Yasser Arafat

Yassir Arafat (Arabic: ياسر عرفات‎) August 24 or August 4, 1929 – November 11, 2004), was born in Cairo[1] to Palestinian parents. His given name was Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (محمد عبد الرؤوف القدوة الحسيني). He was also known by the kunya Abu `Ammar (أبو عمّار). Arafat was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (1969–2004); President of the Palestinian Authority of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) (1993–2004). Yasser Arafat was a co-recipient of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, for the successful negotiations resulting in the 1993 Oslo Accords.

Arafat was a controversial and polarizing figure throughout his lengthy career. His supporters viewed him as a heroic freedom fighter who symbolized the national aspirations of the Palestinian people. But his opponents often described him as an unrepentant terrorist with a long legacy of promoting violence. Still others accused him of being a deeply corrupt politician or a weak and devious leader.

Arab nationalists believe that he made too many concessions to the Israeli government during the 1993 Oslo Accords. However, Arafat has been widely recognized for leading the Fatah, which he founded in 1957, and inspiring the dreams and aspirations of the Palestinian people.

Early life

Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat Al Qudwa al-Hussaeini was born on August 24, 1929 in Cairo. His father, a textile merchant, was a Palestinian with some Egyptian ancestry. His mother was from an old Palestinian family in Jerusalem. She died when Yasir, as he was called, was five years old. He was sent to live with his maternal uncle in Jerusalem, the capital of the British Mandate of Palestine.

He has revealed little about his childhood. But one of his earliest memories is of British soldiers breaking into his uncle's house after midnight, beating members of the family and smashing furniture.[2]

In Jerusalem, he lived in a house near the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque or Temple Mount, a site considered holy by Jews, Christians and Muslims. When he turned eight, his father married a second time and the family relocated back to Cairo. The marriage did not last. When his father married a third time, Arafat's sister Inam was left in charge of raising her siblings.

Arafat attended the University of King Faud II (later renamed Cairo University). He later claimed to have sought a better understanding of Judaism and Zionism by engaging in discussions with Jews and reading publications by Theodor Herzl and other Zionists. But by 1946 he had become an Arab nationalist and was procuring weapons in Egypt to be smuggled into Palestine for the Arab cause.[3]

During the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war, Arafat left the University. Along with other Arabs, he sought to enter Palestine to attack Israeli troops in the name of Palestinian independence. He was disarmed and turned back by Egyptian military forces, who refused to allow him to enter the war zone. Arafat felt that he had been "betrayed by these [Arab] regimes".

After returning to University, Arafat joined the Muslim Brotherhood and served as president of the Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956. By 1956, Arafat graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He later served as a second lieutenant in the Egyptian Army during the Suez Crisis[4]. Also in 1956, at a conference in Prague, he donned the keffiyeh, the traditional chequered head-dress which was to become his emblem.

Arafat's younger brother Dr. Fathi Arafat is rumored to have founded the Arab Red Crescent and was involved in the humanitarian aspect of the conflict.

Arafat founded one of the groups that became al-Fatah in Kuwait in 1959, with the help of friends Yahia Ghavani and Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) [5], and a group of refugees from Gaza. FaTaH means conquest or victory (for the Palestine Liberation Movement). Fatah dedicated itself to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Arafat worked hard in Kuwait to establish the groundwork for Fatah's future financial support by enlisting contributions from the many Palestinians working there. They gave generously from their high salaries in the oil industry (ibid., p.91).

In 1968, Fatah was the target of an Israeli Defense Force operation in the Jordanian village of Al-Karameh. One Hundred Fifty Palestinians and 29 Israeli soldiers were killed. Despite the high Arab death toll, Fatah considered themselves victorious because of the Israeli army's eventual withdrawal. The battle was covered in detail by Time magazine. Arafat's face appeared on the cover, bringing the wider world their first image of the man. Amid the post-war environment, the profiles of Arafat and Fatah were raised by this important turning point. Arafat came to be regarded as a cultural hero who dared confront Israel.

Many young Palestinian Arabs joined the ranks of Fatah and equipment was improved. By the late 1960s, Fatah dominated the PLO. On February 3, 1969 at the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo, Arafat was appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader. He replaced Yahya Hammuda who was acting leader since Ahmad Shukeiri resigned on December 1967. Arafat became commander-in-chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces two years later. In 1973, he became head of the PLO's political department.

