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Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography
Yasir Arafat stands as one of the most resilient, recognizable and controversial political figures of modern times. The object of unrelenting suspicion, steady admiration and endless speculation, Arafat has occupied the center stage of Middle East politics for almost four decades. Yasir Arafat is the most comprehensive political biography of this remarkable man.
Forged in a tumultuous era of competing traditionalism, radicalism, Arab nationalism, and Islamist forces, the Palestinian movement was almost entirely Arafat's creation, and he became its leader at an early age. Arafat took it through a dizzying series of crises and defeats, often of his own making, yet also ensured that it survived, grew, and gained influence. Disavowing terrorism repeatedly, he also practiced it constantly. Arafat's elusive behavior ensured that radical regimes saw in him a comrade in arms, while moderates backed him as a potential partner in peace.
After years of devotion to armed struggle, Arafat made a dramatic agreement with Israel that let him return to his claimed homeland and transformed him into a legitimized ruler. Yet at the moment of decision at the Camp David summit and afterward, when he could have achieved peace and a Palestinian state, he sacrificed the prize he had supposedly sought for the struggle he could not live without.
Richly populated with the main events and dominant leaders of the Middle East, this detailed and analytical account by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin follows Arafat as he moves to Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and finally to Palestinian-ruled soil. It shows him as he rewrites his origins, experiments with guerrilla war, develops a doctrine of terrorism, fights endless diplomatic battles, and builds a movement, constantly juggling states, factions, and world leaders.
Whole generations and a half-dozen U.S. presidents have come and gone over the long course of Arafat's career. But Arafat has outlasted them all, spanning entire eras, with three constants always present: he has always survived, he has constantly seemed imperiled, and he has never achieved his goals. While there has been no substitute for Arafat, the authors conclude, Arafat has been no substitute for a leader who could make peace.
Forged in a tumultuous era of competing traditionalism, radicalism, Arab nationalism, and Islamist forces, the Palestinian movement was almost entirely Arafat's creation, and he became its leader at an early age. Arafat took it through a dizzying series of crises and defeats, often of his own making, yet also ensured that it survived, grew, and gained influence. Disavowing terrorism repeatedly, he also practiced it constantly. Arafat's elusive behavior ensured that radical regimes saw in him a comrade in arms, while moderates backed him as a potential partner in peace.
After years of devotion to armed struggle, Arafat made a dramatic agreement with Israel that let him return to his claimed homeland and transformed him into a legitimized ruler. Yet at the moment of decision at the Camp David summit and afterward, when he could have achieved peace and a Palestinian state, he sacrificed the prize he had supposedly sought for the struggle he could not live without.
Richly populated with the main events and dominant leaders of the Middle East, this detailed and analytical account by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin follows Arafat as he moves to Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and finally to Palestinian-ruled soil. It shows him as he rewrites his origins, experiments with guerrilla war, develops a doctrine of terrorism, fights endless diplomatic battles, and builds a movement, constantly juggling states, factions, and world leaders.
Whole generations and a half-dozen U.S. presidents have come and gone over the long course of Arafat's career. But Arafat has outlasted them all, spanning entire eras, with three constants always present: he has always survived, he has constantly seemed imperiled, and he has never achieved his goals. While there has been no substitute for Arafat, the authors conclude, Arafat has been no substitute for a leader who could make peace.
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Barry Rubin
88 books21 followersBarry Rubin is an American-born Israeli expert on terrorism and Middle Eastern affairs.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), and a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel. He is also editor of the journal 'Turkish Studies'.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), and a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel. He is also editor of the journal 'Turkish Studies'.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 13, 2025
The most biased biography I have ever made the mistake of reading. Rather than being a political biography of Arafat, this book is a hit job by an Israeli-American about why he was evil.
Anyone with a small amount of knowledge about the topic will recognize just how disingenuous the author is - for example, every terrorist attack by Palestinians on Israel is cataloged and blamed on Arafat, even when committed by groups opposed to him. Meanwhile, the endless attacks by Israelis on Palestinians, are seldom, if ever, mentioned. Thus, there is never any context for Arafat’s (or any Palestinian’s) behavior in this book - they’re just bad people who hate Israel because they’re bad. Equally ludicrously, the lack of a Palestinian state is blamed squarely on Arafat and the Palestinians, it is taken for granted by Rubin that there were legitimate proposals for this, rejected by Palestinians out of spite, despite the extensive scholarship showing the opposite.
