Page 70 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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Arafat, Yasir (1929– )———43

military fatigues with a
holstered gun on his hip.
He told the assembly that
he came “bearing an olive
branch and a freedom
fighter’s gun.” Diplomats
from countries sympathetic
to the PLO gave him a
friendly reception, and by
1977 more than 100 nations
had given the PLO diplo-
matic recognition.
Arafat and the PLO spent
11 years in Lebanon, which
was home to many Pales-
tinian refugees. However, the
PLO’s presence added to the
strife among different groups
in Lebanon and helped fuel
the Lebanese civil war. The
Israeli defense minister, Gen.
Ariel Sharon, advocated
the destruction of the PLO.
When Israel invaded Leba-
non in 1982, Arafat and
many PLO guerrillas evacu-
ated Beirut under interna-
tional guarantees of safety.
Just two weeks after their
departure, a militia of Leb-
anese Christians allied with
Israel massacred hundreds of
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein receives Palestine Liberation Organization chairman unarmed Palestinian refu-
Yasir Arafat. gees in the city’s Sabra and
Source: © Corbis. Shatila refugee camps. Many
Palestinians have never for-
given Arafat for evacuating
PLO forces were defeated in the 10 days of fighting and leaving those in the camps unprotected.
now called Black September. Arafat reportedly fled In 1983, senior Fatah officials broke with Arafat.
Amman disguised as an Arab woman, and he and the With Syrian backing, they attacked Arafat and his
PLO fighters were expelled from Jordan and settled in fighters in Tripoli, Lebanon. Arafat and his troops were
Lebanon. evacuated and PLO forces were dispersed throughout
After this setback, the remnants of the PLO staged Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria.
further terror attacks to bring international attention to Arafat moved PLO headquarters to Tunis, Tunisia. In
the situation of Palestinians. During the 1972 Olympics 1985, members of Force 17, Arafat’s personal security
in Munich, Germany, 11 Israeli team members were squad, killed three Israelis on a hijacked yacht at
killed in an attack perpetrated by an extremist offshoot Larnarca, Cyprus. The PLO claimed that the men were
of Al Fatah calling itself Black September. members of Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence ser-
In November 1974, Arafat addressed the United vice. Israel responded by bombing PLO headquarters;
Nations General Assembly in New York dressed in 65 people were killed, but Arafat was unharmed.