The Mystery of Arafat [Hardcover]

Danny Rubinstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 1995

In this Middle East book of the year, Rubinstein really does solve the Arafat mystery, --Middle East Quarterly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this well-organized study, Rubenstein (The People of Nowhere) does his best to fathom the enigma of the Palestinian leader and Nobel peace prize recipient. He defines the highly centralized nature of Arafat's leadership, his austere way of life, his astuteness with regard to personal security, his relationship with the woman he married in 1990 ("The ambitious Suwa forced herself on the PLO leadership") and his awareness of his own unprepossessing appearance and lack of public-speaking skills. Rubenstein was personally charmed during their three-hour meeting ("a small man, gentle, delicate, and extremely well mannered") but does not hesitate to discuss weaknesses of character and judgment in the PLO leader: his readiness to make empty promises, his frivolousness (Arafat appointed to his cabinet as minister of Jewish affairs an eccentric rabbi well known in Israel as a figure of ridicule) and his mendacity. The author also discusses the burgeoning anti-Arafat sentiment among Arabs, including the Islamic Jihad's 1994 announcement that it is now permissible to assassinate Arafat. An interesting analysis, but Yasser Arafat remains as enigmatic as ever.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Israeli journalist Rubinstein has covered Arab and Palestinian affairs since 1967; his People of Nowhere (1991) insightfully addressed Palestinians' and Israelis' conflicting visions of "homeland." In this new book, Rubinstein offers a brief but satisfying analysis of Arafat, arguing that the Palestinian leader's principal role has been "to serve as a symbol" for his people, and that this role accounts for aspects of Arafat's behavior and personality that most puzzle and annoy Israelis and Westerners. Rubinstein addresses Arafat's childhood and education, the names by which he has been known, the formation of Fatah, his international travels, his narrow escapes from death, his ascetic image, and the problems he has experienced in guiding the Palestinian National Authority. Arafat's critical contribution to his people's struggle, Rubinstein suggests, was shifting attention away from the unity of Arabs and toward the nationhood of Palestinians; by insisting on independence from Arab states that had ignored or repressed Palestinians, Arafat laid the vital framework for recognition of his people by the world and, ultimately, by their neighbors in the Middle East. Includes a useful chronology. Mary Carroll

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 140 pages
• Publisher: Steerforth Press; 1st edition (April 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883642108
• ISBN-13: 978-1883642105
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,307,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mystery of Arafat, July 24, 2001

By 

Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mystery of Arafat (Hardcover)

The chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization has long puzzled observers, including his biographers (note the titles of two books about him published in 1990: "Behind the Myth: Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Revolution" and "Arafat: In the Eyes of the Beholder"). How has someone so deeply flawed as an individual and a leader managed to achieve so much and acquired so much authority? Rubinstein, a columnist at the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, makes answering this "mystery of Arafat" the goal of his book. "How is it that someone who looks so strange and is so lacking in seriousness can at the same time be considered a statesman and revolutionary of the first order?" In his slight but rich study, Rubinstein takes up basic questions about Arafat: Where was he born? What is his real name? Why does he look so grubby? Why does he travel so maniacally? Why did he get married on the sly?

With brilliant insight, the author shows that every aspect of Arafat's public persona-from his stubbly face to his doing business late at night-fits a single pattern. In all these ways, he has "accurately and persistently . . . reflected the distress and the needs of the Palestinian public." Rubinstein convincingly shows how everything Arafat does (even not shaving) seeks "to provide the Palestinian revolution, of which he is the center, with legitimacy." Arafat's success, in other words, derives from his being able to create a myth in which his own personality fuses with the Palestinian cause. In 1995's Middle East book of the year, idiomatically translated, Rubinstein really does solve the Arafat mystery.

Middle East Quarterly, September 1995

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but light on facts..., February 9, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of Arafat (Hardcover)

If your interested in knowing a little bit about this man, I'd recommend one of the many biographies. Rubenstein's book doesn't unveil any secrets or shed any light on the unknown. We all know he's completely dedicated to his cause and manipulative..what successful politician isn't? The book is filled with second and third hand accounts and sometimes even unconfirmed rumor.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book about an evil man, July 16, 2006

By 

Al Kruse "Al Kruse" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mystery of Arafat (Hardcover)

Arafat was an evil man. In his life, what did he achieve? He killed a lot of Americans and Israelis.

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