Jordan

In the 1960s, tensions between Arabs from Palestine and the Jordanian government had greatly increased. Heavily armed Arab resistance elements (fedayeen) had created a virtual "state within a state" in Jordan, eventually controlling several strategic positions in Jordan, including the oil refinery near Az Zarq. Jordan considered this a growing threat to its sovereignty and security and attempted to disarm the militias. Open fighting erupted in June of 1970. Arafat was a threat to Jordan's ambitions in Palestine.

Other Arab governments attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution, but continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan (such as the destruction by the PFLP, on September 12, of three international airliners hijacked and held in Dawson's Field in Zarqa) was used by the Jordanian government as a pretext to take action to regain control over its territory.

On September 16, King Hussein of Jordan declared martial law. On that same day, Arafat became supreme commander of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA), the regular military force of the PLO. In the ensuing civil war, the PLO had the active support of Syria, which sent a force of around 200 tanks into Jordan to aid them. Fighting was mainly between the Jordanian army and the PLA. The U.S. Navy dispatched the Sixth Fleet to the eastern Mediterranean. Israel deployed troops to aid Hussein, if necessary. By September 24, the Jordanian army achieved dominance and the PLA agreed to a series of ceasefires. [6]

Headquarters in Lebanon during the 1970's

Following Black September and expulsion from Jordan, Arafat relocated the PLO to Lebanon. Because of Lebanon's weak central government, the PLO was able to operate virtually as an independent state. The PLO mounted intermittent cross-border attacks from Lebanon against Israeli targets, including civilians.

In September 1972, the Black September group killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. A number of sources, including Mohammed Daoud and Benny Morris, have stated that Black September was an arm of Fatah used for terrorist operations. The killings were internationally condemned. Arafat publicly disassociated himself and the PLO from the attacks. Meanwhile Israeli prime minister Golda Meir authorized a campaign called Operation Wrath of God to bring down the Fatah cells operating in Europe.

In 1973-4, Arafat ordered the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, because overseas attacks attracted too much bad publicity. The Fatah movement continued to launch attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces within the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In 1974, Arafat became the first representative of a nongovernmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly. Arab heads of state recognized the PLO as "the sole legitimate spokesman of the Palestinian people." In his UN address, Arafat condemned Zionism, but said, "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand." His speech increased international support of the Palestinian cause. The PLO was admitted to full membership in the Arab League in 1976.

In the late 1970s numerous leftist Palestinian organizations appeared and carried out attacks against civilian targets both within and outside of Israel. Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations and hence had not abandoned terrorism. Arafat denied responsibility for terrorist acts committed by these groups.

The PLO played an important part in the Lebanese Civil War. After having taken control over West Beirut, and under siege by the Israeli army, Arafat declared Beirut to be the "second Stalingrad." Beirut ended up in ruins as a result of subsequent Israeli artillery and aerial bombardment. Close to 17,000 civilians were killed.

During the Civil War, Arafat allied the PLO with Lebanese Muslim groups. However, fearing a loss of power, Syria's Hafez al-Assad switched sides, and sent his army to help the radical right-wing Christian Phalangists. The Civil War's first phase ended for Arafat with the siege and fall of the refugee camp of Tal al-Zaatar. Arafat narrowly escaped. His escape was assisted by the Saudis and Kuwaitis.

During the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982, the United States and European powers brokered a deal guaranteeing safe passage for Arafat and the PLO to exile in Tunis.

Arafat actually returned to Lebanon a year after he was evicted from Beirut, this time establishing himself in Tripoli, Lebanon. Instead of being expelled by Israel, this time Arafat was expelled by a fellow Palestinian working for Hafez al-Assad. Arafat did not return to Lebanon personally after this second expulsion, though many Fatah fighters did.

Exile in Tunisia, the 1980's

In September 1982, during the Israeli offensive into Lebanon, the United States and Europe brokered a ceasefire deal. Arafat and the PLO were allowed to leave Lebanon under the protection of a multinational force including 800 US Marine troops supported by US NAVY Landing Craft. Arafat and his leadership eventually arrived in Tunisia, which remained his center of operations until 1993.

