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| Well the world is better off without him so lets just forget him. HES DEAD!!! FORGET HIM, AND DONT EDIT THIS YOU FUCKING MORONS! | |||
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| '''Yasser Arafat''' (]: ياسر عرفات) (], ] – ], ]), born Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ar-Rauf al-Qudwah al-Husayni, also known as '''Abu Ammar''') was the President of the ] (leader since ], elected in ]); leader of ] and Chairman of the ] (PLO) (since ]), and co-winner of the ] ]. | |||
| == Biography == | |||
| === Early life === | |||
| Arafat was born to a ] family. His father was textile merchant from a family that had some ] relatives. His mother was from a prominent Palestinian family in ]. According to Arafat and other sources, he was born in Jerusalem on ], ] . His date and place of birth have been disputed; some sources contend that he was born in ] on ], ]. . | |||
| Arafat’s childhood was divided between Cairo and Jerusalem. Arafat attended the University of King Faud I (later renamed ]) and sought to understand ] and ] by engaging in discussions with Jews and reading publications by ] and other Zionists . | |||
| During the ] ], Arafat left the university and, along with other Palestinians, sought to enter Palestine to fight for Palestinian independence. He was disarmed and turned back by the Egyptian army which did not allow poorly trained partisans to enter the war zone. | |||
| After returning to the university, Arafat joined the ] and served as president of the Union of Palestinian Students from ] to ]. In 1956, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. | |||
| Arafat served as a second lieutenant in the Egyptian army during the ]. | |||
| After Suez, Arafat moved to ], where he worked as an engineer and later set up his own contracting firm. | |||
| === Fatah and the PLO === | |||
| In ] in Kuwait, Arafat with a group of refugees from Gaza helped found ], an organization dedicated to the establishment of an independent ] state. | |||
| Fatah's first commando operation was an unsuccessful attempt to blow up an Israeli water pump station in ]. | |||
| The ] (PLO) was formed in ] as a political organization unifying all resistance groups with the common goal of liberation of Palestine and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. | |||
| After the ], ] started attacking Palestinian resistance organizations. | |||
| In ], Israeli army attacked Fatah in the Jordanian village of Al-Karameh; 150 Palestinians and 29 Israeli soldiers were killed. Despite heavy losses, Palestinians considered this battle a victory because the Israeli army ultimately withdrew. | |||
| This was a turning point for the resistance movement because it showed that resistance can effect changes. Many Palestinians regarded Fatah and Arafat as heroes for daring to confront the much more powerful Israeli army, and many young Palestinians began joining the ranks of Fatah. | |||
| Fatah soon became dominant faction within the PLO and in ] Arafat was named chairman of the PLO. Arafat became commander in chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Forces in ] and the head of the PLO's political department in ]. | |||
| === Jordan === | |||
| In late 1960s, tensions rose between Palestinian resistance groups and the ]ian government. Palestinian groups had managed to control 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 Palestinian militias. Open fighting between Jordan and Palestinian resistance groups erupted in ] of ]. | |||
| Arab governments attempted to negotiate a peaceful solution, but the Jordan government responded to continued militant activites with escalation in repressive measures; on ] Jordanian King Hussein declared martial law. | |||
| On that same day Arafat became supreme commander of the ] (PLA), the regular military force of the PLO. | |||
| In the ensuing civil war the PLO had the active support of ], which sent around 200 tanks into Jordan to aid the PLO. | |||
| The ] and ] also got involved: U.S. Navy dispatched its ] to the eastern Mediterranean, and Israel deployed its troops to aid King Hussein if necessary. | |||
| By ] the Jordanian army achieved dominance, and the PLA agreed to a series of ceasefires . See also ] and ]. | |||
| === Lebanon === | |||
| From ], Arafat and the ] relocated to ]. Because of Lebanon's weak central government, the PLO was able to operate independently of Lebanese authorities. During the ]i attacks on Lebanon the PLO began launching artillery strikes and guerilla attacks on Israel from Lebanon. | |||
| In ] of ] the Palestinian group ] kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes at the ]; all hostages and most hostage takers were eventually killed. | |||
| This attack was widely condemned and Arafat publicly disassociated himself from such attacks. | |||
| In ] Arafat ordered the PLO to stop acts of violence outside Israel and Israel ] ]. | |||
| That year Arafat became the first representative of a nongovernmental organization to address a plenary session of the ]. | |||
| The ] movement continued to launch attacks against Israeli targets. In the late ] several new leftist organizations were formed in Palestine and carried out attacks on Israel and Israeli ] ]. Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations, but Arafat denied responsibility for acts of other groups. | |||
| In ], ] states declared the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of all ]. The PLO was admitted to full membership in the ] in ]. | |||
