Editing Yasser Arafat (section)

==Headquarters in Lebanon==

===Official recognition===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-K1102-032, Berlin, Brandenburger Tor, Yasser Arafat.jpg|thumb|Yasser Arafat visits East Germany in 1971; background: [[Brandenburg Gate]]]]
[[File:Bhim Singh and Yasser Arafat in Syria.jpg|thumb|Yasser Arafat with [[Bhim Singh (politician)|Bhim Singh]], founder of [[Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party]], in the 1970s]]
Because of Lebanon's weak central government, the PLO was able to operate virtually as an independent state.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Ettiene Sakr (Abu-Arz)|last=Nisan|first=Mordechi|location=London, Portland, Oregon|publisher=Frank Cass|isbn=0-7146-5392-6|year=2003|page=20}}</ref> During this time in the 1970s, numerous [[Left-wing politics|leftist]] PLO groups took up arms against Israel, carrying out attacks against civilians as well as military targets within Israel and outside of it.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Helen Chapin |editor-last=Metz |editor-link=Helen Chapin Metz |title=Israel: A Country Study |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/israel/33.htm |year=1988 |publisher=GPO for the Library of Congress |location=Washington |chapter=Israel in Lebanon}}</ref>

Two major incidents occurred in 1972. The Fatah subgroup [[Black September Organization]] hijacked [[Sabena Flight 572]] en route to [[Vienna]] and forced it to land at the [[Ben Gurion International Airport]] in Israel.<ref name="PLO terrorist attacks">{{harvnb|Aburish|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/arafatfromdefend0001abur/page/122 122–125]}}</ref> The PFLP and the [[Japanese Red Army]] carried out a [[Lod Airport massacre|shooting rampage at the same airport]], killing twenty-four civilians.<ref name="PLO terrorist attacks"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Sontag|first=Deborah|title=2 Who Share a Past Are Rivals for Israel's Future|work=The New York Times|pages=Section A, Page 3, Column 1|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/20/world/2-who-share-a-past-are-rivals-for-israel-s-future.html|date=20 April 1999}}</ref> Israel later claimed that the assassination of PFLP spokesman [[Ghassan Kanafani]] was a response to the PFLP's involvement in masterminding the latter attack. Two days later, various PLO factions retaliated by bombing a bus station, killing eleven civilians.<ref name="PLO terrorist attacks"/>

At the [[1972 Summer Olympics|Munich Olympic Games]], Black September kidnapped and killed eleven Israeli athletes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Klein|first=Aaron|author-link=Aaron Klein|title=Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response|url=https://archive.org/details/strikingback197200klei|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=978-1-920769-80-2}}</ref> A number of sources, including [[Abu Daoud|Mohammed Oudeh]] (''Abu Daoud''), one of the masterminds of the [[Munich massacre]], and [[Benny Morris]], a prominent Israeli historian, have stated that Black September was an armed branch of Fatah used for paramilitary operations. According to Abu Daoud's 1999 book, "Arafat was briefed on plans for the Munich hostage-taking."<ref>{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Berger|title=Munich Massacre Remembered|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/munich-massacre-remembered/|publisher=CBS News|date=5 September 2002|access-date=17 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021012090125/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/05/world/main520865.shtml|archive-date=12 October 2002|url-status=live}}</ref> The killings were internationally condemned. In 1973–74, Arafat closed Black September down, ordering the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Benny|author-link=Benny Morris|title=Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–2001|year=2001|publisher=Vintage Books|page=[https://archive.org/details/righteousvictims00morr_0/page/383 383]|isbn=978-0-679-74475-7|url=https://archive.org/details/righteousvictims00morr_0/page/383}}</ref>

In 1974, the PNC approved the [[PLO's Ten Point Program|Ten Point Program]] (drawn up by Arafat and his advisers), and proposed a compromise with the Israelis. It called for a Palestinian national authority over every part of "liberated" Palestinian territory,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/12354;jsessionid=704B7796CCBC72ACC579828A2197F8B9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128140355/http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/12354%3Bjsessionid%3D704B7796CCBC72ACC579828A2197F8B9 |archive-date=28 January 2012 |title=Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council |publisher=Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations |date=8 June 1974 |access-date=5 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which refers to areas captured by Arab forces in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War (present-day West Bank, [[East Jerusalem]] and Gaza Strip). This caused discontent among several of the PLO factions; the PFLP, DFLP and other parties formed a breakaway organization, the [[Rejectionist Front]].<ref name="Recognition">{{harvnb|Aburish|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/arafatfromdefend0001abur/page/140 140–142]}}</ref>