Arafat narrowly survived an Israeli attack in 1985. In Operation Wooden Leg, Israeli Air Force F-15s bombed his headquarters in Tunis leaving 73 people dead; Arafat had gone out jogging that morning.

During the 1980s, Arafat received assistance from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which allowed him to reconstruct the badly battered PLO. This gave reinforcement to the PLO for the First Intifada (uprising) in December, 1987. Although the Intifada was a spontaneous uprising against Israeli occupation, within weeks Arafat was attempting to direct the revolt. Israelis believe that it was mainly because of Fatah forces in the West Bank that the civil unrest was able to continue as long as it did.

On November 15, 1988, the PLO proclaimed the independent State of Palestine, a government-in-exile for the Palestinians which laid claim to all of Palestine as defined by the British Mandate of Palestine, rejecting the idea of partition.

In a December 13, 1988 address, Arafat accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242, promised future recognition of Israel, and renounced "terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism" [7]. Arafat's December 13 statement was encouraged by the U.S. administration, which insisted on the recognition of Israel as a necessary starting point in the Camp David peace negotiations. Arafat's statement indicated a shift from one of the PLO's primary aims — the destruction of Israel (as in the Palestinian National Covenant) — towards 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 April 2, 1989, Arafat was elected by the Central Council of the Palestine National Council (the governing body of the PLO) to be the president of the proclaimed State of Palestine.

In 1990 Arafat married Suha Tawil, a Palestinian Orthodox Christian working for the PLO in Tunis, who converted to Islam before marrying him. [8]

During the 1991 Madrid Conference, Israel conducted open negotiations with the PLO for the first time. Prior to the Gulf War of 1991, Arafat opposed the U.S. attack on Iraq, which alienated many of the Arab states, and led the U.S. to doubt Arafat's claims of being a partner for peace.

Arafat narrowly escaped death again on April 7, 1992, when his aircraft crash-landed in the Libyan desert during a sandstorm. The pilot and several passengers were killed. Arafat suffered several broken bones and other injuries.

Palestinian Authority and peace negotiations

Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Arafat during the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993

In the early 1990s Arafat engaged the Israelis in a series of secret talks and negotiations. The talks led to the 1993 Oslo Accords which called for the implementation of Palestinian self rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five year period. Prior to signing the accords, Arafat, as Chairman of the PLO and its official representative signed two letters renouncing violence and officially recognizing Israel on September 9, 1993. In return Prime Minister Rabin, on behalf of Israel, officially recognized the PLO. The following year Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin. Arafat returned to Palestine as a hero to some but a traitor to others.

In 1994, Arafat moved to the territory controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (PA) — the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords.

On July 24, 1995, Arafat's wife Suha gave birth to their daughter, who was named Zahwa after his deceased mother.

On January 20, 1996, Arafat was elected president of the PA, with an overwhelming 88.2 percent majority. The only other candidate was Samiha Khalil. [9]. Independent international observers reported the elections were free and fair. However, because Hamas and other opposition movements chose not to participate in the presidential election, the choices were limited. The next elections, scheduled for January 2002 were postponed. The stated reason was the inability to campaign due to the emergency conditions imposed by the al-Aqsa intifada and Israel Defense Force incursions as well as the restrictions on freedom of movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

After 1996, Arafat's title as Palestinian Authority leader was "head" (Arabic Ra'ees of the Palestinian Authority). Israel and the U.S. interpret the title as "chairman" while Palestinians and the U.N. translate the title as "president". The mass media uses both terms.

In mid-1996, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel by the narrowest of margins.[10] Palestinian-Israeli relations grew more hostile as a consequence of continued conflict. Despite the Israel-PLO accord, Netanyahu opposed the idea of Palestinian statehood [11]. In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton persuaded the two leaders to meet. The resulting Wye River Memorandum of October 23, 1998 detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and PA to complete the peace process.

Arafat continued negotiations with Netanyahu's successor, Ehud Barak, at the Camp David 2000 Summit. Barak was from the leftist Labor Party, whereas Netanyahu was from the rightist Likud Party. This change brought a change in the dynamics of negotiation. Bill Clinton insisted on compromise. Consequently, Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state including the majority of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip, with an outlying suburb of East Jerusalem as its capital. The final proposal proffered by Barak would have meant establishment of the Palestinian State on 90-91% of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip. Israel would annex the remaining 9-10% of the West Bank which encompassed large settlement blocs, in exchange for land in the Negev. In addition, under the Israeli proposal, Israel would retain some control of the Palestinian state's borders, customs and defense. Also included in the offer was a return of a small number of Palestinian refugees and compensation for the rest. Barak also stated he would willingly accept two capitals; a Palestinian-controlled Al Quds next to an Israeli Jerusalem [12].