| Israel claimed that the PLO had played an important part in the ]. Some ] ] claimed that the PLO was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens killed by Israel. | |||
| Israel allied itself with the Lebanese Christians and conducted two major ]s of ]. In the ] in ], the Israeli military and South Lebanon Army (SLA) occupied a narrow strip of land, ostensibly as a security zone, and killed several thousand Lebanese and Palestinians. In the ] in ], Israel expanded its occupation to most of South Lebanon, but was eventually forced to retreat back to the previously occupied area in ]. During this invasion Israeli army killed about 18,000 Lebanese and Palestinians and helped the ] ] militia ] in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps about 2,750 Palestinian refugees, mostly civilians. ], Israeli Minister of Defense at the time, was found by the Israeli ] "personally responsible" for the massacre and was dismissed from his post; he is now Prime Minister of Israel. | |||
| === Tunisia === | |||
| In September ], during the ]i invasion of Lebanon, the ] had brokered a cease-fire deal in which Arafat and the ] were allowed to leave ]. Arafat and his leadership moved to ], which remained his center of operations up until ]. | |||
| During the ], Arafat received assistance from Arab nations, which allowed him to reconstruct the Palestinian resistance movement in exile. After the spontaneous ] in ] of ], Arafat took control of the uprising. | |||
| On ], ], the PLO proclaimed the independent ], a government-in-exile for the Palestinians, which initially laid claim to the whole area of the ], rejecting the idea of partition. | |||
| However, in the ], ] address, Arafat declared acceptance of ], promised future recognition of ] and renounced "terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism" . | |||
| The Arafat's recognition of Israel was dictated by the ] administration, which had insisted on the recognition as a necessary starting point in the ] peace negotiations. | |||
| Arafat's statement indicated a shift from one of the PLO's primary aims -- liberation of the entire ] (which implicitly negates the validity of the proclamation of ]) -- towards the establishment of two separate entities, an Israeli state within the 1949 armistice lines and a Palestinian state in the areas assigned to Palestinians by the ]. | |||
| On ], ], Arafat was elected president of the proclaimed State of Palestine by the governing body of the PLO. | |||
| Subsequently, during the ] Madrid Conference Israel began direct negotiations with the PLO for the first time. | |||
| In ] Arafat opposed the ]-led attack on ]. As a result the U.S. administration began boycotting him, which impeded the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations underway. | |||
| In ] Arafat married Suha Tawil, a ] ] ] who converted to ]. | |||
| === Palestinian Authority === | |||
| ], ], and Arafat during the ] on ], ]]] | |||
| The ] continued pressing both sides to negotiate and this pressure lead to the ] ]. The main points of this agreement were mutual recognition of ] and the ], ]'s withdrawal from the ] and ] and implementation of ] self rule. For this peace initiative Arafat was awarded the ] in ], along with Israeli leaders ] and ]. | |||
| On ], ], Arafat was elected president of the ] (PA), the provisional entity created by the Oslo Accords. | |||
| He received an overwhelming 87% majority ovf vote (the other candidate was ]). | |||
| Independent international observers reported the elections to have been free and fair. | |||
| Further elections were announced for ] ], but were later postponed, reportedly because of inability to campaign due to Israeli military attacks and restrictions on freedom of movement in the territories occupied by Israel. | |||
| In mid-1996, following multiple suicide bombings in which scores of Israelis were killed, and Israeli attacks in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed, ] was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Palestinian-Israeli relations grew even more hostile as a consequence of continued attacks and counter-attacks. Netanyahu actively obstructed the transition to Palestinian statehood outlined in the Oslo accords. The U.S. President ] intervened in ], arranging a meeting with the two leaders. The resulting ] of ], ] presented steps to be taken by the Israeli government and the PA to implement the Oslo accords. | |||
| However, Israel made no visible attempts to live up to either the Oslo or the Wye River agreements; to the contrary, Israel steadily expanded its occupation, doubled the population in ] ] and kept obstructing Palestinian self-rule. | |||
| Arafat continued negotiations with the next Israeli Prime Minister ]. During the ] negotiations Barak offered a Palestinian state in parts of the ] and ], with East Jerusalem as its capital, a return of an unspecified "limited" number of refugees and some unspecified compensation for the rest. However, the proposed ] areas did not include all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and were not contiguous but fragmented and surrounded by Israeli occupation colonies, and criss-crossed by numerous checkpoints and Jewish-only roads. The resolution of the important issue of refugees was unclear and various other issues, such as water rights were unresolved. Despites Clinton's pressure, Arafat rejected the offer. Several months later, in the new round of talks at ], ], Barak made a more favorable offer which was viewed positively by Palestinians. However, in the meantime Barak lost his re-election bid and the incoming Prime Minister ] blocked further negotiations. | |||
