Yasser Arafat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yasser Arafat
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ياسر عرفات
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_-_THE_NOBEL_PEACE_PRIZE_LAUREATES_FOR_1994_IN_OSLO._(cropped).jpg)
Arafat at the Nobel Peace Prize presentation in Oslo, Norway, December 1994.
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| 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority | |
| In office 5 July 1994 – 11 November 2004 |
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| Prime Minister | |
| Succeeded by | Rawhi Fattouh (interim) |
| 3rd Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization | |
| In office 4 February 1969 – 29 October 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Yahya Hammuda |
| Succeeded by | Mahmoud Abbas |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini
4/24 August 1929 Cairo, Egypt |
| Died | 11 November 2004 (aged 75) Clamart, Hauts-de-Seine, France |
| Resting place | Arafat's compound |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Political party | Fatah |
| Spouse |
Suha Arafat
(m. 1990) |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of King Fuad I |
| Profession | Civil engineer |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname | Abu Ammar |
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat, was a Palestinian political leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an Arab nationalist and a socialist, he was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.
Arafat remains a controversial figure. Palestinians generally view him as a martyr who symbolized the national aspirations of his people. Israelis regarded him as a terrorist.
Contents
Early life
Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt. His father, Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini, was a Palestinian from Gaza City, whose mother, Yasser's paternal grandmother, was Egyptian. Arafat was the second-youngest of seven children. His mother died from a kidney ailment in 1933, when Arafat was four years of age.
Arafat's first visit to Jerusalem came when his father, unable to raise seven children alone, sent Yasser and his brother Fathi to their mother's family in the Mughrabi Quarter of the Old City. They lived there with their uncle Salim Abul Saud for four years. In 1937, their father recalled them to be taken care of by their older sister, Inam. Arafat had a deteriorating relationship with his father; when he died in 1952, Arafat did not attend the funeral, nor did he visit his father's grave upon his return to Gaza.
Name
Arafat's full name was Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini. During the early 1950s, Arafat adopted the name Yasser. The name is related to Ammar ibn Yasir, one of Muhammad's early companions. Although he dropped most of his inherited names, he retained Arafat due to its significance in Islam.
Education
In 1944, Arafat enrolled in the University of King Fuad I and graduated in 1950.
While a student, he embraced Arab nationalist and anti-Zionist ideas. Opposed to the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, he fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Following the defeat of Arab forces, Arafat returned to Cairo and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956.
Rise of Fatah
In the latter part of the 1950s, Arafat co-founded Fatah, a paramilitary organization seeking the removal of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian state. Fatah operated within several Arab countries, from where it launched attacks on Israeli targets. In the latter part of the 1960s Arafat's profile grew; in 1967 he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and in 1969 was elected chair of the Palestinian National Council (PNC). Fatah's growing presence in Jordan resulted in military clashes with King Hussein's Jordanian government and in the early 1970s it relocated to Lebanon. There, Fatah assisted the Lebanese National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War and continued its attacks on Israel, resulting in it becoming a major target of Israel's 1978 and 1982 invasions.
Leader of the Palestinians
From 1983 to 1993, Arafat based himself in Tunisia, and began to shift his approach from open conflict with the Israelis to negotiation. In 1988, he acknowledged Israel's right to exist and sought a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In 1994 he returned to Palestine, settling in Gaza City and promoting self-governance for the Palestinian territories. He engaged in a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to end the conflict between it and the PLO. These included the Madrid Conference of 1991, the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2000 Camp David Summit. The success of the negotiations in Oslo led to Arafat being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, in 1994.
Personal life
In 1990, Arafat married Suha Tawil, a Palestinian Christian, when he was 61 and Suha, 27. Her mother introduced her to him in France, after which she worked as his secretary in Tunis. Prior to their marriage, Arafat adopted fifty Palestinian war orphans. In mid-1995, Arafat's wife Suha gave birth in a Paris hospital to a daughter, named Zahwa after Arafat's mother.
Death
Arafat died on 11 November 2004 at the age of 75 due to a hemorrhagic stroke.
Funeral
Arafat was "temporarily" buried within the Mukataa in Ramallah; tens of thousands of Palestinians attended the ceremony. Arafat was buried in a stone, rather than wooden, coffin, and Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat said that Arafat would be reburied in East Jerusalem following the establishment of a Palestinian state. After Sheikh Taissir Tamimi discovered that Arafat was buried improperly and in a coffin—which is not in accordance with Islamic law—Arafat was reburied on the morning of 13 November at around 3:00 am. On 10 November 2007, prior to the third anniversary of Arafat's death, President Mahmoud Abbas unveiled a mausoleum for Arafat near his tomb in commemoration of him.
Legacy
Places named in his honor include:
- Martyr Yasser Arafat Governmental Hospital
- Yasser Arafat Cup
- Yasser Arafat International Airport
See also
In Spanish: Yasir Arafat para niños
