Yasser Arafat Was a Liar - How Did He Grab Power Over Palestine and End Up Worth Billions?

"Who gave Yasser Arafat the authority to speak for Palestine?"

Yasser Arafat became one of the most recognizable political figures of the twentieth century, but how did he become the internationally accepted voice of the Palestinian people? Born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1929, Arafat rose through Palestinian student politics, helped build Fatah, and in 1969 became chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Arafat did not create the PLO. The organization had been established in Cairo in 1964 with Arab League sponsorship, and Fatah later gained control of it. By 1974, Arab governments recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, dramatically increasing Arafat's political power and international standing.

This episode follows the rise of Yasser Arafat from Cairo and Fatah to the PLO, the United Nations, the Oslo Accords, and the White House lawn. It examines the Six-Day War, the Battle of Karameh, Black September in Jordan, the PLO in Lebanon, the First Intifada, the Palestinian Authority, and the gradual transformation of Arafat from guerrilla leader into the man governments around the world treated as the representative of the Palestinians. In 1974, the Arab states recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, creating the institutional authority that eventually allowed Arafat to negotiate on their behalf.

The story leads directly to the secret Oslo negotiations of 1992 and 1993. While the public Madrid peace process and Washington negotiations were struggling, a second negotiating channel developed secretly in Norway. That channel connected Israeli representatives directly with Arafat's PLO. The resulting Oslo Accords brought mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO and created temporary Palestinian self-government, while leaving the largest questions—Palestinian statehood, permanent borders, Jerusalem, refugees, Israeli settlements and security—for later negotiations.

The familiar photographs of Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Bill Clinton on the White House lawn tell only the end of a much longer story. Arafat's rise ran from Palestinian student politics in Egypt to Fatah, from Fatah's takeover of the PLO to Arab League and United Nations recognition, and finally to Oslo and the creation of the Palestinian Authority. In 1994, Arafat, Rabin and Shimon Peres received the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet the supposedly temporary Oslo framework never produced the permanent Palestinian settlement it was intended to lead toward, and Arafat died in 2004 without an independent Palestinian state.

Who was Yasser Arafat? How did Yasser Arafat take control of the PLO? Who created the PLO? What was Fatah? Why did the Arab League recognize the PLO? How did Arafat become the recognized Palestinian leader? What happened during Black September? What were the Oslo Accords? Who negotiated Oslo? Why were the Oslo negotiations secret? What did Israel recognize in 1993? What did the PLO recognize? What happened to the Palestinian state promised through the peace process? This episode traces Yasser Arafat, Palestine, Israel, the PLO, Fatah, Egypt, Jordan, the Arab League, the United Nations, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Bill Clinton, the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the long road from armed struggle to the failed promise of a permanent peace settlement.

Music: Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows (Official Audio)

Yasser Arafat: a Hero or a Villain - YouTube

Yasser Arafat Died Of Natural Causes: French Experts

Who Was Yasser Arafat?

"You walk away from once-in-a-lifetime peace opportunities... you can't complain 25 years later."

Arafat didn't negotiate - he just kept saying no | Benny Morris | The Guardian

Yasser Arafat - Biography

Arafat - Psychopathic Killer Doing It For The Money

The Father of Modern Terrorism; The True Legacy of Yasser Arafat

Intifada Gives Cover To Arafat's Graft And Fraud – American Center for Democracy

Yasser Arafat: a Hero or a Villain

How hormones work to flip sexes:  Hormones 

Do you have a psychopath in your life?  The best way to find out is read my book.  BOOK *FREE* Download – Psychopath In Your Life4

Support is Appreciated: Support the Show – Psychopath In Your Life

Download Pods here:   TOP PODS – Psychopath In Your Life

My old discussion forum with last 10 years of victim stories, is back online.  Psychopath Victim Support Community | Forums powered by UBB.threads™

Google Maps My HOME Address:  309 E. Klug Avenue, Norfolk, NE  68701   SMART Meters & Timelines – Psychopath In Your Life

YASSER ARAFAT — THE ROAD TO OSLO 

1929 — CAIRO, EGYPT 

Yasser Arafat was born in Cairo to a relatively prosperous merchant family. His father was Palestinian; his mother came from a Jerusalem family. 