Israel and the US have alleged also that Arafat was involved in the [[1973 Khartoum diplomatic assassinations]], in which five diplomats and five others were killed. A 1973 [[United States Department of State]] document, declassified in 2006, concluded "The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/67584.pdf|title=The Seizure of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum|publisher=U.S. Department of State|date=4 May 2006|access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=7867&dt=2472&dl=1345 |title=William Rogers to the Embassy at Fort Lamy |date=13 March 1973 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113225326/https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=7867&dt=2472&dl=1345 |archive-date=13 November 2011 |access-date=18 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Arafat denied any involvement in the operation and insisted it was carried out independently by the Black September Organization. Israel claimed that Arafat was in ultimate control over these organizations and therefore had not abandoned terrorism.<ref name=Rejectionists>{{harvnb|Aburish|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/arafatfromdefend0001abur/page/252 252–261]}}</ref>

In addition, some circles within the US State Department viewed Arafat as an able diplomat and negotiator who could get support from many Arab governments at once. An example of that, we find in March 1973 that Arafat tried to arrange for a meeting between the President of Iraq and the Emir of Kuwait in order to resolve their disputes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=19031&dt=2472&dl=1345 |title='Arafat's "Mediation" Between Iraq and Kuwait |publisher=US Embassy in Beirut |date=4 April 1973 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113223636/https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=19031&dt=2472&dl=1345 |archive-date=13 November 2011 |access-date=18 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Also in 1974, the PLO was declared the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and admitted to full membership of the Arab League at the [[1974 Arab League summit|Rabat Summit]].<ref name="Recognition"/> Arafat became the first representative of a non-governmental organization to address a [[plenary session]] of the [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]]. In his United Nations address, Arafat condemned Zionism, but said:

{{cquote|Today I have come bearing an olive branch in one hand and a freedom fighter's rifle in another. Do not let the green branch fall from my hand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/A238EC7A3E13EED18525624A007697EC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208084101/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/A238EC7A3E13EED18525624A007697EC |archive-date=8 February 2012 |title=PLENARY MEETING Wednesday, 13 November 1974 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=5 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

He wore a [[holster]] throughout his speech, although it did not contain a gun.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19771217&id=tpcuAAAAIBAJ&pg=2722,497603|title=Five Minutes to Midnight|work=The Gazette (Montreal)|date=17 December 1977|access-date=5 July 2012|author=Nichols, Mark}} "All Yasser Arafat had in his holster at the UN was a pair of dark glasses."</ref><ref name="'70s 319">{{cite book|title=How We Got Here: The '70s|last=Frum|first=David|author-link=David Frum|year=2000|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York, New York|isbn=978-0-465-04195-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/319 319–320]|url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/319}}</ref> His speech increased international sympathy for the Palestinian cause.<ref name="Recognition"/>

Following recognition, Arafat established relationships with a variety of world leaders, including [[Saddam Hussein]] and [[Idi Amin]]. Arafat was Amin's best man at his wedding in [[Uganda]] in 1975.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/04/ukcrime.sandralaville|title=Big Daddy's boy: Idi Amin's son jailed in Britain over Somali gang murder|first1=Sandra|last1=Laville|newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 August 2007 |access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2003/04/14/biographical-focus-idi-amin/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619152021/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2003/04/14/biographical-focus-idi-amin/|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 June 2006|title=Biographical Focus: Idi Amin|date=14 April 2003}}</ref>

===Fatah involvement in Lebanese Civil War===
{{See also|Lebanese Civil War|Battle of Tripoli (1983)}}
[[File:Arafat in Lebanon.jpg|thumb|upright|Arafat in a Palestinian refugee camp in [[Southern Lebanon]], 1978]]

