Yasser Arafat

Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (August 24 1929 - November 11, 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat, was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; 1969-2004) and President[2] of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA; 1993-2004). In 1994 Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for the negotiation of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord.

Arafat was a controversial and controlling figure throughout his lengthy career. While his supporters viewed him as a heroic freedom fighter who symbolized the national aspirations of the Palestinian people, his opponents described him as an unrepentant terrorist. Still others accused him of being corrupt or weak. Arab nationalists believe that he made too many concessions to the Israeli government during the 1993 Oslo Accords. However, Arafat has been widely recognized for leading the Fatah movement, which he founded in 1957.