After his mother died, young Arafat spent several years with relatives in Jerusalem before returning to Cairo. Most of his education and early political development therefore occurred in Egypt, not Palestine. 

1946–1948 — ENTERS PALESTINIAN POLITICS 

As a teenager in Cairo, Arafat entered the political world surrounding Haj Amin al-Husseini and other Palestinian nationalists operating from Egypt. 

During the 1948 war, Arafat went from Egypt into the Gaza area and participated in the Palestinian war effort. 

After the Arab defeat, he returned to Cairo. 

EARLY 1950s — BUILDS HIS OWN POLITICAL BASE 

Arafat resumed engineering studies at Cairo University but became heavily involved in Palestinian student politics. 

By approximately 1952, he was leading the Palestinian student organization in Cairo. 

This is an important transition. 

Arafat was no longer simply operating around the older Palestinian leadership. He was developing his own network of Palestinian activists. 

1956–1957 — LEAVES EGYPT 

After graduating as an engineer, Arafat eventually moved to Kuwait, where a substantial Palestinian professional and business community had developed. 

There he connected with Palestinians including Khalil al-Wazir, Salah Khalaf and others who became central figures in his political movement. 

1958–1959 — FATAH EMERGES 

Arafat and his associates established Fatah. 

Its central idea was extremely important: Palestinians should conduct their own struggle rather than remain dependent upon Egypt, Jordan or other Arab governments. 

Arafat now had his own organization. 

1964 — THE PLO IS CREATED WITHOUT ARAFAT 

The Palestine Liberation Organization was established through the Arab-state system. 

Arafat did not create the PLO. 

Its first chairman was Ahmad Shuqayri. 

Fatah and the PLO were initially separate organizations. 

That distinction is crucial because Arafat would eventually take control of an institution that already existed. 

1967 — THE SIX-DAY WAR CHANGES EVERYTHING 

Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria. 

Egypt lost Gaza and Sinai. 

Jordan lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

The defeat badly damaged the prestige of the Arab governments that had claimed responsibility for confronting Israel. 

That created an opening for Fatah's argument: 

Palestinians needed to control their own struggle. 

1968 — BATTLE OF KARAMEH 

Israeli forces attacked the Jordanian town of Karameh, an important Fatah base. 

Fatah fighters and the Jordanian army resisted. 

Whatever the military balance sheet, Karameh became an enormous political victory for Fatah. Recruitment and prestige increased dramatically. 

Arafat emerged as the recognizable face of Palestinian armed resistance. 

1969 — ARAFAT TAKES CONTROL OF THE PLO 

Fatah became the dominant organization inside the PLO. 

Arafat was elected chairman of the PLO Executive Committee. 

This is the first enormous transformation: 

Arafat did not create the organization representing Palestine. His organization gained control of it. 

1970–1971 — JORDAN 

The PLO had developed enormous independent power inside Jordan. 

Conflict with King Hussein culminated in Black September. 

Jordanian forces defeated the Palestinian organizations, and the PLO leadership was eventually driven from Jordan. 

Arafat survived politically and relocated the PLO's principal operations to Lebanon. 

1974 — THE BIG POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH 

The PLO adopted its Ten-Point Program, allowing Palestinian authority to be established over territory that could be obtained rather than requiring liberation of all Palestine before Palestinian government could exist. 

That was an early major movement toward territorial compromise. 

Then something even more important happened. 

At the Rabat Arab Summit, the Arab governments recognized the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." 

Jordan therefore had to defer to the PLO regarding representation of Palestinians in negotiations over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Office of the Historian 

Because Arafat controlled the PLO, this enormously increased Arafat's authority. 

He then appeared before the United Nations. 

The transformation was underway: 

Guerrilla leader → PLO chairman → internationally recognized Palestinian representative. 

