Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat (Arabic: ياسر عرفات) (born August 4 or August 24, 1929 as Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ar-Rauf al-Qudwah al-Husayni, also known as Abu Ammar) is the leader of the Palestinian Authority (leader since 1993, elected President (ra'is) to a four-year term in 1996, serving without a renewed mandate since 1999); Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (since 1969); leader of Fatah, the largest of the factions within the PLO, and co-winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.
In October 2004, Yasser Arafat became seriously ill and was transported to a military hospital in France.
Biography
Early life
Arafat was one of seven children born to a father who was a Palestinian with some Egyptian ancestry; his mother from an old Palestinian family in Jerusalem. According to Arafat and other sources, he was born in Jerusalem on August 4, 1929 [1]. His date and place of birth have been disputed; according to other sources he was born in Cairo or even Gaza[2], and a birth certificate found in Cairo states that Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt on August 24, 1929.
Claims that Arafat was related to the Jerusalem Husseini clan through his mother have been disputed by Said Aburish, given that the Husseini clan designation comes from his father's side. In a biography written without Arafat's assistance (Arafat: From Defender to Dictator, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998), Aburish claims that "Arafat insistently perpetuated the legend that he had been born in Jerusalem and was related to the important Husseini clan of that city." Aburish further explains that Arafat was "unrelated to the real Husseini notables of Jerusalem" (Ibid, p. 9) and explains that "The young Arafat sought to establish his Palestinian credentials and promote his eventual claim to leadership... [and] could not afford to admit any facts which might reduce his Palestinian identity. ...Arafat insistently perpetuated the legend that he had been born in Jerusalem and was related to the important Husseini clan of that city." (Ibid, p. 8)
Arafat lived most of his childhood in Cairo, except for four years (following the death of his mother, between the ages of five and nine) when he lived with his uncle in Jerusalem. He then attended the University of Cairo and graduated as a civil engineer[3]. As a student, Arafat joined the Muslim Brotherhood and the Union of Palestinian Students, of which he was president from 1952 to 1956. While in Cairo, he developed a close relationship with Haj Amin Al-Husseini, also known as the Mufti of Jerusalem. In 1956 he served in the Egyptian army during the Suez Crisis.
Fatah and the PLO
After Suez, Arafat moved to Kuwait, where he found work as an engineer and eventually set up his own contracting firm. In Kuwait he also helped found Fatah, an organization dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Fatah was allegedly used by Syria as a proxy in an unsuccessful attempt to blow up an Israeli water pump in December 1964. After the Six-Day War, Israel shifted its attention from the Arab governments to the various Palestinian organizations, including Fatah.
In 1968, Fatah was the target of an Israeli Defense Force attack on the Jordanian village of Al-Karameh, in which 150 Palestinian guerrillas and 29 Israeli soldiers were killed. Despite the high death toll sustained, the battle was considered a strong showing for Fatah because it resulted in withdrawal of the Israeli army. This was an important turning point for the resistance movement as it raised the profiles of Arafat and Fatah. By the late 1960s Fatah had come to dominate the PLO, and at the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo on February 3, 1969 Arafat was appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader. Arafat became commander in chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces two years later and in 1973 the head of the PLO's political department.
Jordan
In the late 1960s tensions between Palestinians and the Jordanian government had greatly increased; heavily armed Palestinian resistance elements (fedayeen) had created a virtual "state within a state" in Jordan, eventually controlling several strategic positions in Jordan, including the oil refinery near Az Zarq. As Jordan considered this a growing threat to its sovereignty and security, open fighting erupted in June of 1970.
Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan (such as the destruction of three international airliners hijacked and held in the desert east of Amman) prompted the Jordanian government to take action to regain control over its territory. On September 16 King Hussein declared martial law. On that same day Arafat became supreme commander of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA), the regular military force of the PLO. In the ensuing civil war the PLO had the active support of Syria, which invaded Jordan with a force of around 200 tanks. The fighting was mainly between the Jordanian army and the PLA; the US Navy dispatched the Sixth Fleet to the eastern Mediterranean, and Israel deployed its troops to aid Hussein if necessary. By September 24 the Jordanian army had gained the upper hand, and the PLA agreed to a series of ceasefires [4]. See also History of Jordan and Black September.