In a widely criticized move, (even by a member of his negotiating team and Cabinet, Nabil Amr) Arafat rejected Barak's offer and refused to make a counter-offer. IN spite of this, negotiations continued at Taba summit in January 2001. This time Ehud Barak pulled out of the talks to campaign in the Israeli elections. Throughout 2001 the Al-Aqsa Intifada, or Second Palestinian Intifada grew in intensity. Following the election of Ariel Sharon, the peace process completely collapsed.

Sharon, as Israel's newly elected Prime Minister confined Arafat to the Moqataa headquarters in Ramallah. President George W. Bush, of the United States, claimed Arafat was "an obstacle to the peace". The European Union, on the other hand, opposed this tough stance. Following Arafat's death on November 11, 2004, Mahmoud Abbas won the January 2005 presidential elections and replaced Arafat as leader of the PA.

Political survival, marginalization and controversy

Given the extremely dangerous nature of politics in the Middle East and the frequency of assassinations, 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. Some believe his survival was largely due to Israel's fear that he could become a martyr for the Palestinian cause if he were to be assassinated or even arrested by Israel. Others believe that Israel kept Arafat alive because it came to fear Arafat less than Hamas and the other Islamist movements gaining support over Arafat's secular organization. The complex and fragile web of relations between the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states also contributed to Arafat's longevity as Palestinian leader.

Arafat's ability to adapt to new tactical and political situations, was exemplified amidst the rise of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizations. These Islamist groups espoused rejectionist opposition to Israel and employed new tactics such as suicide bombing, often intentionally targeting non-military targets, such as malls and movie theaters, to increase psychological damage. In the 1990s, these groups seemed to threaten Arafat's capacity to hold together a unified secular nationalist organization with a goal of statehood. They appeared to be out of Arafat's influence and control and were actively fighting with Arafat's Fatah group. Some allege that activities of these groups were tolerated by Arafat as a means of applying pressure on Israel. Some Israeli government officials opined in 2002 that the Fatah's faction Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades began attacks on Israel to compete with Hamas.

On May 6, 2002, the Israeli government released a report, based in part on documents captured during the Israeli occupation of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, with copies of papers signed by Arafat authorizing funding for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' activities.

In March 2002, the Arab League made an offer to recognize Israel in exchange for Israeli retreat from all territories captured in the Six-Day War and statehood for Palestine and Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Supporters saw this offer as a historic opportunity for comprehensive peace in the region. Critics of the offer said that it would constitute a heavy blow to Israel's security, while not guaranteeing the cessation of suicide bombing attacks. Israel ignored this offer it deemed to be superficial.

Shortly afterward, attacks carried out by Palestinian militants killed more than 135 Israeli civilians. Ariel Sharon, who had previously demanded that Arafat speak out strongly in Arabic against suicide bombings, declared that Arafat "assisted the terrorists and made himself an enemy of Israel and irrelevant to any peace negotiations". Israel then launched a major military offensive into the West Bank.

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 him or of supporting him. Marwan Barghouti emerged as a leader during the Al-Aqsa intifada but Israel had him arrested and sentenced to 4 life terms.

Arafat was finally allowed to leave his compound on May 3, 2002 after intense negotiations.[13] Six militants wanted by Israel, who had been holed up with Arafat, would not be turned over to Israel, or held in custody by the Palestinian Authority. Rather, a combination of British and American security personnel ensured that the wanted men remained imprisoned in Jericho. In addition, Arafat promised that he would issue a call in Arabic to the Palestinians to halt attacks on Israelis. Arafat was released. He issued the call on May 8, 2002, but it was largely ignored. Many feel this was because he secretly supported the attacks. This belief was widespread among all the Palestinian militant organizations who did not take Arafat's call seriously.

