The former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization was a central figure in the Palestinian liberation movement for more than half a century.
The iconic leader of the Palestinian national movement Yasser Arafat died 20 years ago Monday and his legacy of resistance and leadership allows him to be remembered as the “father” of the Palestinian nation, currently facing a war against Israel.
Yasser Arafat died on November 11, 2004 in a Paris military hospital, and there are still major doubts about whether the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was a builder or destroyer of peace, argues Paul Cainer In an article published in The Jeswish Chronicle, for which he is the correspondent in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe,
In the article, the founder of the recently created Center for International Conflict Journalism (CJIC) questions what would have happened if Arafat had lived longer (he died at the age of 75), especially the impact it might have had on events in Gaza . avoiding the open split between Fatah and Hamas, which led to a bloody civil war in 2006.
And then, based on what emerged from his likely intervention in the war between Fatah, which came to control the West Bank, and Hamas, which gained power in the Gaza Strip, what impact it might have had on the unity of the two movements.
“And this could have prevented, or delayed, the Hamas takeover, which allowed Islamic extremists to control Gaza and build their ‘resistance’ network above and below ground. “Would it then have been unable to launch its attacks on October 7, 2023 in Israel?” Cainer questioned the former Israeli director of three divisions of the internal security services, the Shin Bet.
Shalom Ben Hanan’s response could not be more laconic: “This is the Middle East. “Who knows?”
Even on the circumstances of Arafat’s death, opinions remain divergent: they are “mysterious” to the Palestinians, who maintain that he was poisoned by the Israelis, while Ben Hanan maintains that the PLO leader died of natural causes.
“I urge security investigators or Arafat’s nephew to present any evidence. What they have been telling is a fairy tale: blaming Israel for everything. Until the murder of [John Fitzgerald] “Kennedy!” he played down the drama.
As Palestinians and their supporters around the world remember Arafat’s leadership and commitment to the Palestinian cause, the anniversary of his death comes at a time of profound tragedy for the Palestinian people.
The Israeli attack on Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, has already claimed the lives of more than 43,600 Palestinians and injured more than 102,900 people, most of them women and children. Thousands of bodies remain trapped under the rubble, inaccessible due to continued bombing.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, more than 780 Palestinians have been killed, including 167 children, since the Israeli attack began.
Yasser Arafat, born in Jerusalem on August 4, 1929, was a central figure in the Palestinian liberation movement for more than half a century. Educated in Cairo, he played an active role in the Palestinian nationalist movement from a very young age, recalls the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
In the 1950s, Arafat co-founded Fatah, the largest faction of the PLO, and became its spokesman in 1968. As leader of the PLO since 1969, his ability to resist and defy military and diplomatic pressure from the Israelis earned him earned widespread admiration.
Indeed, Arafat became a symbol of Palestinian resistance, especially when, in 1974, he became the first Palestinian leader to speak before the United Nations General Assembly, with the famous statement: “I bring an olive branch and the weapon of a freedom fighter. “Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”
Both WAFA and Cainer report that throughout his leadership, Arafat faced many challenges, from military clashes with Israeli forces to diplomatic isolation.
In 1987, Arafat played a key role in supporting the First Intifada (uprising) against the Israeli occupation, while also participating in diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution.
His ability to navigate the complex political landscape was further demonstrated in 1993, when he signed the Oslo Accords with then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, an agreement that, for the first time, recognized the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, which In December 1994, it earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.
In the years before his death, Arafat remained a figure of great importance to the Palestinian people. Following the failure of the Camp David Summit in 2000, Arafat refused to accept Israeli demands that he believed would compromise Palestinian rights, namely control of Jerusalem.
This position led to the outbreak of the Second Intifada and led to new pressure from Israel. In late 2001, Israeli forces surrounded Arafat’s compound in Ramallah, a siege that lasted until his death in November 2004.
“Although Arafat is not physically present, the legacy continues to shape Palestinian identity and the fight for justice. The vision of a free Palestine, tenacity in the face of adversity and the ability to unite people around a common cause are deeply rooted in the national consciousness,” WAFA writes.
Source: Observadora