| In ], after a provocative visit by Ariel Sharon to the ] compound considered sacred by Muslims, violence broke out, marking the beginning of the ]. | |||
| == Recent news and commentary == | |||
| Arafat's long personal and political survival was considered by many as a sign of his mastery of asymmetric warfare and his skill as a tactician, given the extremely dangerous nature of politics of the ] and the frequency of ]s. | |||
| Some commentators believe his personal survival is largely due to the Israel's fear that he could become a ] for the ] cause if he were to be assassinated or even just arrested by ]. | |||
| Arafat's ability to adapt to new political situations is shown by his handling of the rise of the ] and ] organizations, which were using religious motives to inspire resistance against Israel's occupation. | |||
| In the ], 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 ] group. | |||
| Israel claimed that activities of these groups were tolerated by Arafat as a means of applying pressure on Israel, while many argue | |||
| that it was Israel's frequent strikes against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat's security infrastructure that made it difficult for Arafat to counter the increasing influence of militant groups. | |||
| However, despite all the differences and infighting, spokesmen for Hamas and Islamic Jihad had at times publicly supported Arafat, suggesting that the common Palestinian goal of freedom looms large over infighting between various factions. | |||
| Some analysts argued that Arafat could neither condemn nor constrain the militant tactics and that any attempt to do so would have endanger his rule or his life. Furthermore, ending violent resistance activities would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel because Israel had never ceded anything, and actually continually expanded its occupation during periods of nonviolent resistance. Due to a huge imbalance in military power between Israel and Palestinians, the use of suicide bombers appears to be a permanent feature of Palestinian resistance. The number and intensity of attacks rose sharply in the first months of ]. | |||
| In ], 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. Many saw this offer, which included recognition of Israel by the Arab states, as a historic opportunity for comprehensive peace in the region. However, the Israeli government of ] ignored this offer and made visible efforts to neutralize and sidetrack this proposal, with some Israeli officials claiming that it would constitute a blow to Israel's security while not guaranteeing the cessation of suicide bombing attacks. | |||
| Israel's refusal of the Arab offer was followed by a Palestinian attack on Israel that led to more than 135 Israelis dead. Ariel Sharon subsequently stated 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 in ] (see "]".) | |||
| Attempts by Israel to find another Palestinian leader more pliable by Israel had failed, and Arafat continued enjoying the support of the majority of Palestinians, including groups that would normally have been quite wary of supporting him. | |||
| So, Israel set out to isolate him, quite literally, by surrounding Arafat's headquarters and effectively imprisoning him there. | |||
| Israel held Arafat in virtual arrest in his ] headquarters for his last two years and eleven months of life, by announcing that if he left the compound he would be barred from returning. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hinted on several occassions that Arafat could be assassinated by Israel, and Israel in ] offically declared that it had decided to "in principle, remove Arafat", a decision which because of Israel's refusal to state what "remove" meant hinted at assassination. | |||
| ==Financial dealings== | |||
| As the leader of ] resistance Arafat was the subject of ]i campaigns to discredit him. | |||
| Arafat was occasionally criticised by some, including Arab media, alleging corruption of the Palestinian Authority he headed. | |||
| The pro-Israel ] business magazine "Forbes" Arafat as sixth on its ] list "Kings, Queens and Despots" , estimating his personal wealth to "at least $300 million", without indicating its source for this claim. | |||
| However, as Arafat lived frugally and had no known major possessions, these claims appear to have been based solely on Arafat's control over Palestinian public-funds. | |||
| In ] the ] (IMF) conducted an audit of the Palestinian Authority and stated that Arafat diverted $900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by Arafat and the PA Chief Economic Financial Advisor. The IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties and it specifically stated that most of the funds have been used to invest in Palestinian assets, both internally and abroad. An investigation of PA finances by ] also found no improprieties. | |||
| ==World support == | |||
| Arafat enjoyed generally strong support throughout the world, and especially among ] and ] nations, as a symbol of ] resistance against the ]i ]. | |||
| Arafat was by far the most popular Arab leader among the general populace of Arab nations. | |||
| The ] government, which regularly aligned itself with ], hesitantly supported Arafat largely for strategic and diplomatic reasons. After ] became ] president and ] occured the minimal U.S. support declined precipitiously and in ] ] Bush called for replacement of Arafat. | |||
| ==Illness and death== | |||
| ''For more details, see:'' ]. | |||
