palestinian National AuthorityIn office 5 July 1994 11 November 2004Prime MinisterMahmoud Abbas Ahmed QureiSucceeded byRawhi Fattouh interim 3rd Chairman of the Palestine Liberation OrganizationIn office 4 February 1969 29 October 2004Preceded byYahya HammudaSucceeded byMahmoud AbbasPersonal detailsBornMohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al Qudwa al Husseini4 or 1929 08 24 24 August 1929Cairo Kingdom of EgyptDied11 November 2004 2004 11 11 aged 75 Clamart Hauts de Seine FranceResting placeArafat s compoundNationalityPalestinianPolitical partyFatahSpouseSuha Arafat m 1990 wbr Children1Alma materUniversity of King Fuad IProfessionCivil engineerSignatureNicknameAbu Ammar 1 Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in Cairo Egypt where he spent most of his youth He studied at the University of King Fuad I While a student he embraced Arab nationalist and anti Zionist ideas Opposed to the 1948 creation of the State of Israel he fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1948 Arab Israeli War Following the defeat of Arab forces Arafat returned to Cairo and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956 In the latter part of the 1950s Arafat co founded Fatah a paramilitary organization which sought Israel s replacement with a Palestinian state Fatah operated within several Arab countries from where it launched attacks on Israeli targets In the latter part of the 1960s Arafat s profile grew in 1967 he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO and in 1969 was elected chair of the Palestinian National Council PNC Fatah s growing presence in Jordan resulted in military clashes with King Hussein s Jordanian government and in the early 1970s it relocated to Lebanon There Fatah assisted the Lebanese National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War and continued its attacks on Israel resulting in the organization becoming a major target of Israeli invasions during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict and 1982 Lebanon War From 1983 to 1993 Arafat based himself in Tunisia and began to shift his approach from open conflict with the Israelis to negotiation In 1988 he acknowledged Israel s right to exist and sought a two state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict In 1994 he returned to Palestine settling in Gaza City and promoting self governance for the Palestinian territories He engaged in a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to end the conflict between it and the PLO These included the Madrid Conference of 1991 the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2000 Camp David Summit The success of the negotiations in Oslo led to Arafat being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres in 1994 At the time Fatah s support among the Palestinians declined with the growth of Hamas and other militant rivals In late 2004 after effectively being confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army Arafat fell into a coma and died While the cause of Arafat s death has remained the subject of speculation investigations by Russian and French teams determined no foul play was involved 4 5 6 Arafat remains a controversial figure Palestinians generally view him as a martyr who symbolized the national aspirations of his people while many Israelis regarded him as a terrorist 7 8 9 10 Palestinian rivals including Islamists and several PLO radicals frequently denounced him as corrupt or too submissive in his concessions to the Israeli government Contents 1 Name 2 Early life 2 1 Birth and childhood 2 2 Education 2 3 Personal life 2 4 Name 3 Rise of Fatah 3 1 Founding of Fatah 3 2 Leader of the Palestinians 3 3 Battle of Karameh 4 Confrontation with Jordan 5 Headquarters in Lebanon 5 1 Official recognition 5 2 Fatah involvement in Lebanese Civil War 6 Headquarters in Tunisia 6 1 First Intifada 6 2 Change in direction 7 Palestinian Authority and peace negotiations 7 1 Oslo Accords 7 2 Establishing authority in the territories 7 3 Other peace agreements 8 Political survival 8 1 Relations with Hamas and other militant groups 8 2 Attempts to marginalize 9 Financial dealings 10 Illness and death 10 1 Unsuccessful Israeli assassination attempts 10 2 Failing health 10 3 Funeral 10 4 Theories about the cause of death 11 Legacy 12 See also 13 Notes and references 14 Further reading 15 External linksNameMohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al Qudwa al Husseini Arabic محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني romanized Muḥammad Yasir ʿAbd al Raḥman ʿAbd al Raʾuf ʿArafat al Qudwa al Ḥusayni 4 11 12 or 24 13 14 269 August 1929 11 November 2004 was popularly known as Yasser Arafat ˈ ae r e f ae t ARR e fat US also ˈ ɑːr e f ɑː t AR e FAHT 2 Arabic ياسر عرفات romanized Yasir ʿArafat pronounced ˈjaːsɪrˤ ʕɑrˤɑˈfaːt or by his kunya Abu Ammar Arabic أبو عمار romanized ʾAbu ʿAmmar Early life nbsp Arafat right with his sister Khadija and brother Fathi in Cairo 1942Birth and childhood Arafat was born in Cairo Egypt 15 His father Abdel Raouf al Qudwa al Husseini was a Palestinian from Gaza City whose mother Yasser s paternal grandmother was Egyptian Arafat s father battled in the Egyptian courts for 25 years to claim family land in Egypt as part of his inheritance but was unsuccessful 16 He worked as a textile merchant in Cairo s religiously mixed Sakakini District Arafat was the second youngest of seven children and was along with his younger brother Fathi the only offspring born in Cairo Jerusalem was the family home of his mother Zahwa Abul Saud who died from a kidney ailment in 1933 when Arafat was four years of age 17 Arafat s first visit to Jerusalem came when his father unable to raise seven children alone sent Yasser and his brother Fathi to their mother s family in the Mughrabi Quarter of the Old City They lived there with their uncle Salim Abul Saud for four years In 1937 their father recalled them to be taken care of by their older sister Inam Arafat had a deteriorating relationship with his father when he died in 1952 Arafat did not attend the funeral nor did he visit his father s grave upon his return to Gaza Arafat s sister Inam stated in an interview with Arafat s biographer British historian Alan Hart that Arafat was heavily beaten by his father for going to the Jewish quarter in Cairo and attending religious services When she asked Arafat why he would not stop going he responded by saying that he wanted to study Jewish mentality 17 Education In 1944 Arafat enrolled in the University of King Fuad I and graduated in 1950 17 At university he engaged Jews in discussion and read publications by Theodor Herzl and other prominent Zionists 18 By 1946 he was an Arab nationalist and began procuring weapons to be smuggled into the former British Mandate of Palestine for use by irregulars in the Arab Higher Committee and the Army of the Holy War militias 19 During the 1948 Arab Israeli War Arafat left the University and along with other Arabs sought to enter Palestine to join Arab forces fighting against Israeli troops and the creation of the state of Israel However instead of joining the ranks of the Palestinian fedayeen Arafat fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood although he did not join the organization He took part in combat in the Gaza area which was the main battleground of Egyptian forces during the conflict In early 1949 the war was winding down in Israel s favor and Arafat returned to Cairo due to a lack of logistical support 17 After returning to the University Arafat studied civil engineering and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students GUPS from 1952 to 1956 During his first year as president of the union the University was renamed Cairo University after a coup was carried out by the Free Officers Movement overthrowing King Farouk I By that time Arafat had graduated with a bachelor s degree in civil engineering and was called to duty to fight with Egyptian forces during the Suez Crisis however he never actually fought 17 Later that year at a conference in Prague he donned a solid white keffiyeh different from the fishnet patterned one he adopted later in Kuwait which was to become his emblem 20 Personal life In 1990 Arafat married Suha Tawil a Palestinian Christian when he was 61 and Suha 27 Her mother introduced her to him in France after which she worked as his secretary in Tunis 21 22 Prior to their marriage Arafat adopted fifty Palestinian war orphans 23 During their marriage Suha tried to leave Arafat on many occasions but he forbade it 24 Suha said she regrets the marriage and given the choice again would not repeat it 24 25 In mid 1995 Arafat s wife Suha gave birth in a Paris hospital to a daughter named Zahwa after Arafat s mother 26 Name Arafat s full name was Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al Qudwa al Husseini Mohammed Abdel Rahman was his first name Abdel Raouf was his father s name and Arafat his grandfather s Al Qudwa was the name of his tribe and al Husseini was that of the clan to which the al Qudwas belonged The al Husseini clan was based in Gaza and is not related to the well known al Husayni clan of Jerusalem 17 Since Arafat was raised in Cairo the tradition of dropping the Mohammed or Ahmad portion of one s first name was common notable Egyptians such as Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak did so However Arafat dropped Abdel Rahman and Abdel Raouf from his name as well During the early 1950s Arafat adopted the name Yasser and in the early years of Arafat s guerrilla career he assumed the nom de guerre of Abu Ammar Both names are related to Ammar ibn Yasir one of Muhammad s early companions Although he dropped most of his inherited names he retained Arafat due to its significance in Islam 17 Rise of FatahFounding of Fatah Following the Suez Crisis in 1956 Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser agreed to allow the United Nations Emergency Force to establish itself in the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip precipitating the expulsion of all guerrilla or fedayeen forces there including Arafat Arafat originally attempted to obtain a visa to Canada and later Saudi Arabia but was unsuccessful in both attempts 17 In 1957 he applied for a visa to Kuwait at the time a British protectorate and was approved based on his work in civil engineering There he encountered two Palestinian friends Salah Khalaf Abu Iyad and Khalil al Wazir Abu Jihad both official members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Arafat had met Abu Iyad while attending Cairo University and Abu Jihad in Gaza Both would later become Arafat s top aides Abu Iyad traveled with Arafat to Kuwait in late 1960 Abu Jihad also working as a teacher had already been living there since 1959 27 After settling in Kuwait Abu Iyad helped Arafat obtain a temporary job as a schoolteacher 28 As Arafat began to develop friendships with Palestinian refugees some of whom he knew from his Cairo days he and the others gradually founded the