Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his <a href="/facts/Kunya_(Arabic)/LpxgtEgq">kunya</a> Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was <a href="/facts/Chairman_of_the_Palestine_Liberation_Organization/BeQIR9aj">chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization</a> (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, <a href="/facts/President_of_the_State_of_Palestine/AATBR0Ny">President of the State of Palestine</a> from 1989 to 2004 and <a href="/facts/President_of_the_Palestinian_Authority/vTYf82bK">President of the Palestinian Authority</a> (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an <a href="/facts/Arab_nationalist/AJAwbyX8">Arab nationalist</a> and a <a href="/facts/Arab_socialism/SnCzgwmf">socialist</a>, Arafat was a founding member of the <a href="/facts/Fatah/43bcYlrX">Fatah</a> political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.
Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a>, Egypt, where he spent most of his youth. He studied at the <a href="/facts/Cairo_University/jD12YkVS">University of King Fuad I</a>. While a student, he embraced Arab nationalist and <a href="/facts/Anti-Zionist/DGcrAn8x">anti-Zionist</a> ideas. Opposed to the 1948 creation of the <a href="/facts/State_of_Israel/dEe3IcaY">State of Israel</a>, he fought alongside the <a href="/facts/Muslim_Brotherhood/Asoct77P">Muslim Brotherhood</a> during the <a href="/facts/1948_Arab%25E2%2580%2593Israeli_War/X3GSudUm">1948 Arab–Israeli War</a>. Following the defeat of Arab forces, Arafat returned to Cairo and served as president of the <a href="/facts/General_Union_of_Palestinian_Students/H5aKJLAD">General Union of Palestinian Students</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Palestinian_National_Council/29Aj6aDE">Palestinian National Council</a> (PNC). Fatah's growing presence in Jordan resulted in <a href="/facts/Black_September/ga7jYcgt">military clashes</a> with <a href="/facts/King_Hussein/QHvmBVpL">King Hussein</a>'s Jordanian government and in the early 1970s it relocated to Lebanon. There, Fatah assisted the <a href="/facts/Lebanese_National_Movement/R7qGnQAk">Lebanese National Movement</a> during the <a href="/facts/Lebanese_Civil_War/GBW5sce2">Lebanese Civil War</a> and continued its attacks on Israel, resulting in the organization becoming a major target of Israeli invasions during the <a href="/facts/1978_South_Lebanon_conflict/e96P5Eag">1978 South Lebanon conflict</a> and <a href="/facts/1982_Lebanon_War/72BQ3nuC">1982 Lebanon War</a>.
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 <a href="/facts/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_242/Mpno02Q5">acknowledged</a> Israel's <a href="/facts/Right_to_exist/zCCfLvlu">right to exist</a> and sought a <a href="/facts/Two-state_solution/qVur4GnX">two-state solution</a> to the <a href="/facts/Israeli%25E2%2580%2593Palestinian_conflict/JU7ynqCl">Israeli–Palestinian conflict</a>. In 1994, he returned to Palestine, settling in <a href="/facts/Gaza_City/4mmNgFq6">Gaza City</a> and promoting self-governance for the <a href="/facts/Palestinian_territories/pTUwGmIE">Palestinian territories</a>. He engaged in a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to end the conflict between it and the PLO. These included the <a href="/facts/Madrid_Conference_of_1991/sjAGTGTq">Madrid Conference of 1991</a>, the 1993 <a href="/facts/Oslo_Accords/UfAI7Luo">Oslo Accords</a> and the <a href="/facts/2000_Camp_David_Summit/DoL3sK07">2000 Camp David Summit</a>. The success of the negotiations in Oslo led to Arafat being awarded the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Peace_Prize/2wVhmLrX">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, alongside Israeli Prime Ministers <a href="/facts/Yitzhak_Rabin/Wvd6myha">Yitzhak Rabin</a> and <a href="/facts/Shimon_Peres/76kA3azd">Shimon Peres</a>, in 1994. At the time, Fatah's support among the Palestinians declined with the growth of <a href="/facts/Hamas/VjIkApsc">Hamas</a> and other militant rivals. In late 2004, after effectively being confined within <a href="/facts/Arafat%2527s_Compound/8ace0JC3">his Ramallah compound</a> for over two years by the Israeli army, Arafat fell into a coma and died. The <a href="/facts/Cause_of_Yasser_Arafat%2527s_death/NY9aQglc">cause of Arafat's death</a> remains the subject of speculation. Investigations by Russian and French teams determined no foul play was involved, while a Swiss team determined he was <a href="/facts/Polonium/G4rzsyjP">radiologically poisoned</a>.
Arafat remains a controversial figure. Palestinians generally view him as a <a href="/facts/Martyr/JYxRcEzz">martyr</a> who symbolized the national aspirations of his people, while many Israelis regarded him as a terrorist. Palestinian rivals, including <a href="/facts/Islamism/4u3G2nEf">Islamists</a> and several <a href="/facts/Rejectionist_Front/Npp0lBc2">PLO radicals</a>, frequently denounced him as corrupt or too submissive in his concessions to the Israeli government.

Yasser Arafat open-in-new

Yasser Arafat