Published by
Al-Araby
Al-Araby
A revolutionary and freedom fighter to some, a terrorist to his opponents. A statesman and peacemaker to some, a sellout over the Oslo Accords to others. Seventeen years since his death, Yasser Arafat – born in 1929 as Mohammed Al-Qudwa Al-Husseini – continues to be a controversial character, mirroring the discrepancies, successes, and failures of the Palestinian national liberation movement. Non-controversial to most Palestinians, Arafat supporters or otherwise, is that the Palestinian leader was the icon of Palestinian nationalism, self-determination, and identity for nearly 40 years. Very …