group that became known as Fatah The exact date for the establishment of Fatah is unknown In 1959 the group s existence was attested to in the pages of a Palestinian nationalist magazine Filastununa Nida al Hayat Our Palestine The Call of Life which was written and edited by Abu Jihad 29 FaTaH is a reverse acronym of the Arabic name Harakat al Tahrir al Watani al Filastini which translates into The Palestinian National Liberation Movement 28 30 Fatah is also a word that was used in early Islamic times to refer to conquest 28 Fatah dedicated itself to the liberation of Palestine by an armed struggle carried out by Palestinians themselves This differed from other Palestinian political and guerrilla organizations most of which firmly believed in a united Arab response 28 31 Arafat s organization never embraced the ideologies of the major Arab governments of the time in contrast to other Palestinian factions which often became satellites of nations such as Egypt Iraq Saudi Arabia Syria and others 32 In accordance with his ideology Arafat generally refused to accept donations to his organization from major Arab governments in order to act independently of them He did not want to alienate them and sought their undivided support by avoiding ideological alliances However to establish the groundwork for Fatah s future financial support he enlisted contributions from the many wealthy Palestinians working in Kuwait and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf such as Qatar where he met Mahmoud Abbas in 1961 33 These businessmen and oil workers contributed generously to the Fatah organization Arafat continued this process in other Arab countries such as Libya and Syria 28 In 1962 Arafat and his closest companions migrated to Syria a country sharing a border with Israel which had recently seceded from its union with Egypt Fatah had approximately three hundred members by this time but none were fighters 28 In Syria he managed to recruit members by offering them higher incomes to enable his armed attacks against Israel Fatah s manpower was incremented further after Arafat decided to offer new recruits much higher salaries than members of the Palestine Liberation Army PLA the regular military force of the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO which was created by the Arab League in 1964 On 31 December a squad from al Assifa Fatah s armed wing attempted to infiltrate Israel but they were intercepted and detained by Lebanese security forces Several other raids with Fatah s poorly trained and badly equipped fighters followed this incident Some were successful others failed in their missions Arafat often led these incursions personally 28 Arafat was detained in Syria s Mezzeh Prison when a Palestinian Syrian Army officer Yusef Urabi was killed Urabi had been chairing a meeting to ease tensions between Arafat and Palestinian Liberation Front leader Ahmed Jibril but neither Arafat nor Jibril attended delegating representatives to attend on their behalf Urabi was killed during or after the meeting amid disputed circumstances On the orders of Defense Minister Hafez al Assad a close friend of Urabi Arafat was subsequently arrested found guilty by a three man jury and sentenced to death However he and his colleagues were pardoned by President Salah Jadid shortly after the verdict 34 The incident brought Assad and Arafat to unpleasant terms which would surface later when Assad became President of Syria 28 Leader of the Palestinians On 13 November 1966 Israel launched a major raid against the Jordanian administered West Bank town of as Samu in response to a Fatah implemented roadside bomb attack which had killed three members of the Israeli security forces near the southern Green Line border In the resulting skirmish scores of Jordanian security forces were killed and 125 homes razed This raid was one of several factors that led to the 1967 Six Day War 35 The Six Day war began when Israel launched air strikes against Egypt s air force on 5 June 1967 The war ended in an Arab defeat and Israel s occupation of several Arab territories including the West Bank and Gaza Strip Although Nasser and his Arab allies had been defeated Arafat and Fatah could claim a victory in that the majority of Palestinians who had up to that time tended to align and sympathize with individual Arab governments now began to agree that a Palestinian solution to their dilemma was indispensable 36 Many primarily Palestinian political parties including George Habash s Arab Nationalist Movement Hajj Amin al Husseini s Arab Higher Committee the Islamic Liberation Front and several Syrian backed groups virtually crumbled after their sponsor governments defeat Barely a week after the defeat Arafat crossed the Jordan River in disguise and entered the West Bank where he set up recruitment centers in Hebron the Jerusalem area and Nablus and began attracting both fighters and financiers for his cause 36 At the same time Nasser contacted Arafat through the former s adviser Mohammed Heikal and Arafat was declared by Nasser to be the leader of the Palestinians 37 In December 1967 Ahmad Shukeiri resigned his post as PLO Chairman Yahya Hammuda took his place and invited Arafat to join the organization Fatah was allocated 33 of 105 seats of the PLO Executive Committee while 57 seats were left for several other guerrilla factions 36 Battle of Karameh Main article Battle of Karameh Throughout 1968 Fatah and other Palestinian armed groups were the target of a major Israeli army operation in the Jordanian village of Karameh where the Fatah headquarters as well as a mid sized Palestinian refugee camp were located The town s name is the Arabic word for dignity which elevated its symbolism in the eyes of the Arab people especially after the collective Arab defeat in 1967 The operation was in response to attacks including rockets strikes from Fatah and other Palestinian militias within the Israeli occupied West Bank According to Said Aburish the government of Jordan and a number of Fatah commandos informed Arafat that large scale Israeli military preparations for an attack on the town were underway prompting fedayeen groups such as George Habash s newly formed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP and Nayef Hawatmeh s breakaway organization the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine DFLP to withdraw their forces from the town Though advised by a sympathetic Jordanian Army divisional commander to withdraw his men and headquarters to the nearby hills Arafat refused 36 stating We want to convince the world that there are those in the Arab world who will not withdraw or flee 38 Aburish writes that it was on Arafat s orders that Fatah remained and that the Jordanian Army agreed to back them if heavy fighting ensued 36 In response to persistent PLO raids against Israeli civilian targets Israel attacked the town of Karameh Jordan the site of a major PLO camp The goal of the invasion was to destroy Karameh camp and capture Yasser Arafat in reprisal for the attacks by the PLO against Israeli civilians which culminated in an Israeli school bus hitting a mine in the Negev killing two children 39 However plans for the two operations were prepared in 1967 one year before the bus attack 40 The size of the Israeli forces entering Karameh made the Jordanians assume that Israel was also planning to occupy the eastern bank of the Jordan River including the Balqa Governorate to create a situation similar to the Golan Heights which Israel had captured just 10 months prior to be used a bargaining chip 41 42 Israel assumed that the Jordanian Army would ignore the invasion but the latter fought alongside the Palestinians opening heavy fire that inflicted losses upon the Israeli forces 43 This engagement marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian forces 44 The Israelis were repelled at the end of a day s battle having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken around 141 PLO prisoners 45 Both sides declared victory On a tactical level the battle went in Israel s favor 46 and the destruction of the Karameh camp was achieved 47 However the relatively high casualties were a considerable surprise for the Israel Defense Forces and was stunning to the Israelis 48 Although the Palestinians were not victorious on their own King Hussein let the Palestinians take credit 48 49 50 Some have alleged that Arafat himself was on the battlefield but the details of his involvement are unclear However his allies as well as Israeli intelligence confirm that he urged his men throughout the battle to hold their ground and continue fighting 51 The battle was covered in detail by Time and Arafat s face appeared on the cover of the 13 December 1968 issue bringing his image to the world for the first time 52 Amid the post war environment the profiles of Arafat and Fatah were raised by this important turning point and he came to be regarded as a national hero who dared to confront Israel With mass applause from the Arab world financial donations increased significantly and Fatah s weaponry and equipment improved The group s numbers swelled as many young Arabs including thousands of non Palestinians joined the ranks of Fatah 53 When the Palestinian National Council PNC convened in Cairo on 3 February 1969 Yahya Hammuda stepped down from his chairmanship of the PLO Arafat was elected chairman on 4 February 54 55 He became Commander in Chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces two years later and in 1973 became the head of the PLO s political department 36 Confrontation with JordanSee also Black September nbsp Arafat with Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Nayef Hawatmeh and Palestinian writer Kamal Nasser at press conference in Amman 1970In the late 1960s tensions between Palestinians and the Jordanian government increased greatly heavily armed Palestinian elements had created a virtual state within a state in Jordan eventually controlling several strategic positions in that country After their proclaimed victory in the Battle of Karameh Fatah and other Palestinian militias began taking control of civil life in Jordan They set up roadblocks publicly humiliated Jordanian police forces molested women and levied illegal taxes all of which Arafat either condoned or ignored 38 King Hussein considered this a growing threat to his kingdom s sovereignty and security and attempted to disarm the militias However in order to avoid a military confrontation with opposition forces Hussein dismissed several of his anti PLO cabinet officials including some of his own family members and invited Arafat to become Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan Arafat refused citing his belief in the need for a Palestinian state with Palestinian leadership 56 Despite Hussein s intervention militant actions in Jordan continued On 15 September 1970 the PFLP part of the PLO hijacked four planes and landed three of them at Dawson s Field located 30 miles 48 km east of Amman After the foreign national