Yasser Arafat
1929–2004 · Palestinian (Cairo / Gaza / Tunis / Ramallah) · Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Known for: Chairman of the PLO and first president of the Palestinian Authority—spent his life fighting for Palestinian statehood
Arafat led the Palestinian national movement for 35 years—from guerrilla warfare to diplomacy. He signed the Oslo Accords with Rabin (Nobel Peace Prize 1994), but the peace process collapsed and he died under Israeli siege in his Ramallah compound in 2004, possibly poisoned (traces of polonium were found).
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