On July 18, 2004, in an interview in Le Figaro, U.S. President George W. Bush dismissed Arafat as a negotiating partner: "The real problem is that there is no leadership that is able to say 'help us establish a state and we will fight terror and answer the needs of the Palestinians'". [14] This decision was criticized by the European Union and Russia, who were part of the quartet leading negotiations between Israel and the PLO.

Arafat had, at best, a mixed relationship with the leaders of other Arab nations. However, he remained the most popular Arab leader among the general populace. For many years, was the only elected Arab leader. The most frequent criticism of Arafat by the Western and Israeli media was that he was corrupt to the detriment of the Palestinian people. Arafat's support from Arab leaders tended to increase whenever he was pressured by Israel.

On September 22, 2003, The Wall Street Journal published an article by former chief of Romanian intelligence Ion Mihai Pacepa, a controversial character who defected from the Eastern bloc in the 1970s. Titled "The KGB’s Man", PDF the article alleged that Arafat had been trained by the KGB, which "in the mid-1960s decided to groom him as the future PLO leader". Pacepa purported that Moscow had been behind his nomination as president of the PLO.

Combining all these different circumstances and Arafat's handling of them is like connecting puzzle pieces to see a larger picture. What appears is an understanding that Arafat was able to use and even manipulate situations to benefit not only his survival but also, the political ends that he envisioned.

Financial dealings

In August 2002, the Israeli Military Intelligence Chief claimed that Arafat's personal wealth was USD $1.3 billion [15], though he provided no substantiation for this claim. The U.S. business magazine "Forbes" [16] ranked Arafat as sixth on its 2003 list "Kings, Queens and Despots" [17], estimating his personal wealth to "at least $300 million", without indicating its source for this claim.

In 2003 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted an audit of the Palestinian Authority and stated that Arafat diverted $900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by Arafat and the PA Chief Economic Financial Advisor. However, the IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties and it specifically stated that most of the funds have been used to invest in Palestinian assets, both internally and abroad. [18]

In 2003 a team of American accountants hired by Arafat's own finance ministry began examining Arafat's finances. 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". Though Arafat has always lived modestly, Dennis Ross, former Middle East negotiator for Presidents Bush and Bill Clinton stated that Arafat's "walking-around money" financed a vast patronage system known as neopatrimonialism. In other words, he used state funds to generate others' loyalty to himself and his agenda.

According to Salam Fayyad, a former World Bank official who Arafat appointed finance minister 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." [19]According to Hanan Ashrawi, a former member of Arafat's cabinet "Getting Mr. Arafat to hand over the holdings was like pulling teeth. Mr. Arafat gave in to pressure from aid donors such as the European Union and from his finance minister, Salam Fayyad, the IMF's former representative in the territories. They demanded that Mr. Arafat turn over the investments as a condition of further aid." [20]

An investigation by the European Union into claims that EU funds were misused by the Palestinian Authority has found no evidence that funds were diverted to finance terrorist activities. The EU "remains convinced that deepening reform in the PA including improving its financial management and audit capacities is the best preventive strategy against the misuse of funds and corruption. The reform of the financial management of the PA is the objective of several key conditions attached to EU financial assistance." [21] Faud Shubaki, former financial aide to Arafat, told the Israeli Shin Bet that Arafat used several million dollars of aid money to buy weapons and support militant groups. [22]

Claims by unnamed sources in the PA Finance Ministry stated that Arafat's wife, Suha, receives a stipend of $100,000 each month from the PA budget. In an interview with the London based newspaper Al Hayat, Mrs. Arafat accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of spreading rumors about money laundering involving the transfer of funds to her in order to distract media attention away from corruption allegations he was facing.

In October 2003, French government prosecutors opened a money laundering probe of Suha Arafat after Tracfin alerted the prosecutors to untaxed transfers of nearly $1.27 million each with some regularity from Switzerland to Mrs. Arafat's accounts in Paris.

Illness and death

First reports of Arafat's treatment by his doctors for what his spokesman said was 'flu' came on October 25, 2004 after he vomited during a meeting. His condition deteriorated in the days that followed. He became unconscious for 10 minutes on October 27. Following visits by other doctors, including teams from Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt, and agreement by Israel not to block his return, Arafat was taken on October 29 aboard a French government jet to the Percy Military Hospital in Clamart, near Paris. On November 3 he lapsed into a gradually deepening coma. Arafat's health was the subject of speculation, with suspicion that he was suffering from poisoning or AIDS [23]. Various sources speculated that Arafat was comatose, in a "vegetative state", or dead. Palestinian authorities and Arafat's Jordanian doctor denied reports that Arafat was brain dead and had been kept on life support.