Lebanon
Following its defeat in 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 (called "Fatahland" by Israel). The PLO then began launching artillery and terrorist strikes on Israel from there; Israel responded with far more destructive Isreali attacks on Lebanon.
In September of 1972 the Black September group, which generally believed (although not proved)to have been an operational cover for Fatah, kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games, and eventually killed them all. International condemnation of the attack made Arafat publicly disassociate himself from similar acts in the future. In 1974 Arafat ordered the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the same year Arafat became the first representative of a nongovernmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly.
However, critics claim that Arafat's disconnection from terrorism was illusory. The Fatah movement continued to launch attacks against Israeli targets; moreover, in the late 1970s numerous leftist Palestinian organizations appeared which carried out further attacks both within Israel and outside of it. Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations, and hence had by no means abandoned terrorism as a means of policy, but Arafat has steadfastly denied these charges.
In 1974, Arab heads of states declared the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinians. The PLO was admitted to full membership in the Arab League in 1976.
The PLO played an important part in the Lebanese Civil War; some Lebanese Christians allege that Arafat and the PLO were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens.
Israel allied itself with the Lebanese Christians, and conducted two major invasions of Lebanon. In the first (Operation Litani in 1978), the Israel Defense Forces and South Lebanon Army occupied a narrow strip of land, described as "the Security Zone". In the second, (Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982), Israel expanded its occupation to most of South Lebanon, but was eventually forced to retreat back to the Security Zone in 1985. The Sabra and Shatila Massacre occurred during the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Between 460 and 3,500 Palestinian refugees were killed by Lebanese Maronite Christian Phalangist militias (which were allowed into the refugee camps by Israeli forces following the assassination of Lebanon's Christian president Bachir Gemayel). The Israeli invasions of Lebanon and the Phalangist massacre of Palestinian civilians amplified the deep bitterness and mistrust between Palestinians and the then-Minister of Defense, Ariel Sharon (who was found indirectly responsible for the massacre by an Israeli commission of inquiry and subsequently forced to resign).
Tunisia
In September 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Americans had brokered a cease-fire deal in which Arafat and the PLO were allowed to leave Lebanon; Arafat and his leadership eventually arrived in Tunisia, which remained his center of operations up until 1993.
During the 1980s, Arafat received assistance from Iraq, which allowed him to reconstruct the badly-battered PLO. This was particularly useful during the First Palestinian uprising in December, 1987. Within weeks, Arafat was in control of the revolt, and it was mainly because of Fatah forces in the West Bank that the civil unrest could continue for any length of time.
On November 15, 1988, the PLO proclaimed the State of Palestine, a government-in-exile for the Palestinians which laid claim to the whole of Palestine as defined by the British Mandate of Palestine, rejecting the idea of partition. In the December 13, 1988 address, Arafat declared acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 242, promised future recognition of Israel and renounced "terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism" [5]. The Arafat's December 13 statement was encouraged by the American administration, which insisted on the recognition of Israel as a necessary starting point in the Camp David peace negotiations. The 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 a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, 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, an entity which laid claim to the whole of Palestine as defined by the British Mandate of Palestine, rejecting the idea of partition.
In 1990 Arafat married Suha Tawil, a Palestinian Catholic who worked for the PLO in Tunis. Tawil was more than 30 years his junior, and converted to Islam before marrying him. [6]
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 (as the only Arab leader to do so) and the Americans began boycotting him; this impeded the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations already underway.
Palestinian Authority
The U.S. continued pressing both sides to negotiations and this lead to the 1993 Oslo Accords, which called for the implementation of Palestinian self rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five year period. The following year Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.
In 1994, Arafat moved to the Palestinian Authority (PA) - the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords. In July 1995 he had a daughter Zawha.