hostages were taken off the planes and moved away from them three of the planes were blown up in front of international press which took photos of the explosion This tarnished Arafat s image in many western nations including the United States who held him responsible for controlling Palestinian factions that belonged to the PLO Arafat bowing to pressure from Arab governments publicly condemned the hijackings and suspended the PFLP from any guerrilla actions for a few weeks He had taken the same action after the PFLP attacked Athens Airport The Jordanian government moved to regain control over its territory and the next day King Hussein declared martial law 56 On the same day Arafat became supreme commander of the PLA 57 nbsp Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser center mediating an agreement between Arafat and Jordanian King Hussein to end to the Black September conflict during the emergency Arab League summit September 1970As the conflict raged other Arab governments attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution As part of this effort Gamal Abdel Nasser led the first emergency Arab League summit in Cairo on 21 September Arafat s speech drew sympathy from attending Arab leaders Other heads of state took sides against Hussein among them Muammar Gaddafi who mocked him and his schizophrenic father King Talal A ceasefire was agreed upon between the two sides but Nasser died of a massive heart attack hours after the summit and the conflict resumed shortly afterward 56 By 25 September the Jordanian Army achieved dominance and two days later Arafat and Hussein agreed to a ceasefire in Amman The Jordanian Army inflicted heavy casualties on the Palestinians including civilians who suffered approximately 3 500 fatalities 57 After repeated violations of the ceasefire from both the PLO and the Jordanian Army Arafat called for King Hussein to be toppled Responding to the threat in June 1971 Hussein ordered his forces to oust all remaining Palestinian fighters in northern Jordan which they accomplished Arafat and a number of his forces including two high ranking commanders Abu Iyad and Abu Jihad were forced into the northern corner of Jordan They relocated near the town of Jerash near the border with Syria With the help of Munib Masri a pro Palestinian Jordanian cabinet member and Fahd al Khomeimi the Saudi ambassador to Jordan Arafat managed to enter Syria with nearly two thousand of his fighters However due to the hostility of relations between Arafat and Syrian President Hafez al Assad who had since ousted President Salah Jadid the Palestinian fighters crossed the border into Lebanon to join PLO forces in that country where they set up their new headquarters 58 Headquarters in LebanonOfficial recognition nbsp Yasser Arafat visits East Germany in 1971 background Brandenburg Gate nbsp Yasser Arafat with Bhim Singh founder of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party in the 1970sBecause of Lebanon s weak central government the PLO was able to operate virtually as an independent state 59 During this time in the 1970s numerous leftist PLO groups took up arms against Israel carrying out attacks against civilians as well as military targets within Israel and outside of it 60 Two major incidents occurred in 1972 The Fatah subgroup Black September Organization hijacked Sabena Flight 572 en route to Vienna and forced it to land at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel 61 The PFLP and the Japanese Red Army carried out a shooting rampage at the same airport killing twenty four civilians 61 62 Israel later claimed that the assassination of PFLP spokesman Ghassan Kanafani was a response to the PFLP s involvement in masterminding the latter attack Two days later various PLO factions retaliated by bombing a bus station killing eleven civilians 61 At the Munich Olympic Games Black September kidnapped and killed eleven Israeli athletes 63 A number of sources including Mohammed Oudeh Abu Daoud one of the masterminds of the Munich massacre and Benny Morris a prominent Israeli historian have stated that Black September was an armed branch of Fatah used for paramilitary operations According to Abu Daoud s 1999 book Arafat was briefed on plans for the Munich hostage taking 64 The killings were internationally condemned In 1973 74 Arafat closed Black September down ordering the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel the West Bank and Gaza Strip 65 In 1974 the PNC approved the Ten Point Program drawn up by Arafat and his advisers and proposed a compromise with the Israelis It called for a Palestinian national authority over every part of liberated Palestinian territory 66 which refers to areas captured by Arab forces in the 1948 Arab Israeli War present day West Bank East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip This caused discontent among several of the PLO factions the PFLP DFLP and other parties formed a breakaway organization the Rejectionist Front 67 Israel and the US have alleged also that Arafat was involved in the 1973 Khartoum diplomatic assassinations in which five diplomats and five others were killed A 1973 United States Department of State document declassified in 2006 concluded The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat 68 69 Arafat denied any involvement in the operation and insisted it was carried out independently by the Black September Organization Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations and therefore had not abandoned terrorism 70 In addition some circles within the US State Department viewed Arafat as an able diplomat and negotiator who could get support from many Arab governments at once An example of that we find in March 1973 that Arafat tried to arrange for a meeting between the President of Iraq and the Emir of Kuwait in order to resolve their disputes 71 Also in 1974 the PLO was declared the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and admitted to full membership of the Arab League at the Rabat Summit 67 Arafat became the first representative of a non governmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly In his United Nations address Arafat condemned Zionism but said Today I have come bearing an olive branch in one hand and a freedom fighter s rifle in another Do not let the green branch fall from my hand 72 He wore a holster throughout his speech although it did not contain a gun 73 74 His speech increased international sympathy for the Palestinian cause 67 Following recognition Arafat established relationships with a variety of world leaders including Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin Arafat was Amin s best man at his wedding in Uganda in 1975 75 76 Fatah involvement in Lebanese Civil War See also Lebanese Civil War and Battle of Tripoli 1983 nbsp Arafat in a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon 1978Although hesitant at first to take sides in the conflict Arafat and Fatah played an important role in the Lebanese Civil War Succumbing to pressure from PLO sub groups such as the PFLP DFLP and the Palestine Liberation Front PLF Arafat aligned the PLO with the Communist and Nasserist Lebanese National Movement LNM The LNM was led by Kamal Jumblatt who had a friendly relationship with Arafat and other PLO leaders Although originally aligned with Fatah Syrian President Hafez al Assad feared a loss of influence in Lebanon and switched sides He sent his army along with the Syrian backed Palestinian factions of as Sa iqa and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command PFLP GC led by Ahmad Jibril to fight alongside right wing Christian forces against the PLO and the LNM The primary components of the Christian front were the Phalangists loyal to Bachir Gemayel and the Tigers Militia led by Dany Chamoun a son of former President Camille Chamoun 77 In February 1975 a pro Palestinian Lebanese MP Maarouf Saad was shot and killed reportedly by the Lebanese Army 78 His death from his wounds the following month and the massacre in April of 27 Palestinians and Lebanese travelling on a bus from Sabra and Shatila to the Tel al Zaatar refugee camp by Phalangist forces precipitated the Lebanese Civil War 79 Arafat was reluctant to respond with force but many other Fatah and PLO members felt otherwise 38 For example the DFLP carried out several attacks against the Lebanese Army In 1976 an alliance of Christian militias with the backing of the Lebanese and Syrian armies besieged Tel al Zaatar camp in east Beirut 80 81 The PLO and LNM retaliated by attacking the town of Damour a Phalangist stronghold where they massacred 684 people and wounded many more 80 82 The Tel al Zaatar camp fell to the Christians after a six month siege in which thousands of Palestinians mostly civilians were killed 83 Arafat and Abu Jihad blamed themselves for not successfully organizing a rescue effort 77 nbsp Arafat with Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish center and PFLP leader George Habash right in Syria 1980PLO cross border raids against Israel grew during the late 1970s One of the most severe known as the Coastal Road massacre occurred on 11 March 1978 A force of nearly a dozen Fatah fighters landed their boats near a major coastal road connecting the city of Haifa with Tel Aviv Yafo There they hijacked a bus and sprayed gunfire inside and at passing vehicles killing thirty seven civilians 84 In response the IDF launched Operation Litani three days later with the goal of taking control of Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River The IDF achieved this goal and Arafat withdrew PLO forces north into Beirut 85 nbsp Arafat with Iranian Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan days after Iranian RevolutionAfter Israel withdrew from Lebanon cross border hostilities between PLO forces and Israel continued though from August 1981 to May 1982 the PLO adopted an official policy of refraining from responding to provocations 86 On 6 June 1982 Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon to expel the PLO from southern Lebanon Beirut was soon besieged and bombarded by the IDF 77 Arafat declared the city to be the Hanoi and Stalingrad of the Israeli army 77 The Civil War s first phase ended and Arafat who was commanding Fatah forces at Tel al Zaatar narrowly escaped with assistance from Saudi and Kuwaiti diplomats 87 Towards the end of the siege the US and European governments brokered an agreement guaranteeing safe passage for Arafat and the PLO guarded by a multinational force of eight hundred US Marines supported by the US Navy to exile in Tunis 77 Arafat returned to Lebanon a year after his eviction from Beirut this time establishing himself in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli This time Arafat was expelled by a fellow Palestinian working under Hafez al Assad Arafat did not return to Lebanon after his second expulsion though many Fatah fighters did 77 Headquarters in TunisiaArafat and Fatah s center for operations was based in Tunis the capital of