The short, pale man who was Palestine

As we walked into his newly-minted office in Gaza City – remember, it had only been a few months since he had returned from exile, thanks to the now defunct Oslo Accords – the first thing that struck me as I extended my hand to the legendary Palestinian leader was, “Wow, he’s so short and pale.”

Not exactly the first characteristics most people would ascribe to Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian people’s “Godfather”.  But as I look back 10 years after his death, I still remember the image of a small,  old and very white man, shaking my hand with both of his and smiling, his eyes squinty and sparkly, peaking out of the folds of his

Was he handsome? No. Was he captivating? Absolutely.

aging skin. He was even more affable with the children, hugging them, fatherly-like, and welcoming them into his office, his black and white checkered “kuffiyeh” wrapped around his head in his trademark fashion.

Of course I quickly realized that physical appearance is not necessarily a reflection of strength of character. Yasser Arafat was a man whose reputation far preceded him and he quickly commanded the room with his charm and charisma. Was he handsome? No. Was he captivating? Absolutely.

Those two characteristics, I believe, coupled with his incredible political shrewdness, were what kept Arafat not only in power for decades, but in the hearts of so many of his people.

You didn’t have to love him or agree with his politics, which let’s admit, were not always in our best interests. But the people respected him.

For us, he was the man who put Palestine back on the map, who united the people under the PLO, and who headed Fatah, the movement which so proudly claims to have “fired the first bullet” of the Palestinian revolution. He was humble. He knew how to rally people around him and – most importantly – keep them, more or less, united. It was nothing short of amazing how, even as he rounded up Hamas activists in 1996 following the “tunnel clashes”, he managed to smooth things over, quiet down the opposition, and like always, get what he wanted – to stay in power.

I was one of those people who often criticized and doubted Abu Ammar’s decisions. But I still made sure not to miss his funeral. Tens of thousands of us watched as the Jordanian helicopter descended on Ramallah’s presidential headquarters bringing Arafat’s body home, tears mingled with vows to the deceased leader to carry on the struggle.

Ten years later, it is clearer than ever before that Yasser Arafat was one of a kind. That doesn’t mean his legacy was all positive. The failed Oslo Accords and the fact that no Palestinian state ever materialized are testimony to that. But he was a leader in all senses of the word. Short and pale, perhaps, but nobody after him has ever been able to give us goose-bumps or send a shiver down our spines like Abu Ammar did when he spoke of Palestine.