One can certainly find many things to critique about Yassir Arafat as a political figure, but this book is so transparently written in bad faith, I don’t think it could be a starting point for that.
Anyone with a small amount of knowledge about the topic will recognize just how disingenuous the author is - for example, every terrorist attack by Palestinians on Israel is cataloged and blamed on Arafat, even when committed by groups opposed to him. Meanwhile, the endless attacks by Israelis on Palestinians, are seldom, if ever, mentioned. Thus, there is never any context for Arafat’s (or any Palestinian’s) behavior in this book - they’re just bad people who hate Israel because they’re bad. Equally ludicrously, the lack of a Palestinian state is blamed squarely on Arafat and the Palestinians, it is taken for granted by Rubin that there were legitimate proposals for this, rejected by Palestinians out of spite, despite the extensive scholarship showing the opposite.
One can certainly find many things to critique about Yassir Arafat as a political figure, but this book is so transparently written in bad faith, I don’t think it could be a starting point for that.
May 7, 2024
From the Amazonia
An excellent addition to the literature
10/10
Yasser Arafat's centrality to the Middle East equation is hard to deny. An impressive survivor, he continues to command considerable power and clout despite the countless times his adversaries have declared him irrelevant. With this in mind, Rubin and Rubin have done students of the Middle East a great service with this able biography, by far the most complete of the five so far published.
The authors track Arafat from his student days in Egypt, through his transition from one of the founders of modern terrorism to a leader commanding considerable respect on the world stage. The authors offer considerable analysis of his most fateful and often disastrous decisions, from attempting to overthrow the king of Jordan that led to the so called Black September Massacre, to his decision to back Saddam Hussein in the first gulf war.
Through all of this a telling portrait of Arafat emerges, though not one that his acolytes would necessarily appreciate.
Arafat's ability to play world powers off each other, first the Soviets off the US and now the Europeans off the US, is justifiably legendary. The authors do an excellent job explaining how he does this, understanding the essential goals of each and inserting himself into their strategy. What emerges is a man whose greatest concern is not his people, but his role in history and that he should never be seen as "the traitor who made peace with the Jews."
Indeed, he is quoted when he rejected the Camp David Accords that he did not want to be the man who was seen as accepting the Jewish States right to exist. The Rubin's do not seek to turn Arafat into some sort of evil monster, but rather to put him in the context of his culture, his times, and his values. From this perspective, his motivations and actions become not only clear, but quite calculating and shrewd.
The most interesting of the authors' conclusions is that through out his long career, Arafat may have changed tactics, but that his strategy and goals remain virtually unchanged. Going back to the early 70's Arafat freely spoke of the idea of establishing a presence on some portion of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan by any means and then using it as a base from which to attack, demoralize, and eventually destroy the Jewish State. Given recent events it seems the world would have done well to listen to what he had to say.
J. A Magill
/////
Very bad journalism...
2/10
So biaised, so unprecise, so wicked, so 'un-scientific'... really surprised that OUP is publishing this piece of very bad journalism.
Martin75
////
A good account
8/10
There are only about five biographys of Arafat to date.
Hart - Arafat Terrorist or Peacemaker
Aburish - Arafat from Defender to Dictator
a book called - Arafat in the Eye of the Beholder
and then another book just released named - Arafat
This book seems to take most of his life into account. From his days in Kuwait and Cairo to the most recent time with Abbas as PM.
Unfortuantly the conclusion is flawed. Abbas has quit and Arafat has all the riens of power. The conclusion that his many mistakes are going to eclipse him finally is wrong. Arafat is still loved by his people.
The book is unbiased, which is nice from other works on Arafat. Unforutnatly the book doesnt fault him for supporting murder of children( but I guess we forgave Begin so we can forgive Arafat). The books view that Arafat has caused much suffering for his own people because of his military mismanagement is right on the mark.
This is an important update on Arafats life, the other bios of him are dated.
Seth J. Frantzman
/////
He was no Mandela
10/10
Arafat was an interesting character, and unlike many of those around him not corrupt. His weakness was in not knowing when it was time to call a halt to death and destruction that.
