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Yasser Arafat

Palestinian political leader (1929-2004) and Former President of the Palestinian National Authority (1994-2004) · Palestine · On the map · Politicians · Died at 75

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He led the Palestinian national movement for thirty-five years - from guerrilla warfare and exile across Cairo, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia, to the Nobel Peace Prize, to house arrest in Ramallah. Palestinians call him a martyr. Israelis called him a terrorist.

Yasser Arafat is read about 4,952 times a day, in 125 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 12 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 400 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2018Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of PalestineAward2004Died11 November 20042002“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.”In their words15 January 2002On Palestinian Authority Television

1999Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicAwardOrder of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st classAward1998Grand Collar of the Order of Good HopeAward1996Named Minister of Education of the Palestinian National AuthorityOffice16 May 1996 to 9 August 1998“We will not bend or fail until the blood of every last Jew from the youngest child to the oldest elder is spilt to redeem our land!”In their words30 January 1996In his speech "The Impending Total Collapse of Israel" at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, 30 January 1996 as quoted in “The Legacy

1995“The Israelis are mistaken if they think we do not have an alternative to negotiations. By Allah I swear they are wrong.”In their words6 August 1995In a speech given on 6 August 1995, at a party to celebrate the birth of his daughter, reported in Haaretz (6 September 1995) and in The

1994Named President of the Palestinian National AuthorityOffice5 July 1994 to 11 November 2004Nobel Peace PrizeAward1993Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeAward1989Named President of the State of PalestineOffice2 April 1989 to 11 November 20041988Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International UnderstandingAward1987“Did you follow what [General [[w: Yehoshafat_Harkabi|Yehoshafat] Harkabi]] wrote? Formerly of the Israeli military intelligence service. Remember him?”In their words11 June 1987In an interview published in "The New York Review of Books"

1975Doublespeak AwardAward1974“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.”In their words13 November 1974Speech to UN General Assembly

“Today 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.”In their words13 November 1974Speech to UN General Assembly

1969Named Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation OrganizationOffice4 February 1969 to 11 November 20041929Born4 August 1929

People around Yasser

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In their own words 4

,
Yasser Arafat
,
4 statements, newest first

  1. Amanpour: Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken to you, I understand. He has also spoken publicly. He called on you to rein in the violence.

    29 March 2002 · Exchange with CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour (29 March 2002) during Operation Defensive Shield, Own words

  2. The PLO will now concentrate on splitting Israel psychologically into two camps... We plan to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a Palestinian state.

    23 February 1996 · In a speech to Arab diplomats in Stockholm as quoted in the Jerusalem Post, Own words

  3. Peace for us means the destruction of Israel.

    5 August 1980 · Quoted in The Times, UK, Own words

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Awards

Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of Palestine2018
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic1999
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class1999
Grand Collar of the Order of Good Hope1998
Nobel Peace Prize1994
Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize1993
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding1988
Doublespeak Award1975
Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation
Order of Playa Girón
Honorary Doctor of the University of Patras
Order of the Republic
Order of Ouissam Alaouite
Grand cross of the Order of the White Lion
Order of Palestine
Order of Good Hope
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Order of the Great September Revolution 1969
Order of Civil Merit
Order of the White Lion
Order of the Grand Conqueror
Order "13 Centuries of Bulgaria"
Princess of Asturias Awards

About this person

Born in Cairo around August 1929, Arafat studied at the University of King Fuad I, where he absorbed Arab nationalist ideas and fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. After the Arab defeat, he served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956. In the late 1950s he co-founded Fatah, a paramilitary organization launching attacks on Israel from neighboring Arab states. By 1969 he was elected chair of the Palestinian National Council. Military clashes with Jordan's King Hussein forced Fatah into Lebanon in the early 1970s, where it fought in the civil war and drew Israeli invasions in 1978 and 1982. From 1983 he operated out of Tunisia, shifting from armed struggle to negotiation: in 1988 he acknowledged Israel's right to exist and pursued a two-state solution. The 1993 Oslo Accords brought him the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Rabin and Peres in 1994, and he returned to Gaza to lead the Palestinian Authority. The 2000 Camp David Summit failed. Confined to his Ramallah compound by Israeli forces, he fell into a coma and died on 11 November 2004. Russian and French investigators found no foul play; a Swiss

Country
Palestine
Category
Politicians
Topics
Politicians, Politics
Type
Politician
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1929 to 2004 · aged 75

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The same award as Yasser

Jimmy CarterBoth received Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeShimon PeresBoth received Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeJuan Carlos I of SpainBoth received Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeLuiz Inácio Lula da SilvaBoth received Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeFrançois HollandeBoth received Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

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