A controversy erupted between officials of the Palestinian Authority and Suha Arafat. On November 8, officials of the Palestinian Authority travelled to France to see Yasser Arafat. Suha Arafat stated "They are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive". Palestinian officials regretted that the news about Yasser Arafat was "filtered" by his wife.[24] French law forbids physicians from discussing the condition of their patients with anybody except close relatives, when prognosis is grave. (Code of Public Health, L1110-4) Consequently, all communications concerning Yasser Arafat's health had to be authorized by Arafat's wife.

On November 9, at 10 AM, chief surgeon Estripeau of Percy reported that Arafat's condition had worsened, and that he had fallen into a deeper coma. On November 10, a high religious dignitary visited Arafat and declared that it was out of the question to disconnect Arafat from life support machines, since such an action would be prohibited by Islam.

Arafat was pronounced dead at 03:30 AM UTC French time on November 11 at age 75. The exact cause of his illness is unknown. There are theories that Arafat's confinement in his compound for 3.5 years, the lack of sunshine and constant stress contributed to his death. Sheikh Taissir Tamimi, who held a vigil at his bedside described the scene, "It was a very painful scene. There was blood everywhere on his face. The blood was coming from every possible place. My first reaction when I saw the scene was that I didn't understand what was going on. I closed my eyes, and I started reading from the Koran..." When Arafat's death was announced, the Palestinian people went into a state of mourning, with Qur'anic mourning prayers emitted from loudspeakers from mosques and tires burning in the street as a sign of mourning.

In September 2005, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that French experts could not determine the cause of Arafat's death. The paper further quoted an Israeli AIDS expert who claimed that Arafat bore all the symptoms of AIDS. Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, personal physician of Arafat for 20 years, later declared that nothing in Arafat's medical report mentioned AIDS.

Another "senior Israeli physician" claimed in the Haaretz article that it was "a classic case of food poisoning", probably caused by a meal eaten four hours before he fell ill on October 12 that may have contained a toxin such as ricin rather than bacteria. However, in the same week that the Haaretz report was published, the New York Times published a separate report also based on access to Arafat's medical records which claimed it was highly unlikely that Arafat had AIDS or food poisoning. Both Haaretz and the New York Times further speculated that the cause of death may have been an infection of unknown origin.

Dr. al-Kurdi lamented the fact that Suha had refused an autopsy for Arafat, which would have answered many questions. He called for the creation of an independent commission to carry out investigations concerning Arafat's suspicious death. In spite of all the speculation and rumors, no official and definitive cause of death has been established.

Aftermath

File:Arafat Tomb.JPG

Arafat's tomb in Ramallah

Israel refused Arafat's wish to be buried in or near the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem] citing widespread security concerns. [25] Following a state funeral in Cairo, attended by many world leaders, Arafat was "temporarily" laid to rest on November 12 within his former headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank watched by a large crowd.

On November 16, 2004, the Canard Enchaîné newspaper reported alleged leaks of information by unnamed medical sources at Percy Hospital that had access to Arafat and his medical file. According to the newspaper, the doctors at Percy hospital suspected, from Arafat's arrival, grave lesions of the liver responsible for an alteration of the composition of the blood, thus Arafat was placed in a hematology service. Leukemia was soundly ruled out. According to the same source, the reason why this diagnosis of cirrhosis could not be made public was that, in the mind of the general public, cirrhosis is generally associated with alcohol abuse &ndash. Even though the diagnosis was not of an alcoholic cirrhosis and Arafat did not consume any alcohol, there would probably have been rumors. The source explained that Arafat's conditions of life during the last three years may have devastated his health. Arafat had not gotten appropriate health care during this time. Consequently, according to the source, there were many probable causes of the disease. Arafat's coma was a consequence of the worsening cirrhosis. Finally, he had a brain hemorrhage. [26] The French newspaper Le Monde quoted doctors as saying that he suffered from "an unusual blood disease and a liver problem".