Tunisia until 1993 In 1985 Arafat narrowly survived an Israeli assassination attempt when Israeli Air Force F 15s bombed his Tunis headquarters as part of Operation Wooden Leg leaving 73 people dead Arafat had gone out jogging that morning 88 The following year Arafat had his operational headquarters in Baghdad for some time 89 First Intifada During the 1980s Arafat received financial assistance from Libya Iraq and Saudi Arabia which allowed him to reconstruct the badly damaged PLO This was particularly useful during the First Intifada in December 1987 which began as an uprising of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip The word Intifada in Arabic is literally translated as tremor however it is generally defined as an uprising or revolt 90 The first stage of the Intifada began following an incident at the Erez checkpoint where four Palestinian residents of the Jabalya refugee camp were killed in a traffic accident involving an Israeli driver Rumors spread that the deaths were a deliberate act of revenge for an Israeli shopper who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian in Gaza four days earlier Mass rioting broke out and within weeks partly upon consistent requests by Abu Jihad Arafat attempted to direct the uprising which lasted until 1992 93 Abu Jihad had previously been assigned the responsibility of the Palestinian territories within the PLO command and according to biographer Said Aburish had impressive knowledge of local conditions in the Israeli occupied territories On 16 April 1988 as the Intifada was raging Abu Jihad was assassinated in his Tunis household by an Israeli hit squad Arafat had considered Abu Jihad as a PLO counterweight to local Palestinian leadership in the territories and led a funeral procession for him in Damascus 90 The most common tactic used by Palestinians during the Intifada was throwing stones molotov cocktails and burning tires 91 The local leadership in some West Bank towns commenced non violent protests against Israeli occupation by engaging in tax resistance and other boycotts Israel responded by confiscating large sums of money in house to house raids 90 92 As the Intifada came to a close new armed Palestinian groups in particular Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad PIJ began targeting Israeli civilians with the new tactic of suicide bombings and internal fighting amongst the Palestinians increased dramatically 90 Change in direction In August 1970 Arafat declared Our basic aim is to liberate the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River We are not concerned with what took place in June 1967 or in eliminating the consequences of the June war The Palestinian revolution s basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it 93 However in early 1976 at a meeting with US Senator Adlai Stevenson III Arafat suggested that if Israel withdrew a few kilometers from parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and transferred responsibility to the UN Arafat could give something to show his people before he could acknowledge Israel s right to exist 94 On 15 November 1988 the PLO proclaimed the independent State of Palestine Though he had frequently been accused of and associated with terrorism 95 96 97 in speeches on 13 and 14 December Arafat repudiated terrorism in all its forms including state terrorism He accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242 and Israel s right to exist in peace and security and 98 Arafat s statements were greeted with approval by the US administration which had long insisted on these statements as a necessary starting point for official discussions between the US and the PLO These remarks from Arafat indicated a shift away from one of the PLO s primary aims the destruction of Israel as entailed in the Palestinian National Covenant and toward the establishment of two separate entities an Israeli state within the 1949 armistice lines and an Arab state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip On 2 April 1989 Arafat was elected by the Central Council of the Palestine National Council the governing body of the PLO to be the president of the proclaimed State of Palestine 90 Prior to the Gulf War in 1990 91 when the Intifada s intensity began to wear down Arafat supported Saddam Hussein s invasion of Kuwait and opposed the US led coalition attack on Iraq He made this decision without the consent of other leading members of Fatah and the PLO Arafat s top aide Abu Iyad vowed to stay neutral and opposed an alliance with Saddam on 17 January 1991 Abu Iyad was assassinated by the Abu Nidal Organization Arafat s decision also severed relations with Egypt and many of the oil producing Arab states that supported the US led coalition Many in the US also used Arafat s position as a reason to disregard his claims to being a partner for peace After the end of hostilities many Arab states that backed the coalition cut off funds to the PLO and began providing financial support for the organization s rival Hamas and other Islamist groups 90 Arafat narrowly escaped death again on 7 April 1992 when an Air Bissau aircraft he was a passenger on crash landed in the Libyan Desert during a sandstorm Two pilots and an engineer were killed Arafat was bruised and shaken 99 Palestinian Authority and peace negotiationsFurther information Palestinian views on the peace process Yasser Arafat and the PLO Oslo Accords nbsp Yitzhak Rabin Bill Clinton and Arafat during the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993 nbsp Arafat Shimon Peres and Rabin receiving the Nobel Peace Prize following the Oslo Accords 10 December 1994In the early 1990s Arafat and leading Fatah officials engaged the Israeli government in a series of secret talks and negotiations that led to the 1993 Oslo Accords 70 100 The agreement called for the implementation of Palestinian self rule in portions of the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five year period along with an immediate halt to and gradual removal of Israeli settlements in those areas The accords called for a Palestinian police force to be formed from local recruits and Palestinians abroad to patrol areas of self rule Authority over the various fields of rule including education and culture social welfare direct taxation and tourism would be transferred to the Palestinian interim government Both parties agreed also on forming a committee that would establish cooperation and coordination dealing with specific economic sectors including utilities industry trade and communication 101 Prior to signing the accords Arafat as Chairman of the PLO and its official representative signed two letters renouncing violence and officially recognizing Israel In return Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on behalf of Israel officially recognized the PLO 102 The following year Arafat and Rabin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Shimon Peres 103 The Palestinian reaction was mixed The Rejectionist Front of the PLO allied itself with Islamists in a common opposition against the agreements It was rejected also by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon Syria and Jordan as well as by many Palestinian intellectuals and the local leadership of the Palestinian territories However the inhabitants of the territories generally accepted the agreements and Arafat s promise for peace and economic well being 104 Establishing authority in the territories In accordance with the terms of the Oslo agreement Arafat was required to implement PLO authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip He insisted that financial support was imperative to establishing this authority and needed it to secure the acceptance of the agreements by the Palestinians living in those areas However Arab states of the Persian Gulf Arafat s usual source for financial backing still refused to provide him and the PLO with any major donations for siding with Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War 104 Ahmed Qurei a key Fatah negotiator during the negotiations in Oslo publicly announced that the PLO was bankrupt 105 In 1994 Arafat moved to Gaza City which was controlled by the Palestinian National Authority PNA the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords 103 Arafat became the President and Prime Minister of the PNA the Commander of the PLA and the Speaker of the PLC In July after the PNA was declared the official government of the Palestinians the Basic Laws of the Palestinian National Authority was published 106 in three different versions by the PLO Arafat proceeded with creating a structure for the PNA He established an executive committee or cabinet composed of twenty members Arafat also replaced and assigned mayors and city councils for major cities such as Gaza and Nablus He began subordinating non governmental organizations that worked in education health and social affairs under his authority by replacing their elected leaders and directors with PNA officials loyal to him He then appointed himself chairman of the Palestinian financial organization that was created by the World Bank to control most aid money towards helping the new Palestinian entity 104 Arafat established a Palestinian police force named the Preventive Security Service PSS that became active on 13 May 1994 It was mainly composed of PLA soldiers and foreign Palestinian volunteers Arafat assigned Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub to head the PSS 104 Amnesty International accused Arafat and the PNA leadership of failing to adequately investigate abuses by the PSS including torture and unlawful killings against political opponents and dissidents as well as the arrests of human rights activists 107 Throughout November and December 1995 Arafat toured dozens of Palestinian cities and towns that were evacuated by Israeli forces including Jenin Ramallah al Bireh Nablus Qalqilyah and Tulkarm declaring them liberated The PNA also gained control of the West Bank s postal service during this period 108 On 20 January 1996 Arafat was elected president of the PNA with an overwhelming 88 2 percent majority the other candidate was charity organizer Samiha Khalil However because Hamas the DFLP and other popular opposition movements chose to boycott the presidential elections the choices were limited Arafat s landslide victory guaranteed Fatah 51 of the 88 seats in the PLC After Arafat was elected to the post of President of the PNA he was often referred to as the Ra is literally president in Arabic although he spoke of himself as the general 109 In 1997 the PLC accused the executive branch of the PNA of financial mismanagement causing the resignation of four members of Arafat s cabinet Arafat refused to resign his post 110 Other peace agreements nbsp Arafat with PNA cabinet members Yasser Abed Rabbo left and Nabil Shaath right at a meeting in Copenhagen 1999In mid 1996 Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel Palestinian Israeli relations grew even more hostile as a result