| Yasser Arafat |
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| Born : August 24, 1929; Cairo, Egypt
Education : Degree in engineering , University of Fuad I (now Cairo Uni.), 1956 �Family : Wife, Suha Tawil ��� Religion : Muslim ��� Early Years : In 1946, began procuring arms for an anticipated battle for Palestinian territory ; Helped found Fatah , a guerrilla group dedicated to the liberation of Palestine , mid 1950s ; Began mounting raids in to Israel,1965 ; Elected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), 1969. Recent Years: Signed draft agreement with Israel providing a Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho 1993 Awarded Nobel Peace Prize along with Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres,1994. Office : Gaza City, The Gaza Strip BIOGRAPHY 1929, August 24 : Born in Cairo , Egypt . Place of birth is not certain, other sources state Jerusalem or Gaza . During his childhood Arafat lived in both Cairo and Jerusalem. 1947: In the wars with the Jews , Arafat fought on the side of the grand mufti of Jerusalem. 1948: Fled Palestine, after the establishment of Israel. He settled in Cairo where he started studying engineering at University of Cairo. 1952: He joined the Muslim B Brotherhood and Union of Palestinian Students, where he became president. 1956: Moved to Kuwait , where he worked as an engineer, and established his own entrepreneur company. 1957: Started Al Fatah. Al Fatah conducted several attacks into Israel. 1968: Al Fatah was linked to PLO. 1969: Elected chairman of PLO. Worked on bringing PLO from Pan-Arabism to Palestinian nationalism. 1974: Held a speech in front of the General Assembly in UN. 1982: PLO had to move from Lebanon. after Israel attacked the country . Moved the headquarters to Tunisia. 1988, Nov. 15: State of Palestine proclaimed at a meeting in Algiers, Algeria. 1989: Elected president of State of Palestine by the Central Council of the Palestine National Council. 1991: USA-led talks begin Madrid, but lead nowhere. 1993: Oslo agreement brings the peace process a giant leap forward . The content is a "land for peace" principle. 1993: Arafat recognized Israel's right to existence. 1994: Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza strip and Jericho in May . Arafat came home in July. 1996: Jan. 20 Elected president of the Palestinian Authority in public elections, with 88% of the votes. � |
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