I'm late! I’ll tell you if I’m late!
Yasser Arafat was born in Jerusalem in August 1929. He is a Sunni Muslim. After the first Middle East war broke out in 1948, Arafat, who was only 19 years old, began to devote himself to the fight against Israel. In the 1950s, he secretly prepared the "Palestinian National Liberation Movement" ("Fatah" for short) and its military organization "Storm" commandos in Kuwait. After the third Middle East war, Arafat has been in exile.
In February 1969, Arafat began to serve as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and since 1971 he has also served as Commander-in-Chief of the Palestinian Revolutionary Armed Forces. In November 1988, the 19th special session of the Palestinian National Council adopted the Declaration of Independence and declared the establishment of the Palestinian state. On April 2 of the following year, Arafat was elected as the president of the Palestinian state. Since then, Arafat has appeared on the world political stage as a symbol of the Palestinian nation.
When the Middle East peace process began in 1991, Arafat led the Palestine Liberation Organization to conduct difficult negotiations with Israel. In September 1993, Palestine and Israel signed the Declaration of Principles of Palestinian Autonomy in Washington, thus kicking off the political settlement of the Palestinian issue. In May 1994, Palestine began to implement self-government in Gaza and Jericho. In July, Arafat ended 27 years of exile and settled back in Gaza. In January 1996, Palestine held its first general election in history, and Arafat was elected chairman of the Palestinian National Authority (autonomous government).
On September 23, 2002, Arafat stayed up late to review documents at his official residence in Ramallah on the West Bank of the Jordan, which was besieged by the Israeli army.
Xinhua News Agency/Reuters
Arafat had a tragic fate. During his struggle for national independence, he encountered multiple assassinations and other dangers by Israeli agents, but he saved the day every time. Since the large-scale bloody conflict between Palestine and Israel broke out in September 2000, Israel has repeatedly accused Arafat of being the "mastermind behind" terrorism. Therefore, since the end of 2001, Arafat has been under "house arrest" in his official residence in Ramallah by Israel, and his personal safety was once seriously threatened. The U.S. government has also exerted tremendous pressure on the Palestinian Authority. In June 2002, US President Bush stated that "Palestine must change its leadership," which made Arafat's situation even more difficult.
In order to promote Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the Palestinian National Authority carried out reforms in March 2003 and established the position of prime minister. However, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict became tense again, Israel once again blamed Arafat. On September 11, the Israeli Security Cabinet decided to expel Arafat from Palestine "in principle" on the grounds that Arafat was a "stumbling block to peace." Government officials even claimed that killing Arafat was an option.
Since 2004, the Israeli government has continuously issued threats to Arafat. Following the "targeted killings" of Hamas leaders Yassin and Rantisi, senior Israeli officials have hinted in public on many occasions that Arafat may be the target of the next attack. Sharon has also repeatedly declared that he will no longer abide by the commitment agreed with the United States not to harm Arafat. On September 22, Sharon stated that it would use the same tactics as Yassin and Rantisi to deal with Arafat at the appropriate time. Facing the threat from Israel, Arafat said: "No one can drive me away."
Due to the long-term "house arrest" by Israel, Arafat's health deteriorated, October 27, 2004 , his health condition deteriorated. With the permission of Israel, Arafat went to Paris via Jordan for medical treatment on the 29th. He walked out of the official residence where he had been trapped for nearly three years and left the land of Palestine.
Peace is Arafat’s lifelong pursuit. Arafat once said famously: "I came here with an olive branch and a gun of a freedom fighter. Please don't let the olive branch fall from my hands." In recognition of Arafat's contribution to peace, in September 1993, the United Nations UNESCO awarded him the "Boigny Peace Prize". In 1994, Arafat, together with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
For the sake of the liberation of the Palestinian nation, it was not until the autumn of 1991 that the 62-year-old Arafat married Miss Suha, who was 34 years younger than him. I have a daughter on my knees.
On November 11, 2004, Arafat died of illness in Paris, France, at the age of 75.