Ramallah: Home to must-see Yasser Arafat´s Museum“The bride of Palestine” as it is now called by its present Mayor, is very famous for being in the News for years and of course as the Headquarters of Palestine´s most charismatic leader: Yasser Arafat. Nowadays, it is the administrative HQ of Palestine and home to its president Mahmood Abbas. It is a cosmopolitan city where Christian and Muslims live together.
16km from Jerusalem, for years, it has been the home of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader (PLO). In 2016, 12 years after his death, as a recognition of his importance, the city has dedicated a museum and a special mausoleum to its hero: Yasser Arafat. The white modern building is impressively calm and peaceful, a far cry from the life of Arafat. The mausoleum is in a separate building and the first stop as you go into the Museum. 2 guards stand 
The museum tells the story of 100 years of Palestinian history. It starts with Arafa´s birth in Jerusalem (or Cairo) and goes into the Nakba (the catastrophe), the creation of Israel in 1948 up to Arafat´s passing near Paris in 2004, a very much contested death. Visitors are given an audio guide & headphones to follow the history of Palestine through videos, images, texts, personal objects and official documents. A “wall of shame” dedicated to all of those people who died during one of the longest and saddest conflict in modern history.
The museum has managed to make visitors feel part of Palestine History for a few hours by inviting each us to see where Arafat spent 36 months escaping Israel´s attempt to assassinate him. His bedroom has been kept as it was left, his meeting room with the old-fashioned TV, his aids bunk beds and even the tiny kitchen and bathroom are open to public viewing. Don´t expect “Winston Churchill war room”, it is incredibly simple and modest.
The rest of the Ramallah is a busy, bustling city which attracts those wanting to experience western-like night life. The Mahmood Darwish Museum, home to the much love Palestinian poet is also a must see, it hosts an array of conferences and events.
These days, Janet Mikhail has a modern approach to managing the city. She has been Ramallah´s mayor since 2005, a Christian from an old Ramallah family, she cares very much about gender equality: Literacy rates for women are at 90%, she is a big advocate for the environment and health.
Mikhail says “I see the city moving forward and I believe it will continue to be an important cultural, economic and medical hub for Palestinians.”
One of the museum staff says: “People miss Arafat. The museum is a reminder he still exists in people’s memories. It took years and millions to build. Hundreds come to visit his tomb. I’m not certain all are sure why they are coming but they do and that´s what matters.”