On January 20, 1996, Arafat was elected president of the PA, with an overwhelming 87% majority (the only other candidate was Samiha Khalil). Independent international observers reported the elections to have been free and fair. However, some critics allege that because most of the opposition movements chose not to participate in the elections the elections were not truly democratic. Further elections were announced for January 2002, but were later postponed, purportedly because of inability to campaign due to Israel Defense Force incursions and restrictions on freedom of movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Since 1996, Arafat's title as Palestinian Authority leader has been the Arabic word ra'is (or "head", the title translation varies: Israel translates it as "chairman" and the U.S. uses this term, while Palestinians translate it as "president" and the U.N uses this term.)
In mid-1996, following multiple suicide bus bombings, in which scores of Israelis were killed, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Palestinian-Israeli relations grew even more hostile as a consequence of continued terrorist incidents. Benjamin Netanyahu tried to obstruct the transition to Palestinian statehood outlined in the Israel-PLO accord. In 1998 U.S. President Bill Clinton intervened, arranging meeting with the two leaders. The resulting Wye River Memorandum of 23 October 1998 detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and PLO to complete the peace process.
Arafat continued negotiations with Netanyahu's successor, Ehud Barak. Due partly to his own politics (Barak was from the leftist Labor Party, whereas Netanyahu was from the rightist Likud Party) and partly due to immense pressure placed by American President Bill Clinton, Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital, a return of a limited number of refugees and a compensation for the rest. In a move widely criticized abroad and even by a member of his negotiating team and Cabinet, Nabil Amr, Arafat rejected Barak's offer, and refused to make a counter-offer. Following a highly controversial visit by Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the violence which followed, the Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-present) began. After the start of the Second Intifada, Arafat's wife moved to live with her mother and daughter in Paris, France, where she still resides.
Recent news and commentary
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Arafat's personal and political survival is taken by most Western commentators as a sign of his mastery of asymmetric warfare and his skill as a tactician, given the extremely dangerous nature of politics of the Middle East and the frequency of assassinations. Some commentators believe his personal survival is largely due to the Israel's fear that he could become a martyr for the Palestinian cause if he were to be assassinated or even just arrested by Israel.
Arafat's ability to adapt to new tactical and political situations is perhaps exemplified by the rise of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizations, fundamentalist groups using Islamic rhetoric to motivate suicide attacks against Israel. In the 1990s, these groups seemed to threaten Arafat's capacity to hold together a unified secular nationalist organization with a goal of statehood. They appeared to be out of Arafat's influence and control, and were actively fighting with Arafat's Fatah group. Some allege that activities of these groups were tolerated by Arafat as a means of applying pressure on Israel (see PLO and Hamas.) Some Israeli government officials opined in 2002 that the Fatah's faction Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades began attacks on Israel to compete with Hamas.
However, some believe the frequent Israeli military strikes against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat's security infrastructure have made it difficult for Arafat to effectively counter the increasing influence of groups like Hamas. As well, spokesmen for Hamas and Islamic Jihad have at times publicly supported Arafat, suggesting that the common goals loom large over infighting between these factions.
On May 6, 2002, the Israeli government released a report, based in part on documents allegedly captured during the Israeli occupation of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, with copies of papers apparently signed by Arafat authorizing funding for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' terrorist activities. These documents, however, drew skepticism from various quarters because the Israeli military had forcefully prevented any independent observers or reporters from observing the operation. [7]
Others point to the constraints of the political situation, and argue that Arafat could neither condemn nor constrain the tactics employed; and that any attempt to do so would endanger his rule or his life. Furthermore, ending violent resistance activities would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel refusal to employ terrorism would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel, which has access to weapons that Palestinians so far lack. The use of suicide bombers appears to be a permanent feature of this conflict. The number and intensity of attacks rose sharply in the first months of 2002.
In March 2002, the Arab League made an offer to recognize Israel in exchange for Israeli retreat from all territories captured in the Six-Day War and statehood for Palestine and Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Supporters of this declaration saw this offer, which included recognition of Israel by the Arab states, as a historic opportunity for comprehensive peace in the region, while critics of this offer say that it would constitute a heavy blow to Israel's security, while not even guaranteeing Israel the cessation of suicide bombing attacks. Israel ignored the offer.