Paris deputy Claude Goasguen asked for a parliamentary inquiry commission on the death of Arafat in an attempt to quell rumors.[27] On November 17, the French government insisted there was no evidence Arafat had been poisoned, otherwise a criminal investigation would have been opened.

After Arafat's death, the French Ministry of Defense said that Arafat's medical file would only be transmitted to his next of kin. Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Kidwa, was determined a close enough relative, which worked around Suha Arafat's silence about her husband's illness. On November 22, Nasser al-Kidwa was given a copy of Arafat's 558-page medical file by the French Ministry of Defense.

Aftermath

Upon Arafat's death, Speaker Rawhi Fattuh succeeded Arafat as interim President of the Palestinian Authority. PLO Secretary-General Mahmoud Abbas was selected Chairman of the PLO. Foreign Minister Farouk Kaddoumi became head of Fatah. Ahmed Qurei remained as Prime Minister and took additional security responsibilities. Abbas won the January 2005 presidential election by a comfortable margin, solidifying himself as the successor to Arafat as leader of the Palestinians.

In January 2006, Arafat's Fatah was replaced by Hamas, through victory in the legislative elections. Due to Hamas' commitment to terrorism, the immediate reaction of Israel and the United States was to cut all transfer of tax receipts and funds, further paralyzing the Palestinian economy. A third of the Palestinian population has depended on the salaries paid to the PA's civil servants, which were financed by the PA's tax receipts.

Arafat's decades of leadership of the Palestinian Authority kept a precarious balance between legitimate advocacy for a Palestinian state and military maneuvers and tactics that may not have been easily traced back to him, but kept the sting on those who opposed his agenda.

Bibliography

• Bregman, Ahron Elusive Peace: How the Holy Land Defeated America NY: Penguin, 2005 ISBN 0141020849
• Aburish, Said K., Arafat: From Defender to Dictator, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-58234-049-8
• Gowers, Andrew and Tony Walker, Arafat: The Biography, London & NY: Virgin Books, 2005. ISBN 1-85227-924-9
• Hart, Alan, Arafat, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1994. ISBN 0-283-06220-7
• Rubin, Barry M. and Judith Colp Rubin, Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-516689-2
• Rubinstein, Danny (translated by Dan Leon) The Mystery of Arafat, South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 1995. ISBN 1-883642-10-8
• Wallach, Janet and Wallach, John Arafat: In the Eyes of the Beholder, Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub Group, 1990. ISBN 99932-51-30-5
• Livingstone, Neil, Inside the PLO, NY: Morrow, 1990 ISBN 0688093353

External links

• Arafat dead
• Arafat Speaks Against Suicide Attack November 2 2004
• Arafat's Speech to his Nation and look ahead
• Arafat El Salvador Park 5 25 2005
• Arafat Home Museum 11 11 2005

Biographies and profiles

• A Life in Retrospect: Yasser Arafat Time magazine retrospective
• Biography of Yasser Arafat from the Nobel e-Museum
• BBC profile of Yasser Arafat
• ICT - Yasir Arafat: Psychological Profile and Strategic Analysis
• Interactive biography of Arafat from the Associated Press
• Life and times of Yassir Arafat, Profile: Yassir Arafat from Times Online, UK
• Obituary from the Guardian
• Biography from presidential site
• Yassir Arafat: 1929-2004 HonestReporting.com (a pro-israel publication) biography

Speeches

• [28] Yasser Arafat's November 13, 1974 UN General Assembly speech
• [29] Yasser Arafat's December 13, 1988 UN General Assembly speech

Other external links

• Arafat's Swiss Bank Account by Issam Abu Issa former chairman of the Palestine International Bank published in the Middle East Quarterly
• Arafat, the nazi by Joseph Farah, World Net Daily
• [30] Yasser Arafat article by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• Auditing Arafat from Forbes magazine, March 17, 2003
• Raising a new olive branch December 2004
• Time to rethink the EU's role in the Middle East December 2004
• Yasser Arafat Profile, Ynet news lexicon, updated regularly
• The beautiful life without Arafat by Gideon Levy, published in Haaretz August 10, 2005

Directories

• Open Directory Project - Yasser Arafat directory category
• Yahoo! - Yasser Arafat directory category

Notes

Credits

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• Yasser Arafat  ^history

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• History of "Yasser Arafat"

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