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Yasser Arafat, one of the
most pivotal figures in the decades-long struggle between Israel and the Palestinians,
which has dominated much of U.S. foreign and world policy since the 1950s, died
Nov. 11 at a military hospital near Paris. He was 75. Arafat,
a controversial and polarizing leader -- recognized the world over by his red
and white keffiyah headdress -- wielded immeasurable influence in the Middle East.
He was at once hailed as a martyr by his Palestinian constituents and ostracized
by Israel as an instigator and terrorist. 
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