Visiting the Yasser Arafat Museum in Ramallah: The Excellence Center organized a field trip for the international volunteers to the Yasser Arafat Museum in Ramallah. This is a fairly recent educational institution in the West Bank and one which attracts many visitors, local and international. As expected many volunteers were interested in this trip, and 4 Palestinians and 6 international volunteers embarked on the almost 2 hour car journey early in the morning. It was a long day, given that we also stopped by Jericho and ended our journey with a dip in the Dead Sea, but we learned a lot about the former Palestinian leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The museum opened officially at the end of 2016 on the 12th anniversary of Arafat’s death. It is located next to his mausoleum and to what once was his main office and command headquarters before his death in 2004. The Museum costed about $7million and was funded by the Palestinian Authority. It is a very modern building designed by the late Palestinian architect Ja’far Touqan. It consists of two main exhibition areas; the multimedia interactive section, recording parts of the Palestinian history from the early 20th century, with of course a large focus on Arafat’s life, and a section for the preserved actual place where he spent his last 34 months under house arrest, including the room where he slept and ate.
As we arrived we were greeted by friendly bilingual staff who gave us a headset and showed us the first section of the museum. Once we started with the audiovisual guide we could follow at our own pace, listen to the stories and watch the videos and pictures. The information is extensive and very interesting but unfortunately our time was limited and we were under pressure to get going to the next stop. This meant that we were able to get more information at the start of the visit but less toward the end as we rushed through the last videos. We would recommend spending at least a couple hours in order to be able to fully read and watch all the videos. This is imperative if you wish to learn more about the history and life of this controversial character.
The museum also has a resource center with a large library which can be used on location. The website informs that it is possible to copy some of the material with help from the museum’s staff for research and other use.
If you wish to visit the museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 5:00/6:00 (winter/summer) and asks for a symbolic contribution of 1 dinar (or equivalent 5NIS) for its maintenance. To get to Ramallah it is possible to take a Service from Hebron Al Manara square for about 20 NIS.
