Yasser Arafat,
Palestinian Authority Chairman
Real Name - Muhammad 'Abd ar-Ra'uf [Yasir] 'Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husayni
Born - Cairo, 1929, the sixth of seven children.
Married.
Education - Studied engineering at the University of Cairo, graduating in 1951.
Activities
While a student, Arafat procured weapons to be smuggled into Israel for the Arab cause. In 1959 he co-founded Fatah, a Palestinian liberation movement. Fatah became part of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), formed in 1964. Originally operating out of Jordan, the PLO moved its base of operations to Lebanon in 1971.
Arafat was indirectly linked to airline hijackings and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. In 1974 he was allowed to address the United Nations, which granted observer status to the PLO. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in and siege and bombardment of Beirut, Arafat and his PLO organization fled to Tunisia.
Arafat proclaimed an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1988, declaring the PLO had renounced terrorism. By the end of the year 70 countries recognized the PLO.
In 1993, Arafat signed the Oslo peace accords with Yitzhak Rabin at a White House ceremony. The following year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
In 1996 Arafat was elected as President of the Palestinian National Authority following a landslide victory.