November 11 marks the 21st anniversary of the martyrdom of Yasser Arafat, the founding leader of the Palestinian national movement.
Arafat—born Mohammed Yasser Abdel Raouf Arafat Al-Qudwa in Jerusalem, lost his mother at the age of five and grew up in Cairo, where he developed an early passion for politics and military affairs. As a young
man, he helped smuggle weapons to Palestinian fighters and later joined the “Army of the Holy War” during the 1948 conflict. While studying engineering in Cairo, he became a prominent student leader and played a central role in organizing Palestinian communities.
After graduating in 1955, Arafat continued building Palestinian networks and joined the Egyptian army during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Later, during his time in Kuwait, he and his companions—including Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad)—laid the foundations for what would become the Fatah movement. He launched the magazine “Our Palestine – The Call of Life” and worked tirelessly to gain Arab recognition for the emerging movement.
Fatah announced the start of its armed struggle on December 31, 1964, with the “Eilaboun Tunnel” operation. Following the 1967 war, Arafat crossed the Jordan River into the occupied territories to oversee resistance operations. His leadership was cemented during the 1968 Battle of Karameh, which he described as a turning point for Palestinian and Arab morale.
Arafat rose rapidly within the movement, becoming Fatah’s official spokesman, commander of its armed forces, and, in 1969, Chairman of the PLO’s Executive Committee. He secured international recognition for the Palestinian cause, most notably through his historic 1974 speech at the UN General Assembly: “I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun—do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts—in Beirut in 1981 and again in Tunisia in 1985. In 1982 he endured an 80-day Israeli siege in Beirut before relocating to Tunisia with the PLO leadership.
On November 15, 1988, Arafat declared the establishment of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. He was elected President of Palestine in 1989 and later returned from exile in 1994 to Gaza and Jericho, beginning the process of building Palestinian institutions. In 1996 he was elected President of the Palestinian Authority with nearly 88% of the vote.
Following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, Israel imposed a strict siege on his Ramallah headquarters, bombarding the compound repeatedly and restricting his movement. His health deteriorated in 2004, leading to his transfer to a French military hospital, where he passed away on November 11.