This was followed by a Palestinian attack on Israel (in which Arafat's group Fatah was involved), that led to the deaths of more than 135 Israelis. Ariel Sharon, who previously pressured Arafat to speak strongly in Arabic against suicide bombings, then declared that Arafat "assisted the terrorists and made himself an enemy of Israel and irrelevant to any peace negotiations". This was followed by the major Israeli invasion of the West Bank, during which Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians and razed entire city blocks (see "Operation Defensive Shield".)
There was some speculation that personal animosity between the two men played a part in this escalation.
Persistent attempts by the Israeli government to identify another Palestinian leader to deal with had failed; and Arafat was enjoying the support of groups that, given his own history, would normally have been quite wary of dealing with him or of supporting him. Arafat was finally allowed to leave his compound on May 3, 2002 after intensive negotiations led to a settlement[8]; six terrorists wanted by Israel, who had been holed up with Arafat in his compound, would not be turned over to Israel, but neither would they be held in custody by the Palestinian Authority. Rather, a combination of British and American security personnel would ensure that the wanted men remained imprisoned in Jericho. With that, and a promise that he would issue a call in Arabic to the Palestinians to halt terrorist attacks on Israelis, Arafat was released. He issued such a call on May 8, 2002, but, as was the case before, his public call to halt attacks was ignored.
On July 18, U.S. President George W Bush stated regarding Yasser Arafat: "The real problem is that there is no leadership that is able to say 'help us establish a state and we will fight terror and answer the needs of the Palestinians'". (Le Figaro)
In late October 2004 Arafat began to experience health problems, and on October 27, 2004 he reportedly vomited during a meeting and lost consciousness for ten minutes. There was disagreement about the seriousness of his condition, which was initially reported by some as flu. Later, however, Palestinian and Tunisian medical teams were called to his compound, followed on October 29 by doctors from Jordan and Egypt. According to one of his doctors, Arafat is suffering from ITP, a blood platelet deficiency. Some contend that this diagnosis does not adequately explain all the symptoms.
Israel had held Arafat in virtual arrest in his Ramallah compound for more than 2 years, by announcing that if Arafat left the compound he would be barred from returning. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had also hinted on several occassions that Arafat might be assassinated by Israel. However, after the reports of Arafat's deteriorating health, the Israeli government stated that Arafat was free to leave his compound for medical treatment. Initially, Arafat refused to go because of Israel's stated policy on barring his return, but after Israel reiterated that Arafat's return to Ramallah would not be prevented if he went abroad for medical treatment, his doctors announced that Arafat would be moved abroad for additional medical tests. On October 29, Arafat was flown out to Paris, France for medical treatment.
Relations with the Arab world
Many in Europe and the United States assume that all Arab governments support Yasser Arafat, or assume the Arab nations have united policies and views. In contrast, Arafat has had a mixed relationship at best with the leaders of other Arab nations. At various times he has come under withering criticism from Arab leaders and press. In the last few years growing disenchatment with Arafat and his peers has surfaced within the general Arab press. However, he remains by far the most popular Arab leader amoung the general populace.
- Arab Times (Kuwait): 'Mr Arafat should quit his position because he is the head of a corrupt authority. There is no point for him to remain in politics... He has destroyed Palestine. He has led it to terrorism, death and a hopeless situation... All Arab leaders know this fact. It won't be possible for us to gain from the Middle East road map for peace if this man remains in power.'
- BBC quoted a Jenin Martyrs' Brigade spokesman: 'With all due respect to President Arafat, the Palestinian Authority cannot continue being monopolised by [Arafat] and his relatives...we have our own ways to show our rejection.'
- Al-Quds Al-Araby (London): 'What is happening in Gaza is a healthy phenomenon because it is a revolution against corruption and the corrupt... This is a warning not only to Mr Arafat... but to all Arab regimes which subjugate their people by turning a deaf ear to their calls for comprehensive change.'
Arafat's support from Arab leaders tends to increase whenever he is pressured by Israel; for example, in 2003 when Israel declared it had taken the decision, in principle, to remove him from the Israeli-controlled West Bank.
