Observance Daily What day is today, and why are we celebrating it?
On November 11, 2004, Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and first president of the Palestinian Authority, died in a Paris hospital, aged 75, after weeks of illness.
The passing of Yasser Arafat closed one of the longest chapters in modern Middle Eastern history. For decades, he had been the face of the Palestinian national movement, a figure instantly recognised around the world, and one of the most controversial leaders of his era. His death, after a sudden decline that drew global attention, left the Palestinian cause at a crossroads and opened a new chapter in Palestinian politics.
Who was Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat led the Palestinian national movement for decades. As chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, he became the movement’s undisputed leader, the man through whom the Palestinian cause spoke to the world. To supporters, he was the symbol of a people’s long struggle for self-determination; to critics, he was a divisive figure whose methods and record were fiercely disputed. Either way, few leaders of the twentieth century were as recognisable — the keffiyeh, the military fatigues, the headquarters under siege — or as central to the fate of their people.
Arafat’s long career carried him from the militant struggle of earlier decades to the negotiating table of the 1990s. That journey, from armed resistance to diplomacy, was the defining arc of his public life, and it made him a figure of fascination and contention in equal measure. By the time of his death, he had spent a lifetime at the very centre of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one of the most watched and most argued-over political figures in the world.
The Nobel Peace Prize and the Oslo Accords
One of the most remarkable turns in Yasser Arafat’s career came with the Oslo Accords, the agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that promised a path toward peace and Palestinian self-government. For that work, Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, sharing the honour with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
The award marked an extraordinary transformation: a man who had spent decades as the embodiment of Palestinian resistance was now recognised, alongside Israeli leaders, for seeking a negotiated end to the conflict. The handshake on the White House lawn, following the first Oslo agreement, became one of the defining images of the 1990s. Yet the peace the Accords promised remained elusive, and Arafat’s legacy as a peacemaker is as debated as every other part of his story.
First president of the Palestinian Authority
Following the Oslo Accords, Yasser Arafat became the first president of the Palestinian Authority, the body created to administer Palestinian self-government. The role made him not just a movement leader but the head of an emerging Palestinian political structure, with its own institutions, security forces, and ambitions for statehood.
In that capacity, he remained the dominant figure in Palestinian politics until the end. Through uprisings, negotiations, summits, and sieges, Arafat stayed at the centre of every development. His authority was such that, when he fell ill in late 2004, the question of succession immediately became one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East.
Death in Paris
After weeks of illness, Yasser Arafat was flown to a hospital in Paris, where his condition drew round-the-clock international attention. On November 11, 2004, he died there, aged 75. The announcement sent shockwaves through the Arab world and beyond, triggering days of mourning among Palestinians and a global outpouring of reaction — grief, relief, anger, and reflection, often all at once.
He was given a burial that reflected his stature and the controversy that surrounded him: a funeral in Cairo attended by world leaders, followed by interment in Ramallah. The scenes of mourning showed how deeply he had mattered to his people, and the arguments that followed showed how contested his legacy would remain.
Key facts about Yasser Arafat’s death
Yasser Arafat died on November 11, 2004, in a Paris hospital, aged 75, after weeks of illness. He was the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the first president of the Palestinian Authority. He had led the Palestinian national movement for decades and was one of the most recognised — and controversial — figures in the Middle East. In 1994 he won the Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for the Oslo Accords. His death opened a new chapter in Palestinian politics, with Mahmoud Abbas succeeding him.
How to mark the day
November 11 is a fitting day to reckon with the weight of history in the Middle East. Read about the Oslo Accords and what they promised, and consider why the peace they envisioned proved so hard to achieve. Learn about the Palestinian national movement and the leaders who shaped it, from Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas, his successor. Reflect on the difference between a symbol and a statesman — and on how one man could be, for different people, both at once.
Frequently asked questions
When did Yasser Arafat die?
Yasser Arafat died on November 11, 2004, in a Paris hospital, aged 75, after weeks of illness.
Who was Yasser Arafat?
He was the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the first president of the Palestinian Authority, the leader of the Palestinian national movement for decades, and one of the most recognised — and controversial — figures in the Middle East.
Why did Yasser Arafat win the Nobel Peace Prize?
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, shared with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for the Oslo Accords — the agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization aimed at ending their conflict.
Who succeeded Yasser Arafat?
His death opened a new chapter in Palestinian politics, with Mahmoud Abbas succeeding him.
What were the Oslo Accords?
The Oslo Accords were the agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that created the Palestinian Authority and promised a path toward peace and Palestinian self-government.
Why it matters
The death of Yasser Arafat mattered because it closed an era. For decades, the Palestinian cause had been embodied in a single, unmistakable figure; his passing forced the movement to imagine itself without him. That a man could dominate a national struggle for so long, and then be mourned and argued over in equal measure, says something about the power of symbols in politics — and about how personal a collective story can become.
November 11, 2004, marked the end of Arafat’s long leadership and the beginning of whatever came next. For Palestinians, it was a moment of grief and uncertainty. For the wider world, it was a reminder that history turns on people as well as forces — and that when a figure of that magnitude leaves the stage, the story never simply continues; it starts over.
Read more about November 11 Holidays, Observances and History.