Post-Arafat Palestine

摘要

The death last November of Yasser Arafat marked the end of a story and the beginning of a journey for the Palestinian people. Arafat was— with all his strengths and weaknesses—a legend, and few Palestinians now living remember a time when they did not look to him for leadership. Arafat's history is itself the product of some theatrical adjustment. Born Muhammad Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, he claimed Jerusalem as his birthplace, although most scholars believe he was born in Cairo. He grew up in both Jerusalem and Cairo. Educated in Cairo, he became both an engineer and—as was the case with many young Arabs of his time—a revolutionary. Early in his career, he joined the League of Palestinian Students, which he later chaired, and was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood, later banned in Egypt. As a founder of the Fatah movement, he directed and participated in raids against Israeli targets, using bases in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, and with the occasional sponsorship of Syria.