| Arafat, Yasir (1929- ), president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1996 to the present, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to the present, and Nobel laureate who has led the Palestinian people in their efforts for statehood. Arafat was born in either Egypt or Jerusalem�historical accounts vary�and raised in Jerusalem, Egypt, and the Gaza area. When Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949, Arafat fled to Egypt. In 1956 he earned an engineering degree from Cairo University, where he became involved in politics, chairing the Palestinian Students Union. In the early 1960s he helped found Fatah, a Palestinian guerrilla group committed to opposing Israel militarily. In 1968 Arafat took Fatah into the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which coordinated several groups opposed to Israel. During the late 1960s Fatah made guerrilla raids into Israel, mostly from Jordan. The success of some attacks earned Fatah power, and the group soon became the largest and most powerful of the PLO�s factions. In 1969 Arafat was made chairman of the PLO�s Executive Committee as well as commander-in-chief, thereby becoming the recognized leader of the Palestinian nationalist movement. |