of continued conflict 111 Despite the Israel PLO accord Netanyahu opposed the idea of Palestinian statehood 112 In 1998 US President Bill Clinton persuaded the two leaders to meet The resulting Wye River Memorandum detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and PNA to complete the peace process 113 nbsp Arafat with Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton at Camp David Summit 2000Arafat continued negotiations with Netanyahu s successor Ehud Barak at the Camp David 2000 Summit in July 2000 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 insistence for compromise by President Clinton Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state in 73 percent of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip The Palestinian percentage of sovereignty would extend to 90 percent over a ten to twenty five year period Also included in the offer was the return of a small number of refugees and compensation for those not allowed to return Palestinians would also have custodianship over Al Aqsa sovereignty on all Islamic and Christian holy sites and three of Jerusalem s four Old City quarters Arafat rejected Barak s offer and refused to make an immediate counter offer 100 He told President Clinton that the Arab leader who would surrender Jerusalem is not born yet 114 After the September 2000 outbreak of the Second Intifada negotiations continued at the Taba summit in January 2001 this time Ehud Barak pulled out of the talks to campaign in the Israeli elections In October and December 2001 suicide bombings by Palestinian militant groups increased and Israeli counter strikes intensified Following the election of Ariel Sharon in February the peace process took a steep downfall Palestinian elections scheduled for January 2002 were postponed the stated reason was an inability to campaign due to the emergency conditions imposed by the Intifada as well as IDF incursions and restrictions on freedom of movement in the Palestinian territories In the same month Sharon ordered Arafat to be confined to his Mukata a headquarters in Ramallah following an attack in the Israeli city of Hadera 114 US President George W Bush supported Sharon s action claiming that Arafat was an obstacle to the peace 115 Political survival source source source source source source Footage of Arafat speaking and meeting international leadersArafat s long personal and political survival was 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 116 Some commentators believe his survival was largely due to Israel s fear that he could become a martyr for the Palestinian cause if he were assassinated or even arrested by Israel 117 Others believe that Israel refrained from taking action against Arafat because it feared Arafat less than Hamas and the other Islamist movements gaining support over Fatah The complex and fragile web of relations between the US Israel Saudi Arabia and other Arab states contributed also to Arafat s longevity as the leader of the Palestinians 116 Israel attempted to assassinate Arafat on a number of occasions but has never used its own agents preferring instead to turn Palestinians close to the intended target usually using blackmail 118 According to Alan Hart the Mossad s specialty is poison 118 According to Abu Iyad two attempts were made on Arafat s life by the Israeli Mossad and the Military Directorate in 1970 119 In 1976 Abu Sa ed a Palestinian agent working for the Mossad was enlisted in a plot to put poison pellets that looked like grains of rice in Arafat s food Abu Iyad explains that Abu Sa ed confessed after he received the order to go ahead explaining that he was unable to go through with the plot because He was first of all a Palestinian and his conscience wouldn t let him do it 120 Arafat claimed in a 1988 interview with Time that because of his fear of assassination by the Israelis he never slept in the same place two nights in a row 121 Relations with Hamas and other militant groups Arafat s ability to adapt to new tactical and political situations was perhaps tested by the rise of the Hamas and PIJ organizations Islamist groups espousing rejectionist policies with Israel These groups often bombed non military targets such as malls and movie theaters to increase the psychological damage and civilian casualties In the 1990s these groups seemed to threaten Arafat s capacity to hold together a unified nationalist organization with a goal of statehood 116 An attack carried out by Hamas militants in March 2002 killed 29 Israeli civilians celebrating Passover including many senior citizens 122 In response Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield a major military offensive into major West Bank cities Mahmoud al Zahar a Hamas leader in Gaza stated in September 2010 that Arafat had instructed Hamas to launch what he termed military operations against Israel in 2000 when Arafat felt that negotiations with Israel would not succeed 123 Some Israeli government officials opined in 2002 that the armed Fatah sub group al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commenced attacks towards Israel in order to compete with Hamas 124 On 6 May 2002 the Israeli government released a report based in part on documents allegedly captured during the Israeli raid of Arafat s Ramallah headquarters which allegedly included copies of papers signed by Arafat authorizing funding for al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades activities The report implicated Arafat in the planning and execution of terror attacks 125 Attempts to marginalize Persistent attempts by the Israeli government to identify another Palestinian leader to represent the Palestinian people failed Arafat was enjoying the support of groups that given his own history would normally have been quite wary of dealing with or supporting him Marwan Barghouti a leader of al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades emerged as a possible replacement during the Second Intifada but Israel had him arrested for allegedly being involved in the killing of twenty six civilians and he was sentenced to five life terms 126 Arafat was finally allowed to leave his compound on 2 May 2002 after intense negotiations led to a settlement six PFLP militants including the organization s secretary general Ahmad Sa adat wanted by Israel who had been holed up with Arafat in his compound would be transferred to international custody in Jericho After the wanted men were handed over the siege was lifted 127 With that and a promise that he would issue a call to the Palestinians to halt attacks on Israelis Arafat was released He issued such a call on 8 May On 19 September 2002 the IDF largely demolished the compound with armored bulldozers in order to isolate Arafat 128 129 130 In March 2003 Arafat ceded his post as Prime Minister to Mahmoud Abbas amid pressures by the US 131 The Israeli security Cabinet on 11 September 2003 decided that Israel will act to remove this obstacle Arafat in the manner at the time and in the ways that will be decided on separately 132 Israeli Cabinet members and officials hinted on Arafat s death 133 134 135 the Israeli military had begun making preparations for Arafat s possible expulsion in the near future 136 137 and many feared for his life Israeli peace activists of Gush Shalom Knesset members and others went into the Presidential Compound prepared to serve as a human shield 138 The compound remained under siege until Arafat s transfer to a French hospital shortly before his death In 2004 President Bush dismissed Arafat as a negotiating partner saying he had failed as a leader and accused him of undercutting Abbas when he was prime minister Abbas resigned the same year he was given the position 139 Arafat had a mixed relationship with the leaders of other Arab nations His support from Arab leaders tended to increase whenever he was pressured by Israel for example when Israel declared in 2003 it had made the decision in principle to remove him from the Israeli controlled West Bank 114 In an interview with the Arabic news network Al Jazeera Arafat responded to Ariel Sharon s suggestion that he be exiled from the Palestinian territories permanently by stating Is it his Sharon s homeland or ours We were planted here before the Prophet Abraham came but it looks like they Israelis don t understand history or geography 114 Financial dealingsUnder the Oslo Peace Accords Israel undertook to deposit the VAT tax receipts on goods purchased by Palestinians into the Palestinian treasury Until 2000 these monies were transferred directly to Arafat s personal accounts at Bank Leumi in Tel Aviv 140 In August 2002 the Israeli Military Intelligence Chief alleged that Arafat s personal wealth was in the range of US 1 3 billion 141 In 2003 the International Monetary Fund IMF conducted an audit of the PNA and stated that Arafat had diverted 900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by himself and the PNA Chief Economic Financial adviser However the IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties and it specifically stated that most of the funds had been used to invest in Palestinian assets both internally and abroad 142 143 However in 2003 a team of American accountants hired by Arafat s own finance ministry began examining Arafat s finances In its conclusions the team claimed that part of the Palestinian leader s wealth was in a secret portfolio worth close to 1 billion with investments in companies like a Coca Cola bottling plant in Ramallah a Tunisian cell phone company and venture capital funds in the U S and the Cayman Islands The head of the investigation stated that although the money for the portfolio came from public funds like Palestinian taxes virtually none of it was used for the Palestinian people it was all controlled by Arafat And none of these dealings were made public 144 An investigation conducted by the General Accounting Office reported that Arafat and the PLO held over 10 billion in assets even at the time when he was publicly claiming bankruptcy 145 Although Arafat lived a modest lifestyle Dennis Ross former Middle East negotiator for Presidents George H W Bush and Bill Clinton stated that Arafat s walking around money financed a vast patronage system known as neopatrimonialism According to Salam Fayyad a former World Bank official whom Arafat appointed Finance Minister of the PNA in 2002 Arafat s commodity monopolies could accurately be seen as gouging his own people especially in Gaza which is poorer which is something that is totally unacceptable and immoral Fayyad claims that Arafat used 20 million from public funds to pay the leadership of the PNA security forces the Preventive Security Service alone 144 Fuad Shubaki former financial aide to Arafat told the Israeli security service Shin Bet that Arafat used several million dollars of aid money to buy weapons and support militant groups 146 During Israel s Operation Defensive Shield the Israel army recovered counterfeit money and documents from Arafat s Ramallah headquarters The