Arafat, Yasir (1929–)

aka Abu Ammar

During his lengthy tenure as a Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat has played many roles—from terrorist to recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and leader of the Palestinian Authority, Arafat remains a polemic figure, as famous for his fiery speeches as he is for sporting an unshaven chin and a checkered kaffiyeh, always shaped into a point to symbolize the map of Palestine.

Although Arafat, whose nom de guerre is Abu Ammar, has cooperated with many biographers and given countless interviews, many details of his life are uncertain. No consensus exists on his date or place of birth, for instance. His birth certificate shows Arafat to have been born Mohammed Abder Rauf Arafat al-Kudwa al-Husseini in Cairo on August 24, 1929; Arafat maintains that he was born in Jerusalem on August 4, 1929.

Arafat, the sixth of seven children, spent his early years in Cairo. His mother died when he was 4, and Arafat and his younger brother were sent to live with an uncle in Jerusalem. He later returned to Cairo when his father, a Palestinian wholesale trader, remarried.

Arafat was active in politics from an early age, working as an aide for a relative in the Palestinian national movement. Before he entered his 20s, he was involved in smuggling guns from Egypt to Palestine. During his first years as an engineering student at the Cairo University, he worked to organize fellow Palestinian students. In 1948, he left school to fight for Palestine as a volunteer in the first Arab-Israeli war.

After the Arab defeat, Arafat returned to Cairo. He later told biographers that he was so devastated that he considered abandoning his cause. He toyed with the idea of traveling to the United States to finish his studies, and even applied for a visa. Instead he returned to the university in Cairo and decided to stay in Egypt. He continued to organize, and in 1952 was elected president of the Union of Palestinian Students. As president, he created a student magazine called the Voice of Palestine.

Arafat later left Egypt for Kuwait, where he worked as a construction and contracting engineer. In 1957, he and his closest colleagues formed an underground movement, which became the first cell of his Fatah group. Al Fatah advocated an armed struggle for Palestine carried out by Palestinians themselves, not by other Arab countries and their armies. The group published the magazine Our Palestine: The Call to Life that called for the eradication of Israel. Al Fatah grew as the publication drew in new members.

As Al Fatah grew, Arafat gained the support of the Syrian government. With this backing, Al Fatah mounted its first raid into Israel in 1965. The group continued to infiltrate and attack Israel, crossing from Lebanon and Jordan. Arafat is said to have used multiple disguises when traveling, including that of an Egyptian tourist, a Pakistani businessman, and a shepherd.

In June 1967, Israel defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in what has become known as the Six-Day War. Israel then occupied the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, forcing Palestinian residents to become refugees. Arafat and other top Fatah leaders worked quickly to recruit displaced Palestinians. Al Fatah increased the number of its raids, attacking Israel from Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Arafat and about 300 Fatah fighters set up a base in the town of Karameh, on the road between the West Bank and Jordan.

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