1970s — ARAFAT BEGINS TESTING DIPLOMACY 

The movement toward compromise didn't suddenly begin with Oslo. 

By 1975, Arafat was privately discussing the possibility of a Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, although the PLO still officially maintained broader long-term objectives. American diplomatic records show him describing the leadership's movement toward accepting authority over whatever Palestinian territory could first be obtained. Office of the Historian 

By 1977, American diplomatic records show Arafat actively exploring arrangements under which the PLO would accept Resolution 242 in exchange for U.S. recognition of the PLO as the Palestinian representative and participation in negotiations. Office of the Historian 

So the political shift was already occurring nearly two decades before Oslo. 

1982 — THE PLO IS DRIVEN FROM LEBANON 

Israel invaded Lebanon. 

Arafat and the PLO leadership were eventually evacuated from Beirut. 

The headquarters moved to Tunis. 

Arafat was now physically even farther from Palestine—but remained its internationally recognized PLO representative. 

1987 — FIRST INTIFADA 

Palestinians living inside the West Bank and Gaza began a major uprising against Israeli occupation. 

This presented Arafat with a political problem as well as an opportunity. 

A new generation of Palestinian leadership was emerging inside the territories, while Arafat and the senior PLO leadership were sitting in Tunis. 

Arafat needed to remain central to whatever political settlement followed. 

1988 — THE MAJOR FLIP 

This is the decisive diplomatic turn. 

The PLO accepted UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, Arafat recognized Israel's right to exist, and he renounced terrorism as part of opening dialogue with the United States. Office of the Historian 

The old objective of liberating all of Palestine had effectively given way to negotiations directed toward a Palestinian state alongside Israel. 

Arafat was now positioned not merely as revolutionary leader but as a potential negotiating partner. 

1991 — MADRID PEACE CONFERENCE 

After the Gulf War, the United States and Soviet Union sponsored the Madrid peace conference. 

But there was something very interesting about the Palestinian representation. 

The Palestinians participated through a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. 

Israel still would not formally negotiate with Arafat's PLO. 

Negotiations continued in Washington but stalled. Office of the Historian 

1992–1993 — THE SECRET CHANNEL 

While those official negotiations were struggling, another negotiating process developed secretly in Norway. 

This changed everything. 

Instead of relying upon the Palestinian representatives participating through the Madrid process, Israelis began negotiating directly with the PLO leadership surrounding Arafat. 

The official process was effectively overtaken by the secret one. The U.S. State Department's history says the Israelis became frustrated because the Palestinian delegation could not move forward without Arafat's approval and eventually negotiated directly with the PLO. Office of the Historian 

That puts Arafat's accumulated power into perspective. 

By this point, there was apparently no meaningful Palestinian agreement without him. 

1993 — OSLO 

The secret negotiations produced the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements. 

The exchange fundamentally changed Arafat's position. 

The PLO recognized Israel and renounced terrorism. 

Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. 

A Palestinian Authority would be established to govern Palestinians in portions of the West Bank and Gaza during an interim period intended to last no more than five years. 

The hardest questions—permanent borders, Jerusalem, refugees and the final political settlement—were postponed. Office of the Historian 

And suddenly the transformation was complete: 

1929 — Cairo. 

1950s — Palestinian student organizer. 

1959 — Fatah. 

1969 — takes control of the PLO. 

1974 — Arab governments recognize his PLO as the Palestinian representative. 

1974 — UN stage. 

1988 — moves decisively toward recognition and negotiation with Israel. 

1993 — secret Oslo negotiations produce mutual Israel-PLO recognition. 

Then comes the photograph everyone remembers: 

Arafat, Rabin and Clinton on the White House lawn. 

That photograph was the end of a roughly forty-year climb through Palestinian organizations and international diplomacy, not the beginning of Arafat's story. 

