Metaphorical language in the discourse of Yasser Arafat

Abstract This paper examines how Yasser Arafat, President of Palestinian National Authority from 1994 to 2004, relied on metaphor as a rhetorical device to promote his opposition to the Israeli government’s discrimination and brutality against Palestinians and settlement-building policies in Palestinian Territories. The metaphors analyzed here are drawn from more than 90 web documents, Arabic-language newspapers, interviews, and speeches. They are analyzed using the framework of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) to explore the source and target domains on which Arafat draws to characterize both Israelis and Palestinians. The metaphorical constructs are analyzed in three stages: first, they are associated with source domains; then, the metaphors are analyzed for how these source domains conceptualize Israelis and Palestinians, and finally, the source domains that merit particular attention are identified. The findings show that Arafat particularly draws on nature metaphors as well as biblical and historical metaphors related to Jewish suffering and ultimate triumph over adversity to convey the message that the Palestinian people will ultimately be victorious against the Israeli occupation.