He signed up to making peace with the Israelis but then could not face giving up the right, as he saw it, to destroy Israel, unleashing the terrible suicide bombings that killed and injured thousands of Israelis in 2002.
This was in response to the israeli prime minister of the time having offered 95% of the lands taken in the 1967 war to Arafat (Recently Olmert offered 100% including splitting Jerusalem with the palestinians, and that was still rejected because it didn't allow for the 'right of return' of millions of descendants of those who had made war on Israel, to go to live in Israel rather than a palestinian state).
Rubin recounts the early history of Arafat and goes on to recount how he not only sowed mayhem and destruction in Israel, but everywhere he went in the arab world, in the disputed lands of Judea and Samaria to Jordan (king Hussein kicked Arafat out and killed 10,000 of his men) and to Beirut.
After years of provocation, terror and missile attacks on its cities, Israel allowed Arafat to leave Beirut in 1982 rather than be killed. Sharon regretted the decision not to kill Arafat later on, considering the thousands of lives that decision was later to cost.
Rubin recounts that the Tunisians were so worried when Arafat descended there that they more or less kept Arafat and his men prisoner in a ghetto of their own.
Arafat had great charisma and was respected by his people. If he had decided to call a halt to the terrorism and shared the land between himself and the Israelis there would be peace in Israel and Palestine now.
But Arafat could not do it. And Abbas who followed him has been to weak to sign up to peace even if he wants to.
The tragedy of the palestinians is their leaders.
Gamlan
/////
An excellent addition to the literature
10/10
Yasser Arafat's centrality to the Middle East equation is hard to deny. An impressive survivor, he continues to command considerable power and clout despite the countless times his adversaries have declared him irrelevant. With this in mind, Rubin and Rubin have done students of the Middle East a great service with this able biography, by far the most complete of the five so far published.
The authors track Arafat from his student days in Egypt, through his transition from one of the founders of modern terrorism to a leader commanding considerable respect on the world stage. The authors offer considerable analysis of his most fateful and often disastrous decisions, from attempting to overthrow the king of Jordan that led to the so called Black September Massacre, to his decision to back Saddam Hussein in the first gulf war.
Through all of this a telling portrait of Arafat emerges, though not one that his acolytes would necessarily appreciate.
Arafat's ability to play world powers off each other, first the Soviets off the US and now the Europeans off the US, is justifiably legendary. The authors do an excellent job explaining how he does this, understanding the essential goals of each and inserting himself into their strategy. What emerges is a man whose greatest concern is not his people, but his role in history and that he should never be seen as "the traitor who made peace with the Jews."
Indeed, he is quoted when he rejected the Camp David Accords that he did not want to be the man who was seen as accepting the Jewish States right to exist. The Rubin's do not seek to turn Arafat into some sort of evil monster, but rather to put him in the context of his culture, his times, and his values. From this perspective, his motivations and actions become not only clear, but quite calculating and shrewd.
The most interesting of the authors' conclusions is that through out his long career, Arafat may have changed tactics, but that his strategy and goals remain virtually unchanged. Going back to the early 70's Arafat freely spoke of the idea of establishing a presence on some portion of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan by any means and then using it as a base from which to attack, demoralize, and eventually destroy the Jewish State. Given recent events it seems the world would have done well to listen to what he had to say.
J. A Magill
/////
Very bad journalism...
2/10
So biaised, so unprecise, so wicked, so 'un-scientific'... really surprised that OUP is publishing this piece of very bad journalism.
Martin75
////
A good account
8/10
There are only about five biographys of Arafat to date.
Hart - Arafat Terrorist or Peacemaker
Aburish - Arafat from Defender to Dictator
a book called - Arafat in the Eye of the Beholder
and then another book just released named - Arafat
This book seems to take most of his life into account. From his days in Kuwait and Cairo to the most recent time with Abbas as PM.
Unfortuantly the conclusion is flawed. Abbas has quit and Arafat has all the riens of power. The conclusion that his many mistakes are going to eclipse him finally is wrong. Arafat is still loved by his people.
The book is unbiased, which is nice from other works on Arafat. Unforutnatly the book doesnt fault him for supporting murder of children( but I guess we forgave Begin so we can forgive Arafat). The books view that Arafat has caused much suffering for his own people because of his military mismanagement is right on the mark.
