Yasser was the only son in his family. Because of this he was spoilt by his parents and loved dearly by his two sisters. His father was very old, over 90, and proud of his son.

He was always one of the best students at school but he wanted to do more than just study, an attitude that carried on later in his life. He used to make fun of people who only spent their time studying, saying "This is stupid!. People must socialise and think about the world. This is what really matters."

He was in sixth grade when the Intifada started. He hated the occupation, and his early experiences of struggle at this time remained with him. He was always pushing the limits, wanting to confront the occupation with his fists and stones despite his parents attempts to stop his political activity, worried that they would lose their only son. This, however, only drove him to take further risks.

His elder sister, I'tidal, was studying at Birzeit Univerity when he was at school. Every weekend he used to wait for her to come back home to question her about university life. He always carried photos of his two sisters, whom he was very proud of. He dreamed of studying at Birzeit - a centre of intellectual and political resistance against the occupation - and after scoring very high marks in his last year of school, he fulfilled his dream.

In 1994, he entered Birzeit University to study engineering. University life was everything he imagined - a challenging environment, a lively social life, and political activity. He couldn't keep up his studies in engineering because of his other interests and so switched to commerce. He soon found himself surrounded by a large group of friends and matured into a leader of political life on campus. Many times he tried to change his lifestyle and pay more attention to his personal life and studies, but he was always unsuccessful. He was on a quest for knowledge that drove him to explore things.

Above: Yasser on a trip with Birzeit
student friends to Haifa and Akka

Despite his social concerns he always made plenty of time for fun. His friends remember his adventures at night. "We always had a good time. Playing cards, stealing huge melons from shops or his favourite trick - throwing stones at garbage cans to wake up the neighbours! He loved telling tales and exaggerating the truth. We could never tell whether he was joking with us or not."

His friends also recall his obsession with Lebanon. "He loved the country. He used to pretend he knew the names of streets and shops in Beirut. The funny thing is he was always right, even though he had never been there. He loved Lebanese music and had a transistor radio permanently fixed on a Lebanese station. He especially loved songs by George Wasuf."

He had many girlfriends but was always looking for someone special to form a close relationship with. Whenever he tried to get close to a woman he was unsuccessful or she would reject him. However, he never neglected his other friendships.

On several occasions during clashes between students and Israeli soldiers, his friends always warned him not to be so risky. Everyone worried that he would one day be killed.

On the Wednesday 25 September 1996, the first day of the clashes, he was acting in his usual manner, running up close to the soldiers and throwing stones. This time, however, the fears of his friends proved true. One soldier took aim and shot him from a distance of 20m. Live ammunition lodged in his heart and he was rushed to the hospital where they operated on him in a corridor in an attempt to save his life. He was placed in intensive care. He was the first person shot and the last to die, four months later in a Jordanian hospital on the 6th February 1997.

"Knowledge is life," Yasser used to say, "No one can imagine life without a search for knowledge."