documents showed that in 2001 Arafat personally approved payments to Tanzim militants 147 The Palestinians claimed that the counterfeit money was confiscated from criminal elements 148 Illness and deathUnsuccessful Israeli assassination attempts The Israeli government tried for decades to assassinate Arafat including attempting to intercept and shoot down private aircraft and commercial airliners on which he was believed to be traveling 149 The assassination was initially assigned to Caesarea the Mossad unit in charge of Israel s numerous targeted killings Shooting down a commercial airliner in international airspace over very deep water was thought to be preferable to make recovery of the wreckage and hence investigation more difficult 149 Following Israel s 1982 invasion of Lebanon Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon created a special task force code named Salt Fish headed by special operations experts Meir Dagan and Rafi Eitan to track Arafat s movements in Lebanon to kill him because Sharon saw Arafat as a Jew murderer and an important symbol symbols being as important as body counts in a war against a terrorist organization The Salt Fish task force orchestrated the bombing of buildings where Arafat and senior PLO leaders were believed to be staying Later renamed Operation Goldfish Israeli operatives followed Israeli journalist Uri Avnery to a meeting with Arafat in an additional unsuccessful attempt to kill him In 2001 Sharon as prime minister is believed to have made a commitment to cease attempts to assassinate Arafat However following Israel s successful assassination in March 2004 of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin a founder of the Hamas movement Sharon stated in April 2004 that this commitment of mine no longer exists 149 Failing health The first reports of Arafat s failing health by his doctors for what his spokesman said was influenza came on 25 October 2004 after he vomited during a staff meeting His condition deteriorated in the following days 150 Following visits by other doctors including teams from Tunisia Jordan and Egypt and agreement by Israel to allow him to travel Arafat was flown from Ramallah to Jordan by a Jordanian military helicopter and from there to France on a French military plane He was admitted to the Percy military hospital in Clamart a suburb of Paris 151 152 153 On 3 November he had lapsed into a gradually deepening coma 154 Arafat was pronounced dead at 03 30 UTC on 11 November 2004 at the age of 75 of what French doctors called a massive hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident hemorrhagic stroke 155 156 Initially Arafat s medical records were withheld by senior Palestinian officials and Arafat s wife refused an autopsy believing that it went against Muslim practices 157 French doctors also said that Arafat suffered from a blood condition known as disseminated intravascular coagulation although it is inconclusive what brought about the condition 158 159 When Arafat s death was announced the Palestinian people went into a state of mourning with Qur anic mourning prayers emitted from mosque loudspeakers throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and tires burned in the streets 160 The Palestinian Authority and refugee camps in Lebanon declared 40 days of mourning 161 162 Funeral nbsp Arafat s temporary tomb in Ramallah 2004 nbsp Wikinews has related news Brazilian delegation returns from Arafat funeral On 11 November 2004 a French Army guard of honour held a brief ceremony for Arafat with his coffin draped in a Palestinian flag A military band played the French and Palestinian national anthems and a Chopin funeral march 163 French President Jacques Chirac stood alone beside Arafat s coffin for about ten minutes in a last show of respect for Arafat whom he hailed as a man of courage 164 The next day Arafat s body was flown from Paris aboard a French Air Force transport plane to Cairo Egypt for a brief military funeral there attended by several heads of states prime ministers and foreign ministers 165 Egypt s top Muslim cleric Sayed Tantawi led mourning prayers preceding the funeral procession 151 nbsp Honour guard at attention over Yasser Arafat s tombstone in mausoleum opened 10 November 2007 at the PNA presidential headquarters in RamallahIsrael refused Arafat s wish to be buried near the Masjid Al Aqsa or anywhere in Jerusalem citing security concerns 166 Israel also feared that his burial would strengthen Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem 167 Following the Cairo procession Arafat was temporarily buried within the Mukataa in Ramallah tens of thousands of Palestinians attended the ceremony 151 Arafat was buried in a stone rather than wooden coffin and Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat said that Arafat would be reburied in East Jerusalem following the establishment of a Palestinian state After Sheikh Taissir Tamimi discovered that Arafat was buried improperly and in a coffin which is not in accordance with Islamic law Arafat was reburied on the morning of 13 November at around 3 00 am 168 On 10 November 2007 prior to the third anniversary of Arafat s death President Mahmoud Abbas unveiled a mausoleum for Arafat near his tomb in commemoration of him 169 Theories about the cause of death Main article Cause of Yasser Arafat s death nbsp Arafat mausoleumNumerous theories have circulated regarding Arafat s death with the most prominent being poisoning 170 171 172 173 possibly by polonium and 174 AIDS related illnesses 175 176 177 as well as liver disease 178 or a platelet disorder 179 In September 2005 an Israeli AIDS expert claimed that Arafat bore all the symptoms of AIDS based on obtained medical records 175 But others including Patrice Mangin of the University of Lausanne and The New York Times disagreed with this claim insisting that Arafat s record indicated that it was highly unlikely that the cause of his death was AIDS 180 181 Arafat s personal doctor Ashraf al Kurdi and aide Bassam Abu Sharif maintained that Arafat was poisoned 170 171 possibly by thallium 172 A senior Israeli physician concluded that Arafat died from food poisoning 175 Both Israeli and Palestinian officials have denied claims that Arafat was poisoned 175 182 Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath ruled out poisoning after talks with Arafat s French doctors 182 On 4 July 2012 Al Jazeera published the results of a nine month investigation which found that rumors Arafat had died of cancer cirrhosis or AIDS were not true because he was in good health until he fell ill suddenly on October 12 2004 but revealed that tests carried out by Swiss experts found traces of polonium in quantities much higher than could occur naturally on Arafat s personal belongings 180 183 On 12 October 2013 the British medical journal The Lancet published a peer reviewed article by the Swiss experts about the analysis of the 38 samples of Arafat s clothes and belongings and 37 reference samples which were known to be polonium free suggesting that Arafat could have died of polonium poisoning 184 185 On 27 November 2012 three teams of international investigators a French a Swiss and a Russian team collected samples from Arafat s body and the surrounding soil in the mausoleum in Ramallah to carry out an investigation independently from each other 186 187 188 On 6 November 2013 Al Jazeera reported that the Swiss forensic team had found levels of polonium in Arafat s ribs and pelvis 18 to 36 times the average 189 190 even though by this point in time the amount had diminished by a factor of 2 million 185 Francois Bochud the head of the Swiss team said that the poisoning hypothesis by polonium is reasonably supported 191 while forensic scientist Dave Barclay retained by Al Jazeera stated In my opinion it is absolutely certain that the cause of his illness was polonium poisoning What we have got is the smoking gun the thing that caused his illness and was given to him with malice 192 189 Derek Hill a professor in radiological science at University College London who was not involved in the investigation said I would say it s clearly not overwhelming proof and there is a risk of contamination of the samples but it is a pretty strong signal It seems likely what they re doing is putting a very cautious interpretation of strong data 193 But on 26 December 2013 a team of Russian scientists released a report saying they had found no trace of radioactive poisoning a finding that came after the French report found traces of polonium Vladimir Uiba the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency said that Arafat died of natural causes and the agency had no plans to conduct further tests 194 Unlike the Swiss report the French and Russian reports were not made public at the time 185 The Swiss experts read the French and Russian reports and argued that the radiologic data measured by the other teams supported their conclusions of a probable death by polonium poisoning 185 In March 2015 a French prosecutor closed a 2012 French inquiry stating that French experts maintained that the polonium and lead traces found were of an environmental nature 195 Palestinian official Wasel Abu Yousef said of the 2013 report The French report is politicized and is contrary to all the evidence which confirms that the president was killed by poisoning and This report is an attempt to cover up what happened in Percy hospital 196 LegacyPlaces named in his honor include Martyr Yasser Arafat Governmental Hospital Yasser Arafat Cup Yasser Arafat International AirportSee also nbsp Biography portal nbsp Palestine portal nbsp Politics portalPolitics of Palestine List of international trips made by Yasser Arafat List of Fatah members Arafat s Johannesburg AddressNotes and references Helena Cobban before Yasser Arafat s marriage Yasser Arafat is not married but is called Abu Ammar as an inversion of the name of the heroic early Muslim warrior Ammar bin son of Yasser The idea presumably that if Yasser Arafat had a son he would or should be as heroic as the earlier Ammar ibn Yasir The Palestinian Liberation Organisation People Power and Politics Cambridge Middle East Library p 272 Retrieved 18 January 2021 a b Definition of Arafat www dictionary com Random House Retrieved 12 February 2023 Some sources use the term Chairman rather than President the Arabic word for both titles is the same See President of the Palestinian National Authority for further information Yasser Arafat French rule out foul play in former Palestinian leader s death The Guardian 16 March 2015 France drops investigation into Arafat s death The Jerusalem Post 2 September 2015 Yasser Arafat investigation Russian probe finds death not caused by radiation CBS News 26 December 2013 Creed Richard D Jr 2014 Eighteen Years in Lebanon and Two Intifadas The Israeli Defense Force and the U S Army Operational Environment Pickle Partners Publishing p 53 ISBN 978 1 78289 593 0 As ad Ghanem Palestinian Politics after Arafat A Failed National Movement Palestinian Politics after Arafat Indiana University Press 2010 p 259 Kershner Isabel 4 July 2012 Palestinians May Exhume Arafat After Report of Poisoning The New York Times Retrieved 5 August 2012 Hockstader Lee 11 November 2004 A Dreamer Who Forced His Cause Onto World Stage The Washington Post Retrieved 31 October 2007 Kumaraswamy P R 24 July 2009 The A to Z of the Arab Israeli Conflict Scarecrow Press p 26 ISBN 978 0 8108 7015 4 Yasser Arafat Mausoleum Alluring World 17 March 2016 Retrieved 5 September 2019 Hart Alan 1989 Arafat a Political Biography Bloomington Indiana University Press p 67 ISBN 978 0 253 32711 6 Dunn Michael 2004 Arafat Yasir In Mattar Philip ed Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East amp North Africa A C Vol 1 Detroit Macmillan Reference pp 269 272 ISBN 978 0 02 865769 1 Arafat and his family have always insisted that he was born 4 August 1929 in his mother s family home in Jerusalem Nevertheless an Egyptian birth registration exists suggesting that he was born in Egypt on 24 August 1929 Not certain Disputed Most sources including Tony Walker Andrew Gowers Alan Hart and Said K Aburish indicate Cairo as Arafat s place of birth but others list his birthplace as Jerusalem as well as Gaza See here 1 and here 2 for more information Some believe also that the Jerusalem birthplace might have been a little known rumor created by the KGB 3 Bernadette Brexel 2003 Yasser Arafat Rosen Publishing Group p 12 a b c d e f g h Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 7 32 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Yasser Arafat Homeland a dream for Palestinian Authority Chief CNN News Cable News Network Retrieved 5 July 2012 Rubenstein Dany 1995 The Mystery of Arafat New York Steerforth Press p 38 ISBN 978 1 883642 10 5 Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing p 46 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 246 247 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Profile Suha Arafat Blonde convent educated and with a rumored penchant for designer suits Suha Arafat made an unlikely wife for the leader of the Palestinian resistance BBC News 17 November 2005 Retrieved 21 July 2007 Milestones Time 19 December 1994 a b Arafat s widow tried to leave Palestinian leader hundreds of times The Daily Star 9 February 2013 Archived from the original on 16 August 2018 Retrieved 11 February 2013 Suha Arafat I wish I d never married him The Times of Israel Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 290 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Mattar Phillip 12 November 2000 Biography of Khalil al Wazir Abu Jihad Encyclopedia of the Palestinians Facts on File 1st edition Archived from the original on 21 August 2006 Retrieved 17 July 2007 a b c d e f g h Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 33 67 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 33 67 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Aburish says the date of Fatah s founding is unclear but claims in 1959 it was exposed by its magazine Zeev Schiff Raphael Rothstein 1972 Fedayeen Guerillas Against Israel McKay p 58 Schiff and Rothstein claim Fatah was founded in 1959 Salah Khalaf and Khalil al Wazir state Fatah s first formal meeting was in October 1959 See Anat N Kurz 2005 Fatah and the Politics of Violence The Institutionalization of a Popular Struggle Brighton Portland Sussex Academic Press Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies pp 29 30 Hussein Hassan Khalil Abu Iyad Unknown Pages of his Life p 64 Cooley John K 1973 Green March Black September Frank Crass amp Co p 100 ISBN 978 0 7146 2987 2 Abu Sharif Bassam Uzi Mahmaini 1996 Tried by Fire Time Warner Paperbacks p 33 ISBN 978 0 7515 1636 4 Gowers Andrew Tony Walker 1991 Behind the Myth Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Revolution Interlink Pub Group Inc p 65 ISBN 978 0 940793 86 6 Hart Alan 1994 Arafat Sidgwick and Jackson pp 204 205 ISBN 978 0 283 06220 9 Oren Michael 2003 Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East New York The Random House Publishing Group pp 33 36 ISBN 978 0 345 46192 6 a b c d e f Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 69 98 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Aburish Said K 2004 Nasser The Last Arab New York Thomas Dunne Books ISBN 978 0 312 28683 5 OCLC 52766217 a b c Sayigh Yezid 1997 Armed Struggle and the Search for State the Palestinian National Movement 1949 1993 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 829643 0 Cath Senker 2004 The Arab Israeli Conflict Black Rabbit Books ISBN 9781583404416 Retrieved 25 October 2015 Debacle in the desert Haaretz 29 March 1968 Retrieved 13 May 2011 Patrick Tyler 18 September 2012 Fortress Israel The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country and Why They Can t Make Peace Macmillan ISBN 9781429944472 Retrieved 25 October 2015 الذكرى الثالثة والأربعون لمعركة الكرامة الخالدة Petra News Agency in Arabic Ammon News 20 March 2011 Retrieved 25 October 2015 1968 Karameh and the Palestinian revolt The Telegraph 16 May 2002 Retrieved 3 September 2008 Saada Tass amp Merrill Dean Once an Arafat Man The True Story of How a PLO Sniper Found a New Life Illinois 2008 pp 4 6 ISBN 1 4143 2361 1 GUERRILLAS BACK AT JORDAN CAMP Attack by Israelis Failed to Destroy Base at Karameh or Wipe Out Commandos The New York Times 28 March 1968 Retrieved 26 October 2015 subscription required Zeev Maoz Defending the Holy Land A Critical Analysis of Israel s Security and Foreign Policy University of Michigan Press 2006 pages 244 246 Herzog The Arab Israeli Wars page 205 a b Spencer C Tucker Priscilla Roberts 12 May 2005 Encyclopedia of the Arab Israeli Conflict The A Political Social and Military History A Political Social and Military History ABC CLIO ISBN 9781851098422 Retrieved 25 October 2015 Kathleen Sweet 23 December 2008 Aviation and Airport Security Terrorism and Safety Concerns Second Edition CRC Press ISBN 9781439894736 Retrieved 27 October 2015 The Israeli Assessment Time 13 December 1968 ISSN 0040 781X Archived from the original on 23 November 2008 Retrieved 3 September 2008 subscription required Livingstone Neil David Halevy 1990 Inside the PLO Reader s Digest Association p 80 ISBN 978 0 7090 4548 9 The Guerrilla Threat In the Middle East Time 13 December 1968 Archived from the original on 8 February 2007 Retrieved 24 August 2007 Cobban Helena 1984 The Palestine Liberation Organisation People Power and Politics Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 27216 2 The Morning Record Google News Archive Search news google com Fatah Wins Control of Palestine Group PDF The New York Times 5 February 1969 Retrieved 5 July 2012 a b c Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 100 112 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 a b Black September in Jordan 1970 1971 Armed Conflict Events Data 16 December 2000 Retrieved 17 July 2007 Rasheda Mahran Arafat the Difficult Number in Arabic Dar al Hayan pp 175 181 Nisan Mordechi 2003 The Conscience of Lebanon A Political Biography of Ettiene Sakr Abu Arz London Portland Oregon Frank Cass p 20 ISBN 0 7146 5392 6 Helen Chapin Metz ed 1988 Israel in Lebanon Israel A Country Study Washington GPO for the Library of Congress a b c Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 122 125 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Sontag Deborah 20 April 1999 2 Who Share a Past Are Rivals for Israel s Future The New York Times pp Section A Page 3 Column 1 Klein Aaron 2005 Striking Back The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel s Deadly Response New York Random House ISBN 978 1 920769 80 2 Berger Robert 5 September 2002 Munich Massacre Remembered CBS News MMII CBS Worldwide Incorporate Retrieved 17 July 2007 Morris Benny 2001 Righteous Victims A History of the Zionist Arab Conflict 1881 2001 Vintage Books p 383 ISBN 978 0 679 74475 7 Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations 8 June 1974 Archived from the original on 28 January 2012 Retrieved 5 July 2012 a b c Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 140 142 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 The Seizure of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum PDF U S Department of State 4 May 2006 William Rogers to the Embassy at Fort Lamy 13 March 1973 a b Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 252 261 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Cable US Embassy in Beirut to Secretary of State 4 April 1973 PLENARY MEETING Wednesday 13 November 1974 United Nations Archived from the original on 8 February 2012 Retrieved 5 July 2012 Nichols Mark 17 December 1977 Five Minutes to Midnight The Gazette Montreal Retrieved 5 July 2012 All Yasser Arafat had in his holster at the UN was a pair of dark glasses Frum David 2000 How We Got Here The 70s New York New York Basic Books pp 319 320 ISBN 978 0 465 04195 4 Laville Sandra correspondent crime 3 August 2007 Big Daddy s boy Idi Amin s son jailed in Britain over Somali gang murder The Guardian Biographical Focus Idi Amin 14 April 2003 a b c d e f Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator Bloomsbury Publishing pp 150 175 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Mardelli Bassil A 2012 Middle East Perspectives From Lebanon iUniverse p 260 ISBN 9781475906721 Noam Chomsky 1999 The Fateful Triangle The United States Israel and the Palestinians South End Press p 184 ISBN 978 0 89608 601 2 a b The Civil War 1975 Regional Intervention The Lebanese American Association Archived from the original on 20 October 2013 Harris William 1996 Faces of Lebanon Sects Wars and Global Extensions Markus Wiener Publishers pp 162 165 ISBN 978 1 55876 115 5 Nisan 2003 In Faces of Lebanon Sects Wars and Global Extensions pp 162 165 William Harris states Perhaps 3 000 Palestinians mostly civilians died in the siege and its aftermath This source states that 2 000 were killed Lebanese war chronology 1975 1990 www 111101 net Retrieved 12 February 2023 133 Statement to the press by Prime Minister Begin on the massacre of Israelis on the Haifa Tel Aviv Road 12 March 1978 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs 12 May 1978 Time Line Lebanon Israel Controls South BBC News 9 October 2007 Retrieved 9 October 2007 Noam Chomsky Fatal Triangle 1999 p 346 The Battle of Tel al Zaatar Liberty 05 92 Press Conference Following Israel Air Force Attack on PLO base in Tunis Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1 November 1985 Middle East International No 289 5 December 1986 Publishers Lord Mayhew Dennis Walters MP Jim Muir pp 10 11 No 291 9 January 1987 Jim Muir pp 3 4 a b c d e f Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 201 228 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 An Analysis of the Strategies and Tactics of the Palestinians and Israelis Ron Jonathan Tufts University A Matter of Justice Tax Resistance in Beit Sahour Nonviolent Sanctions Albert Einstein Institution Spring Summer 1992 Gilbert Martin 1998 Israel a