| On ], ], Arafat fell seriously ill; the next day, he was flown to ] for medical treatment. On ], ] he lapsed into a ] and was placed on life-support. He died at the hospital at 2:30am ] on ] ] at age 75. The cause of death has not been reported. | |||
| Isreal refused Palestinian requests to bury Arafat in or near East Jerusalem. After a state funeral in Egypt, Arafat was laid to rest in a grave within his former headquarters in the city of ] in the ] on ], ]. | |||
| On ], Arafat's official functions were transferred, pending elections, as follows: ] has become President of the Palestinian Authority, ] has become the leader of the PLO, ] has become head of ] and Prime Minister ] has taken over other positions. | |||
| == Statements by World Leaders == | |||
| A number of world leaders made statements summarizing Arafat's life and legacy: | |||
| ] ] said: "For nearly four decades, he expressed and symbolized in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people". | |||
| The ] President ] said: "My first reaction is: God bless his soul. My second reacton is that we will continue to work for a free Palestinian state that's at peace with Israel." | |||
| ]n President ] said: "A great political leader of international significance". | |||
| ] President ] said: "An outstanding leader of the Palestinian cause and... an outstanding politician.". | |||
| ] Prime Minister ] said: "President Arafat came to symbolise the Palestinian national movement. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 jointly with Yitzhak Rabin in recognition of their efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. He led his people to a historic acceptance and the need for a two-state solution. | |||
| That goal - of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel - is one that we must continue to work tirelessly to achieve." | |||
| ] President ] said: "With him disappears a man of courage and conviction who for 40 years incarnated the Palestinians' fight for recognition of their national rights." | |||
| === Statements by Palestinian leaders === | |||
| Palestinian cabinet minister ] said: "Arafat's legacy will be the one, the leader, the president who united the Palestinian people, the leader who kept the Palestinian national identity from extinction, the man who initiated the peace of the brave, the man who united the Palestinian people and it's his legacy of peace. It's the determination today that we continue the path of freedom and independence and peace, the path of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital." | |||
| ], spokeperson for the ] said: "The history will register his historic stance in Camp David when he rejected the huge Israeli and American pressures exercised on him and kept clinging to the goal of independent state, Jerusalem and the right to return. The march of president Arafat has some major achievements and some other failures." | |||
| ], ] leader said: "I do not hesitate accusing Israel of killing Yasser Arafat and I call on my brothers in Fatah and in the PNA not to keep silent in this regard. I call on my brothers at Fatah movement to reinforce the unity of the movement since it is the interest of Hamas and the entire Palestinian people that Fatah be united and strong. I call them also to avoid any dispute and in return we in Hamas and the entire Palestinian people will reinforce our national unity." | |||
| Arafats personal adviser, Jebril Rjoub, said: "The term of President Arafat has ended, however, the commitments and loyalty to his march concerned with the establishment of the state and the reinforcement of our identity are now the responsibility of the entire Palestinian people." | |||
| === Statements of Israeli leaders === | |||
| Israeli Prime Minister ] said: "The recent events could be a historic turning point for the Middle East. Israel is a country that seeks peace and will continue its efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians without delay." | |||
| Israeli Labor Party leader ] said: "There is no doubt that with the death of Yasser Arafat an era has ended... for good or bad. The biggest mistake of Arafat was when he turned to terror. His greatest achievements were when he tried to build peace." | |||
| Israeli right-wing groups were uniform in welcoming Arafat's death. | |||
| Israeli Justice Minister ] said: "(It is) good that the world is rid of him... The sun is shining in the Middle East." | |||
| ==Quotes== | |||
| These are some of the notable statements Yasser Arafat made over the years: | |||
| ], ]: "I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand." - . | |||
| ], ]: "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." | |||
| . | |||
| ], ]: "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) | |||
| ], ]: "I swear to God, I will see , whether as a martyr or alive. Please, God, give me the honor of becoming a martyr in the fight for Jerusalem." | |||
| ], ]: "This is my homeland; no one can kick me out." Yasser Arafat's reply to ]'s threat to expel him from the occupied territories. | |||
| ==See Also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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| * , Times Online, UK | |||
| * from Times Online, UK | |||
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| * from the ] | |||
| * -- ] | |||
| * | |||
| *'''' ] Interview of Mahmoud Abbas (] Issue) | |||
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Revision as of 19:43, 13 November 2004
Well the world is better off without him so lets just forget him. HES DEAD!!! FORGET HIM, AND DONT EDIT THIS YOU FUCKING MORONS!