YASSER ARAFAT
1929-2004
Neil Macdonald and Adrienne Arsenault, CBC-TV News
Yasser Arafat was around for so long and changed mantles so often that he defied any neat description. Revolutionary, autocrat, freedom fighter, dictator, peacemaker, assassin, extremist, living symbol – those were just a few of the labels Arafat carried over the years.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during a meeting at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Sept. 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
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Arafat created his own myths, beginning with his birthplace, insisting it was Jerusalem. In fact, Mohammed Abdul-Rauf Arafat Al Qudwa was born in Cairo in 1929. As a young man he was nicknamed Yasser, meaning carefree.
The 1948 war with Israel and the Jewish state's takeover of Arab lands instilled in him a grim, lifelong cause. By 1964 Arafat was directing guerrilla operations against Israel. That year the PLO was formed and Arafat became its chairman.
Arafat was often a hated guest in the countries where he chose to operate. In 1970, King Hussein of Jordan ordered his forces to crush Arafat. The army slaughtered thousands of Arafat’s fighters and expelled the PLO.
Arafat escaped to Beirut where he once again set up his own government. Throughout the 1970s he ran a campaign of hijackings, bombings, abductions, killings and general mayhem aimed at the state of Israel.
Those were his days of revolutionary glory. His cause of redress for Palestinians was adopted by the left worldwide. His 1974 address to the United Nations was famous. “I come bearing an olive branch and a freedom-fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand,” he said.
Palestinians hold portraits of Arafat at his headquarters in Ramallah, Sept. 25, 2003. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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But Israel was intent on destroying Arafat and his organization. In 1982, it sent tanks into Lebanon after him. Arafat and his fighters left Beirut and set up a new headquarters in Tunis. Arafat – the great survivor – eventually survived a dozen assassination attempts, many by Israel.
In 1991, Arafat made his worst political mistake – he embraced Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War. Even the Arab world was alienated.
In Israel, the first Palestinian Intifada raged without him. Militants resisted and died as Arafat languished far away. He had only one card left and he played it: peace.
On the White House lawn, Arafat shook hands with a rather hesitant Yitzhak Rabin who had supervised many of the attempts to destroy him. Nearly a year later, on July 1, 1994, Palestinians put their misery aside to welcome their leader back, their living flag.
But he had promised them much more than he could deliver and their lives only became more difficult. In September 2000, the second Intifada began with Arafat at the helm. It was more bloody than the first. Palestinians targeted Israeli citizens in restaurants, shopping malls, their homes and their cars. Israel fought back with a vengeance. Its invasions and incursions killed thousands of Palestinian men, women and children.
In March of 2002, Israel isolated Arafat by imprisoning him in his Ramallah compound. He became more physically fragile but continued to run his corrupt police state, systematically pushing aside anyone who ever approached his popularity.
Arafat inside his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Aug. 26, 2004 (AP Photo/Hussein Hussein, HO, FILE)
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There was speculation that Arafat had Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disease of the nervous system that induces trembling, slowed movement and slurred speech.
Shortly before his death, Arafat had surgery for stomach pains in a medical clinic in his compound. Israeli officials suspected he had stomach cancer, but the diagnosis was a large gallstone. Israeli officials had said Arafat would be allowed to leave his compound for treatment, provided he return immediately afterwards.
Arafat was rushed to a hospital in Paris for treatment. His aides said any life-threatening ailment had been ruled out, and Arafat underwent tests for a viral infection. He died a few days later, after repeatedly losing consciousness.
He now leaves his people without the realization of their dreams and without their living symbol of Arab nationalism.
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