This is an important update on Arafats life, the other bios of him are dated.
Seth J. Frantzman
/////
He was no Mandela
10/10
Arafat was an interesting character, and unlike many of those around him not corrupt. His weakness was in not knowing when it was time to call a halt to death and destruction that.
He signed up to making peace with the Israelis but then could not face giving up the right, as he saw it, to destroy Israel, unleashing the terrible suicide bombings that killed and injured thousands of Israelis in 2002.
This was in response to the israeli prime minister of the time having offered 95% of the lands taken in the 1967 war to Arafat (Recently Olmert offered 100% including splitting Jerusalem with the palestinians, and that was still rejected because it didn't allow for the 'right of return' of millions of descendants of those who had made war on Israel, to go to live in Israel rather than a palestinian state).
Rubin recounts the early history of Arafat and goes on to recount how he not only sowed mayhem and destruction in Israel, but everywhere he went in the arab world, in the disputed lands of Judea and Samaria to Jordan (king Hussein kicked Arafat out and killed 10,000 of his men) and to Beirut.
After years of provocation, terror and missile attacks on its cities, Israel allowed Arafat to leave Beirut in 1982 rather than be killed. Sharon regretted the decision not to kill Arafat later on, considering the thousands of lives that decision was later to cost.
Rubin recounts that the Tunisians were so worried when Arafat descended there that they more or less kept Arafat and his men prisoner in a ghetto of their own.
Arafat had great charisma and was respected by his people. If he had decided to call a halt to the terrorism and shared the land between himself and the Israelis there would be peace in Israel and Palestine now.
But Arafat could not do it. And Abbas who followed him has been to weak to sign up to peace even if he wants to.
The tragedy of the palestinians is their leaders.
Gamlan
/////
February 12, 2021
The Book Yasir Arafat and he is a country leader. The author is Arthur M. Schlesingeir. The story is about him and how he runs his country and the religions he alous and how men and women wear in his country.When he is on live tv you can't change the channel if you tried to because he is on every one. He died in 1959 by poisoning.
This book is a door because we go into his country and learn what is different about his country than most countries. We also go on about how he used to visit his mom and family on the weekends that live in pakistan. We also know that if they get bomd he will not fix the dissection that people did. As most people think he is an alright person that is so wrong he makes people do stuff that they don't want to do.
I rate this book 3 out of 5. It was easy to read and know what was going on. The people who will like this book are people who like history books. Why people will like it is because it tells us what he did in the past and about his fighting. The most interesting thing i learned was he treats people like they are not wanted and he doesn't care about his people.
This book is a door because we go into his country and learn what is different about his country than most countries. We also go on about how he used to visit his mom and family on the weekends that live in pakistan. We also know that if they get bomd he will not fix the dissection that people did. As most people think he is an alright person that is so wrong he makes people do stuff that they don't want to do.
I rate this book 3 out of 5. It was easy to read and know what was going on. The people who will like this book are people who like history books. Why people will like it is because it tells us what he did in the past and about his fighting. The most interesting thing i learned was he treats people like they are not wanted and he doesn't care about his people.
March 27, 2025
I’ve just read the 9 page Prologue…..setting out the picture before you get to the guts of the story of the man. Based on a couple of weeks when he was under house arrest in Ramallah,shortly before he died. It paints a picture of a demonic leader, hoping you’ll retain that image as you plough through rest of its 300 pages. Biographies tend to begin with parents, upbringing, education, politicisation, etc. but this one starts with a hatchet job on the subject before it gets going. Despicable Zionist propaganda. The book is now heading for the bin
May 23, 2018
Lots of food for thought, not so much about Yasir Arafat, but about the Palestinian people and their quest for justice and freedom, and how that struggle has been waged since 1948.
July 24, 2024
Sometimes fee
March 31, 2013
Offers great insight into the prolific figure in the Middle East. Ironically, exposes a side of him that many probably never knew. In my view, these insights are corroborated by the views expressed by Mosab Yousef in "Son of Hamas".
October 9, 2013
A damning indictment of Arafat's record as a leader and underscores how a myopic leader can blight the future of generations of his countrymen
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews