Yasser Arafat was born
in Jerusalem in 1929. While studying at Cairo University (1952-56)
he became leader of the Palestinian Students' Union. After leaving
university Arafat worked as an engineer in Kuwait.
In 1956 Arafat helped to
establish the Al Fatah terrorist group. He also contributed to the
magazine Filastinuna (Our Palestine).
In May 1964 Al Fatah and
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine merged to form the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The PLO used terrorist tactics included murder, hijacking and bombing.
By 1969 Arafat had emerged as the leader of the PLO.
On 5th September, 1972,
Palestinian guerrillas attacked the quarters of the Israeli team at
the Munich Olympics. Two athletes were killed and another nine were
taken hostage. An attempted rescue bid at an airport the nine hostages,
five terrorists and two Germans were killed.
A meeting of Arab states
at Rabat in October 1974 it was agreed that the PLO should take responsibility
for all Palestinians.
On 22nd March 1976 PLO
representatives in New York were allowed
to take part in the United Nations debate on
conditions in the Israeli-occupied west bank of the Jordan.
In the 1980s the PLO split
into several different factions with members of the organization living
in Tunisia, the Yemen, Syria and Jordan. Arafat remained leader and
in 1985 agreed to recognize the state of Israel
if Palestine was given back land that had been seized since 1948.
In 1993 Arafat negotiated
a peace agreement with Yitzhak Rabin and
Shimon Peres. This involved Israelis withdrawing
from Jericho and the Gaza Strip.
As a result the three men shared the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1994.
In 1995
Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian National Council with
88 per cent of the vote.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