Financial dealings
In August of 2002 the Israeli Military Intelligence Chief claimed that Arafat's personal wealth is US$ 1.3 billion, [9], though he provided no substantiation for this claim. The U.S. business magazine "Forbes" [10] ranked Arafat as sixth on its 2003 list "Kings, Queens and Despots" [11], estimating his personal wealth to "at least $300 million", without indicating its source for this claim.
In 2003 Jim Prince and a team of American accountants - hired by Arafat's own finance ministry - began combing through Arafat's books. Prince's team has determined 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. Prince has 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". Arafat appears to use his wealth to improve his standing and influence; has always lived frugally, and continues to do so.[12]
In 2003 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted an audit of the Palestinian Authority and stated that Arafat diverted $900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by Arafat and the PA Chief Economic Financial Advisor. The IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties and it specifically stated that most of the funds have been used to invest in Palestinian assets, both internally and abroad. [13] An investigation by European Union of claims of misuse of EU funds by the Palestinian Authority has, until now, found no evidence EU funds being diverted to terrorist activities. However, the EU has insisted on "deepening reform in the PA and improving its financial management and audit capacities" as "the best preventive strategy against the misuse of funds and corruption in the PA", and has made further funding contingent on these reforms [14] According to "Forbes", the new PA Finance Minister is tasked with reviewing PA finances, which may result in weakening of Arafat's control over them.
There were also unconfirmed claims by unnamed sources that Arafat's wife, Suha, receives a stipend of $100,000 each month. In an interview with the London-based newspaper Al Hayat, Mrs. Arafat accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of spreading rumors about money-laundering to distract media attention away from corruption allegations against him. In October 2003, French government prosecutors opened an money-laundering probe of Suha Arafat after Tracfin alerted the prosecutors to transfers of nearly $1.27 million each with some regularity from Switzerland to Mrs. Arafat's accounts in Paris.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened an investigation of Arafat's role in the murder of two United States diplomats in Khartoum, Sudan on March 1st, 1973. On that date, eight members of the Black September terrorist organization stormed the Saudi embassy and took as hostages U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel, Charge d'Affaires George Curtis Moore and Belgian diplomat Guy Eid among others. The next day these three diplomats were killed by their captors. Among other material, the FBI is investigating National Security Agency copies of intercepts of conversations in which Arafat is believed to have ordered the killings. To date, the NSA has not produced the intercepts. Arafat's deputy, Saeeb Erekat, has denied the allegations. [15]
Quotes
1972 "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: do not let the olive branch fall from my hand."
November 13, 1974 "Those who call us terrorists wish to prevent world public opinion from discovering the truth about us and from seeing the justice on our faces. They seek to bide the terrorism and tyranny of their acts, and our own posture of self-defence." - Speech to the United Nations, New York
January 15, 2002 "This child, who is grasping the stone, facing the tank, is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a martyr? We are proud of them" (Palestinian Authority Television)
January 21, 2002: "I swear to God, I will see [the Palestinian state], whether as a martyr or alive. Please, God, give me the honor of becoming a martyr in the fight for Jerusalem." [16]
September 11, 2003 "This is my homeland; no one can kick me out" Yasser Arafat's reply to Ariel Sharon's threat to expel him from the occupied territories. [17]
February 29, 2004 "Let it collapse, it will be the fault of Israel and the Americans." Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, to Edward G. Abington, a former State Department official who is now a Washington consultant to the Palestinian Authority regarding the future of the Palestinian Authority [18]
External links
- The Nobel e-Museum - Biography of Yasser Arafat
- Trailer of a documentary with video clips of Arafat's speeches, mostly towards the end of the trailer
- ABC News - Arafat Biography
- Yasir Arafat: Psychological Profile and Strategic Analysis
- Yasser Arafat from the Open Directory Project
- Yasser Arafat from Yahoo!
- Interview with Israeli Major General Amos Gilad in HaAretz
- Interview with Gilad's superior Amos Malka, accusing Gilad of misrepresenting the evidence
- Someone Was Going to Kill Newsweek Interview of Mahmoud Abbas (June 21 Issue)
- Life and times of Yassir Arafat, Profile: Yassir Arafat from Times Online, UK