Although hesitant at first to take sides in the conflict, Arafat and Fatah played an important role in the [[Lebanese Civil War]]. Succumbing to pressure from PLO sub-groups such as the PFLP, DFLP and the [[Palestine Liberation Front]] (PLF), Arafat aligned the PLO with the Communist and [[Nasserism|Nasserist]] [[Lebanese National Movement]] (LNM). The LNM was led by [[Kamal Jumblatt]], who had a friendly relationship with Arafat and other PLO leaders. Although originally aligned with Fatah, [[List of Presidents of Syria|Syrian President]] [[Hafez al-Assad]] feared a loss of influence in Lebanon and switched sides. He sent his army, along with the Syrian-backed Palestinian factions of [[as-Sa'iqa]] and the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command]] (PFLP-GC) led by [[Ahmad Jibril]] to fight alongside right-wing Christian forces against the PLO and the LNM. The primary components of the Christian front were the [[Kataeb Party|Phalangists]] loyal to [[Bachir Gemayel]] and the [[Tigers Militia (Lebanon)|Tigers Militia]] led by [[Dany Chamoun]], a son of former President [[Camille Chamoun]].<ref name="Lebanese Civil War">{{harvnb|Aburish|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/arafatfromdefend0001abur/page/150 150–175]}}</ref>

In February 1975, a pro-Palestinian Lebanese MP, [[Maarouf Saad]], was shot and killed, reportedly by the [[Lebanese Army]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Bassil A. |last=Mardelli |title=Middle East Perspectives: From Lebanon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JN24YPHPibQC&q=Maaruf+Saad |publisher=iUniverse |year=2012 |isbn=9781475906721 |page=260}}</ref> His death from his wounds, the following month, and the [[Bus massacre|massacre in April]] of 27 Palestinians and Lebanese travelling on a bus from [[Shatila refugee camp|Sabra and Shatila]] to the Tel al-Zaatar refugee camp by Phalangist forces precipitated the Lebanese Civil War.<ref name="Chomsky">{{cite book|title=''The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians''|first=Noam |last=Chomsky|year=1999|publisher=[[South End Press]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/fatefultriangleu0000chom_j7d0/page/184 184]|isbn=978-0-89608-601-2|author-link=Noam Chomsky|url=https://archive.org/details/fatefultriangleu0000chom_j7d0}}</ref> Arafat was reluctant to respond with force, but many other Fatah and PLO members felt otherwise.<ref name="Sayigh"/> For example, the DFLP carried out several attacks against the [[Lebanese Army]]. In 1976, an alliance of Christian militias with the backing of the Lebanese and [[Syrian Army|Syrian]] armies besieged Tel al-Zaatar camp in east [[Beirut]].<ref name="LAA">{{cite web|url=http://www.laa.org/tours/thewar.htm |title=The Civil War... 1975, Regional Intervention |publisher=The Lebanese-American Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980205063801/http://www.laa.org/tours/thewar.htm |archive-date=5 February 1998}}</ref><ref name="Harris">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=William|title=Faces of Lebanon. Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions|url=https://archive.org/details/facesoflebanonse0000harr/page/162|url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|pages=[https://archive.org/details/facesoflebanonse0000harr/page/162 162–165]|isbn=978-1-55876-115-5}}</ref> The PLO and LNM retaliated by attacking the town of [[Damour massacre|Damour]], a Phalangist stronghold where they massacred 684 people and wounded many more.<ref name="LAA"/><ref name = "Nisan, 2003">{{harvnb|Nisan|2003}}</ref> The [[Tel al-Zaatar massacre|Tel al-Zaatar camp fell]] to the Christians after a six-month siege in which thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed.<ref>{{cite book |title=Faces of Lebanon. Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions |pages=162–165 |first=William |last=Harris |quote=Perhaps 3,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, died in the siege and its aftermath.}}<br/>This source states that 2,000 were killed: {{Cite web
|title=Lebanese war chronology 1975–1990|url=https://www.111101.net/facts/history/chronology/index.html?https://www.111101.net/facts/history/chronology/phase.php?year=1976|access-date=12 February 2023|website=111101.net}}</ref> Arafat and Abu Jihad blamed themselves for not successfully organizing a rescue effort.<ref name="Lebanese Civil War"/>