Biography*

Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat As Qudwa al-Hussaeini was born on 24 August 1929 in Cairo**, his father a textile merchant who was a Palestinian with some Egyptian ancestry, his mother from an old Palestinian family in Jerusalem. She died when Yasir, as he was called, was five years old, and he was sent to live with his maternal uncle in Jerusalem, the capital of the British Mandate of Palestine. He has revealed little about his childhood, but one of his earliest memories is of British soldiers breaking into his uncle's house after midnight, beating members of the family and smashing furniture.

After four years in Jerusalem, his father brought him back to Cairo, where an older sister took care of him and his siblings. Arafat never mentions his father, who was not close to his children. Arafat did not attend his father's funeral in 1952.

In Cairo, before he was seventeen Arafat was smuggling arms to Palestine to be used against the British and the Jews. At nineteen, during the war between the Jews and the Arab states, Arafat left his studies at the University of Faud I (later Cairo University) to fight against the Jews in the Gaza area. The defeat of the Arabs and the establishment of the state of Israel left him in such despair that he applied for a visa to study at the University of Texas. Recovering his spirits and retaining his dream of an independent Palestinian homeland, he returned to Faud University to major in engineering but spent most of his time as leader of the Palestinian students.

He did manage to get his degree in 1956, worked briefly in Egypt, then resettled in Kuwait, first being employed in the department of public works, next successfully running his own contracting firm. He spent all his spare time in political activities, to which he contributed most of the profits. In 1958 he and his friends founded Al-Fatah, an underground network of secret cells, which in 1959 began to publish a magazine advocating armed struggle against Israel. At the end of 1964 Arafat left Kuwait to become a full-time revolutionary, organising Fatah raids into Israel from Jordan.

It was also in 1964 that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established, under the sponsorship of the Arab League, bringing together a number of groups all working to free Palestine for the Palestinians. The Arab states favored a more conciliatory policy than Fatah's, but after their defeat by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, Fatah emerged from the underground as the most powerful and best organized of the groups making up the PLO, took over that organization in 1969 when Arafat became the chairman of the PLO executive committee. The PLO was no longer to be something of a puppet organization of the Arab states, wanting to keep the Palestinians quiet, but an independent nationalist organization, based in Jordan.

Arafat developed the PLO into a state within the state of Jordan with its own military forces. King Hussein of Jordan, disturbed by its guerrilla attacks on Israel and other violent methods, eventually expelled the PLO from his country. Arafat sought to build a similar organization in Lebanon, but this time was driven out by an Israeli military invasion. He kept the organization alive, however, by moving its headquarters to Tunis. He was a survivor himself, escaping death in an airplane crash, surviving any assassination attempts by Israeli intelligence agencies, and recovering from a serious stroke.

His life was one of constant travel, moving from country to country to promote the Palestinian cause, always keeping his movements secret, as he did any details about his private life. Even his marriage to Suha Tawil, a Palestinian half his age, was kept secret for some fifteen months. She had already begun significant humanitarian activities at home, especially for disabled children, but the prominent part she took in the public events in Oslo was a surprise for many Arafat-watchers. Since then, their daughter, Zahwa, named after Arafat's mother, has been born.

The period after the expulsion from Lebanon was a low time for Arafat and the PLO. Then the intifada (shaking) protest movement strengthened Arafat by directing world attention to the difficult plight of the Palestinians. In 1988 came a change of policy. In a speech at a special United Nations session held in Geneva, Switzerland, Arafat declared that the PLO renounced terrorism and supported "the right of all parties concerned in the Middle East conflict to live in peace and security, including the state of Palestine, Israel and other neighbors".

The prospects for a peace agreement with Israel now brightened. After a setback when the PLO supported Iraq in the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the peace process began in earnest, leading to the Oslo Accords of 1993.

This agreement included provision for the Palestinian elections which took place in early 1996, and Arafat was elected President of the Palestine Authority. Like other Arab regimes in the area, however, Arafat's governing style tended to be more dictatorial than democratic. When the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in Israel in 1996, the peace process slowed down considerably. Much depends upon the nature of the new Israeli government, which will result from the elections to be held in 1999.