Ar·a·fat 
(ărə-făt′, ärə-fät′), Yasir also Yasser Originally Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat (As Qudwa al-Hussaeini). 1929-2004.
(ărə-făt′, ärə-fät′), Yasir also Yasser Originally Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat (As Qudwa al-Hussaeini). 1929-2004. Leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization who in 1996 was elected the first president of the Palestinian Authority, the newly formed Palestinian self-rule government. He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.