Yasser Arafat was a leader of the state of Palestine and 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority. Arafat always referred to himself as the son of Jerusalem although some believe Cairo to be his actual place of birth. Indoctrinated into Arab nationalism early in his life, he started working for the Palestinian cause while he was still in his teens; later moving to Kuwait, where he cofounded Fata, being elected to its central committee at the very inception. By the age of 44, he became a full time revolutionist, organizing raids into Israel from their camps along Jordan-Israel border. Later, he became the Chairman of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), which under his guidance emerged from being a puppet organization in the hands of Arab governments to an independent nationalist organization, based in Jordan. Waging relentless war against Israel, later on he took up diplomacy as a tool for achieving his ends and signed Oslo Accord in early 1990s. In 1994, Yasser Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin for his endeavor to bring peace into the region. Later when the Palestinian National Authority was formed, he was elected its President. Adored by his followers and hated by his detractors, Yasser Arafat remained an enigma till his death in 2004.