[[File:Arafat Darwish Habash.jpg|thumb|Arafat with Palestinian poet [[Mahmoud Darwish]] (center) and PFLP leader [[George Habash]] (right) in [[Syria]], 1980]]

PLO cross-border raids against Israel grew during the late 1970s. One of the most severe—known as the [[Coastal Road massacre]]—occurred on 11 March 1978. A force of nearly a dozen Fatah fighters landed their boats near a major coastal road connecting the city of [[Haifa]] with [[Tel Aviv-Yafo]]. There they hijacked a bus and sprayed gunfire inside and at passing vehicles, killing thirty-seven civilians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1977-1979/133%20Statement%20to%20the%20press%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Begin|title=133 Statement to the press by Prime Minister Begin on the massacre of Israelis on the Haifa – Tel Aviv Road|date=12 March 1978|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040815085643/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1977-1979/133%20Statement%20to%20the%20press%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Begin|archive-date=15 August 2004|access-date=9 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> In response, the IDF launched [[1978 South Lebanon conflict|Operation Litani]] three days later, with the goal of taking control of Southern Lebanon up to the [[Litani River]]. The IDF achieved this goal, and Arafat withdrew PLO forces north into Beirut.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/819200.stm |title=Time Line: Lebanon: Israel Controls South |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=9 October 2007 |access-date=9 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015140706/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/819200.stm |archive-date=15 October 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Sabaghian Bazargan Arafat Sahabi.jpg|thumb|left|Arafat with [[Prime Minister of Iran|Iranian Prime Minister]] [[Mehdi Bazargan]], days after [[Iranian Revolution]]]]

After Israel withdrew from Lebanon, cross-border hostilities between PLO forces and Israel continued, though from August 1981 to May 1982, the PLO adopted an official policy of refraining from responding to provocations.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Noam Chomsky |first=Noam |last=Chomsky |title=Fatal Triangle |date=1999 |page=346}}</ref> On 6 June 1982, Israel launched [[1982 Lebanon War|an invasion of Lebanon]] to expel the PLO from southern Lebanon. [[Siege of Beirut|Beirut was soon besieged]] and bombarded by the IDF;<ref name="Lebanese Civil War"/> Arafat declared the city to be the "[[Hanoi]] and [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] of the Israeli army."<ref name="Lebanese Civil War"/> The Civil War's first phase ended and Arafat—who was commanding Fatah forces at Tel al-Zaatar—narrowly escaped with assistance from Saudi and Kuwaiti diplomats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liberty05.com/civilwar/civil1.html|title=The Battle of Tel al-Zaatar|website=Liberty 05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509054943/http://www.liberty05.com/civilwar/civil1.html|archive-date=9 May 2006|access-date=25 August 2007|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Towards the end of the siege, the US and European governments brokered an agreement guaranteeing safe passage for Arafat and the PLO—guarded by a multinational force of eight hundred [[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]] supported by the [[United States Navy]]—to exile in [[Tunis]].<ref name="Lebanese Civil War"/>

During the war, Arafat took measures to protect the Lebanese Jewish community.<ref name="Starr2021">{{Cite web |last=Starr |first=Paul |date=24 November 2021 |title=Lebanese Jew Reached Out to Arafat to Protect Synagogue |url=https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/obituaries/342683/lebanese-jew-reached-out-to-arafat-to-protect-synagogue/ |access-date=18 October 2024 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> He ordered the PLO fighters to guard the [[Maghen Abraham Synagogue]] of Beirut and deliver food to affected Jewish families.<ref name="Starr2021" /> After Arafat left Lebanon, the synagogue's protection went in hands of [[Kataeb Party|Phalangists]].<ref name="Starr2021" />

Arafat returned to Lebanon a year after his eviction from Beirut, this time establishing himself in the northern Lebanese city of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]]. This time Arafat was expelled by a fellow Palestinian working under [[Hafez al-Assad]]. Arafat did not return to Lebanon after his second expulsion, though many Fatah fighters did.<ref name="Lebanese Civil War" />