Yasser Arafat, the first president of the Palestinian Authority (1996-2004) and chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to create Peace in the Middle East. In 1974, Yasser Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly. He said he was holding an olive branch for peace in one hand and a freedom fighter's pistol in the other. Words that ring louder today as any hope of reconciliation between Palestine and Israel becomes a distant dream. The devastation in Gaza today is testimony to the fact that the path chosen by Hamas is wrong. 19 years after his death as the Israel-Hamas war takes a new form, Yasser Arafat will be remembered as the man who dared to bridge, even though temporarily the historic gap between the two countries.
