Arafat, My Brother

In November last year, Yasser Arafat died. He had been leader of the PLO since 1969 and president of the Palestinian Authority since 1993. His younger brother, Dr Fathi Arafat, died soon after of cancer. Driven by despondency about the endless violence and the continuing uncertainty about the future of his people, the well-known Palestinian film maker Rashid Masharawi started working on a documentary 18 months ago, in which he follows Dr Fathi Arafat and travels from Cairo to Paris, via Ramallah and Lebanon, tackling endless closed borders and roadblocks, looking for the answer. Masharawi: `Israeli law during the second intifada prevents me from returning to Ramallah, where my home is. Our president Yasser Arafat is not allowed to leave Ramallah. I decided to contact Yasser Arafat and ask him what was going on. Perhaps he could give me some hope. Perhaps through him, I would be able to understand something about the future of the Palestinians. I know personally Doctor Fathi Arafat, Yasser Arafat’s only remaining brother. He’s the head of the Palestinian Red Cross. Perhaps through Doctor Fathi I would be able to reach Arafat and learn about who he is, to try to understand what is going on with us.’ As the time of this writing, Masharawi is still working on the editing.