history Doubleday p 418 ISBN 978 0 385 40401 3 Margaret P Grafeld Declassified Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review PDF 4 May 2006 Archived from the original PDF on 8 September 2013 Emmott Bill 2004 20 21 Vision Twentieth Century Lessons for the Twenty First Century Macmillan p 151 Younan Munib Strickert Frederick M 2003 Witnessing for Peace Fortress 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Publishing pp 262 292 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Heikal Mohammed 1996 Secret Channels HarperCollins Publishing p 479 ISBN 978 0 00 638337 6 Constitution of Palestine 1994 Wikisource 26 July 2006 Accessed on 7 November 2007 Forgione Fabio October 2004 The Chaos of Corruption Challenges for the improvement of the Palestinian Society VI PA security service 1 Abuses torture and infringements of the law The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group PHRMG Archived from the original on 11 January 2008 Retrieved 4 November 2007 Palestine Facts 1994 1995 Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs PASSIA Archived from the original on 29 July 2013 Retrieved 15 March 2008 Miller Judith 10 November 2004 Obituary Yasir Arafat Palestinian Leader Dies at 75 The New York Times Retrieved 25 November 2007 Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 293 320 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Profile Binyamin Netanyahu BBC News 20 December 2005 Hardliners Gain Around Likud Vote BBC News 9 December 2002 Retrieved 21 July 2007 The Wye River Memorandum The State of Israel Translated from Hebrew 1998 Archived from the original on 15 July 2001 Retrieved 24 August 2007 a b c d Yasser Arafat 1929 2004 PDF PASSIA 11 December 2004 Archived from the original PDF on 29 February 2012 Mid East press reflects on Arafat legacy Israeli newspaper Maariv BBC News 5 November 2004 Retrieved 17 September 2007 a b c Aburish Said K 1998 From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing pp 321 325 ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Beyer Lisa 12 November 2004 A Life in Retrospect Yasser Arafat Time p 2 Archived from the original on 13 November 2004 Retrieved 24 August 2007 a b Hart Alan 1989 Arafat a political biography Illustrated ed Indiana University Press p 27 ISBN 978 0 253 32711 6 poison arafat Hart Alan 1989 Arafat A Political Biography Illustrated ed Indiana University Press p 320 ISBN 978 0 253 32711 6 poison arafat Hart Alan 1989 Arafat a political biography Illustrated ed Indiana University Press pp 429 430 ISBN 978 0 253 32711 6 poison arafat Prager Karsten Murray J Gart Yasser Arafat 7 November 1988 Interview with Yasser Arafat Knowing the Enemy Time Archived from the original on 26 November 2010 Retrieved 30 January 2010 Al Aqsa Intifada timeline 2002 BBC News 29 September 2004 Retrieved 11 September 2007 Khaled Abu Toameh 29 September 2010 Arafat ordered Hamas attacks against Israel in 2000 Jerusalem post Archived from the original on 8 October 2010 This was the first time that a senior Hamas official disclosed that some of the Hamas suicide bombings during the second intifada which erupted 10 years ago were ordered by Arafat Until now it was widely believed that Arafat had only ordered his Fatah militiamen to carry out terror attacks on Israel Bowen Jeremy 7 November 2003 Palestinian Authority funds go to militants BBC News Retrieved 26 August 2007 Naveh Dani 6 May 2002 The Involvement of Arafat PA Senior Officials and Apparatuses in 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2003 Arafat s Billions One Man s Quest To Track Down Unaccounted For Public Funds www cbsnews com Retrieved 12 February 2023 Alon Gideon Amira Hass 14 August 2002 MI chief terror groups trying hard to pull off mega attack Haaretz Archived from the original on 1 October 2007 Retrieved 21 July 2007 Arafat Diverted 900 Million to Private Account IMF Says Bloomberg News Bloomberg L P 20 September 2003 Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 8 September 2013 For a general overview of the crucial importance of foreign funding in the peace process and the PNA s use of such aid see Rex Brynen A Very Political Economy Peacebuilding and Foreign Aid in the West Bank and Gaza United States Institute of Peace Press 2000 a b Stahl Lesley 9 November 2003 Arafat s Billions One Man s Quest To Track Down Unaccounted For Public Funds CBS News Retrieved 21 July 2007 Backgrounder Corruption in the PLO s Financial Empire www cdn friends icej co medigest jul98 backgrnd html Katz Yaakov 17 May 2006 Arafat used aid to buy weapons The Jerusalem Post Retrieved 21 July 2007 Documents seized during Operation Defensive Shield linking Arafat to Terrorism 15 April 2002 Israel Claims Finding Evidence Against Arafat 2002 04 03 VOA 30 October 2009 a b c Bergman Ronen 23 January 2018 How Arafat Eluded Israel s Assassination Machine The New York Times Retrieved 13 January 2019 Ending of Yasser s Life Palestine The Mystery Country Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 a b c Biles Peter 12 November 2004 Arafat s funeral held in Cairo Mystery illness BBC News Retrieved 2 November 2007 Yossi Melman 14 July 2011 What killed Yasser Arafat Haaretz agencies Staff and 29 October 2004 Frail Arafat arrives in France the Guardian Retrieved 24 February 2021 Lindgren Jim 4 November 2004 Arafat If he is brain dead he is dead The Volokh Conspiracy France Presse Hospitalization Report PDF 18 November 2004 Retrieved 22 November 2015 Palestinians may exhume Yasser Arafat s body for tests CBS News Steven Erlanger Lawrence K Altman 8 September 2005 Medical records say Arafat died from a stroke The New York Times Retrieved 12 July 2012 Yasser Arafat medical records show health was blamed on gastroenteritis The Daily Telegraph 12 July 2012 Archived from the original on 11 January 2022 Retrieved 15 July 2012 Laub Karin 12 July 2012 New Arafat medical file released in death probe Associated Press Retrieved 15 July 2012 Barzak Ibrahim 11 November 2004 Palestinians Mourn Death of Arafat Chicago Tribune Associated Press Retrieved 21 December 2017 Arafat s funeral held in Cairo BBC News 12 November 2004 Retrieved 15 July 2012 Bennet James 13 November 2004 The Death of Arafat An Emotion Driven Flock Storms the Burial Ceremony The New York Times Retrieved 15 July 2012 Left Sarah 11 November 2004 Arafat begins final journey The Guardian London Guardian News and Media Limited Retrieved 4 December 2007 Bennet James Erlanger Steven 11 November 2004 Arafat s Body Arrives in Cairo Ahead of 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president s death Archived 21 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Ma an News Agency 10 January 2011 Israel Radio English news 17 January 2011 0430 UTC a b c d Cause of Arafat death unknown Medical records of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat appear to show that doctors could not determine the underlying cause of his death BBC News 8 September 2005 McDermott Rose 2008 Presidential leadership illness and decision making Cambridge University Press p 244 ISBN 978 0 521 88272 9 Arafat s Widow Alleges Criminal Scheme over Death CBN com Retrieved 15 November 2012 Palestinians head to Paris to probe Arafat s death The Irish Times 17 November 2004 Retrieved 18 December 2015 Family Platelet disorder killed Arafat Ma an News Agency 11 October 2011 Archived from the original on 18 January 2012 Retrieved 4 July 2012 a b Gregg Carlstrom 4 July 2012 Arafat s widow calls for body to be exhumed Al Jazeera Retrieved 12 February 2023 Erlanger Steven Altman Lawrence K 8 September 2005 Medical Records Say Arafat Died From a Stroke The New York Times a b Arafat s doctor wants autopsy Associated Press 12 November 2004 Retrieved 28 August 2018 Yasser Arafat Palestinians call for poison inquiry BBC News 3 July 2012 Retrieved 12 February 2023 Froidevaux P Baechler S Bailat C J Castella V Augsburger M Michaud K Mangin P Bochud F O 2013 Improving forensic investigation for polonium poisoning Lancet 382 9900 1308 doi 10 1016 S0140 6736 13 61834 6 PMID 24120205 S2CID 32134286 Retrieved 12 October 2013 Subscription required a b c d in French Luis Lema Yasser Arafat la valse des isotopes Le Temps Saturday 24 May 2014 p 3 Gregg Carlstrom 27 November 2013 Arafat s body exhumed www aljazeera com Retrieved 12 February 2023 Yasser Arafat s remains exhumed for death investigation Palestinians say CBS 27 November 2012 Experts exhume Arafat seek evidence of poison Reuters Retrieved 27 November 2012 a b Poort David Silverstein Ken 6 November 2013 Polonium found in Arafat s bones www aljazeera com Retrieved 12 February 2023 Swiss Team Arafat Poisoned to Death With Polonium Haaretz 6 November 2013 Retrieved 12 February 2023 Q amp A Francois Bochud on the Arafat report www aljazeera com Paul Taylor 7 November 2013 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was murdered with polonium widow NBC News Reuters Tait Robert 8 November 2013 Arafat s body loaded with polonium say scientists The Sydney Morning Herald Russia Arafat s death not caused by radiation The Washington Times Associated Press 26 December 2013 Retrieved 13 January 2014 Arafat was not poisoned French prosecutor says The Jerusalem Post Arafat did not die of poisoning French tests conclude Reuters 3 December 2013 Further readingExternal videos nbsp Booknotes interview with John and Janet Wallach on Arafat In the Eyes of the Beholder 23 December 1990 C SPANAburish Said K 1998 Arafat From Defender to Dictator New York Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 978 1 58234 049 4 Gowers Andrew Tony Walker 2005 Arafat The Biography Virgin Books ISBN 978 1 85227 924 0 Karsh Efraim 2003 Arafat s War The Man and His Battle for Israeli Conquest New York Grove Press ISBN 978 0 8021 1758 8 Livingstone Neil 1990 Inside the PLO Reader s Digest Association ISBN 978 0 7090 4548 9 Rubin Barry M Judith Colp Rubin 2003 Yasir Arafat A Political Biography Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 516689 7 Rubenstein Danny Dan Leon 1995 The Mystery of Arafat Steerforth Press ISBN 978 1 883642 10 5 Sela Avraham 2002 Arafat Yasser In Avraham Sela ed The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East Rev and updated ed New York Continuum pp 166 171 ISBN 9780826414137 OCLC 48706504 Wallach Janet John Wallach 1990 Arafat In the Eyes of the Beholder Secaucus NJ Lyle Stuart ISBN 978 0 8184 0533 4 OCLC 21950960 External linksYasser Arafat at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Texts from Wikisource nbsp Data from Wikidata Yasser Arafat on Nobelprize org nbsp Yasser Arafat 1929 2004 at PASSIA A Life in Retrospect Yasser Arafat Time Appearances on C SPAN Yasser Arafat at IMDb Yasser Arafat collected news and commentary at The Jerusalem Post Yasser Arafat collected news and commentary at The New York Times Yasser Arafat at Curlie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yasser Arafat amp oldid 1205238563, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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