Editing Yasser Arafat (section)

==Headquarters in Tunisia==
Arafat and Fatah's center for operations was based in Tunis, the capital of [[Tunisia]], until 1993. In 1985 Arafat narrowly survived an Israeli assassination attempt when [[Israeli Air Force]] [[F-15E Strike Eagle|F-15s]] bombed his Tunis headquarters as part of [[Operation Wooden Leg]], leaving 73 people dead; Arafat had gone out jogging that morning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1984-1988/92%20Press%20Conference%20Following%20Israel%20Air%20Force%20Att|title=92 Press Conference Following Israel Air Force Attack on PLO base in Tunis|publisher=Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs|date=1 November 1985|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311051911/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1984-1988/92%20Press%20Conference%20Following%20Israel%20Air%20Force%20Att|archive-date=11 March 2007|access-date=25 August 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year Arafat had his operational headquarters in [[Baghdad]] for some time.<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 289, 5 December 1986; Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]]; [[Jim Muir]] pp.10–11; No 291, 9 January 1987; Jim Muir pp.3–4</ref>

===First Intifada===
During the 1980s, Arafat received financial assistance from Libya, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which allowed him to reconstruct the badly damaged PLO. This was particularly useful during the [[First Intifada]] in December 1987, which began as an uprising of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The word ''Intifada'' in Arabic is literally translated as "tremor"; however, it is generally defined as an uprising or revolt.<ref name="Intifada">{{harvnb|Aburish|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/arafatfromdefend0001abur/page/201 201–228]}}</ref>

The first stage of the Intifada began following an incident at the [[Erez Crossing|Erez checkpoint]] where four Palestinian residents of the [[Jabalya refugee camp]] were killed in a traffic accident involving an Israeli driver. Rumors spread that the deaths were a deliberate act of revenge for an Israeli shopper who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian in Gaza four days earlier. Mass rioting broke out, and within weeks, partly upon consistent requests by Abu Jihad, Arafat attempted to direct the uprising, which lasted until 1992–93. Abu Jihad had previously been assigned the responsibility of the Palestinian territories within the PLO command and, according to biographer [[Said Aburish]], had "impressive knowledge of local conditions" in the [[Israeli-occupied territories]]. On 16 April 1988, as the Intifada was raging, Abu Jihad was [[Tunis Raid|assassinated in his Tunis household]] by an Israeli hit squad. Arafat had considered Abu Jihad as a PLO counterweight to local Palestinian leadership in the territories, and led a funeral procession for him in [[Damascus]].<ref name="Intifada"/>

The most common tactic used by Palestinians during the Intifada was throwing stones, [[molotov cocktails]], and [[burning tires]].<ref>{{citation |title=An Analysis of the Strategies and Tactics of the Palestinians and Israelis |author=Ron, Jonathan |publisher=[[Tufts University]]}}</ref> The local leadership in some West Bank towns commenced non-violent protests against Israeli occupation by engaging in [[Beit Sahour#Tax resistance|tax resistance]] and other boycotts. Israel responded by confiscating large sums of money in house-to-house raids.<ref name="Intifada"/><ref>{{citation |title=A Matter of Justice: Tax Resistance in Beit Sahour-Nonviolent Sanctions |publisher=Albert Einstein Institution |date=Spring–Summer 1992}}</ref> As the Intifada came to a close, new armed Palestinian groups—in particular [[Hamas]] and the [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] (PIJ)—began targeting Israeli civilians with the new tactic of [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|suicide bombing]]s, and internal fighting amongst the Palestinians increased dramatically.<ref name="Intifada"/>

===Change in direction===

In August 1970, Arafat declared: "Our basic aim is to liberate the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. We are not concerned with what took place in June 1967 or in eliminating the consequences of the June war. The Palestinian revolution's basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it."<ref>{{cite book|last=Gilbert|first=Martin|author-link=Martin Gilbert|title=Israel: a history|publisher=Doubleday|year=1998|isbn=978-0-385-40401-3|page=418}}</ref> However, in early 1976, at a meeting with US Senator [[Adlai Stevenson III]], Arafat suggested that if Israel withdrew a "few kilometers" from parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and transferred responsibility to the UN, Arafat could give "something to show his people before he could acknowledge Israel's right to exist".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://al-shabaka.org/sites/default/files/Khalil_PolicyBrief_MurphyToKissinger24Feb1976.pdf|title=Margaret P. Grafeld Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review|date=4 May 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908061115/http://al-shabaka.org/sites/default/files/Khalil_PolicyBrief_MurphyToKissinger24Feb1976.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2013}}</ref>

On 15 November 1988, the PLO proclaimed the independent [[History of the State of Palestine|State of Palestine]]. Though he had frequently been accused of and associated with terrorism,<ref>{{cite book|title=20:21 Vision: Twentieth-Century Lessons for the Twenty-First Century|first=Bill|last=Emmott|author-link=Bill Emmott|publisher=Macmillan|year=2004|page=151}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Witnessing for Peace|first1=Munib|last1=Younan|author-link1=Munib Younan|first2=Frederick M.|last2=Strickert|publisher=[[Fortress Press]]|year=2003|page=111}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The West's last chance|first=Tony|last=Blankley|author-link=Tony Blankley|publisher=[[Regnery Publishing]]|year=2005|page=77}}</ref> in speeches on 13 and 14 December Arafat repudiated 'terrorism in all its forms, including [[state terrorism]]'. He accepted [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|UN Security Council Resolution 242]] and Israel's right "to exist in peace and security" and<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mondediplo.com/focus/mideast/arafat88-en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119053745/http://mondediplo.com/focus/mideast/arafat88-en|archive-date=19 January 2012|title=Yasser Arafat, Speech at UN General Assembly Geneva, General Assembly 13 December 1988|work=[[Le Monde diplomatique]]|date=13 December 1988|access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref> Arafat's statements were greeted with approval by the US administration, which had long insisted on these statements as a necessary starting point for official discussions between the US and the PLO. These remarks from Arafat indicated a shift away from one of the PLO's primary aims—the destruction of Israel (as entailed in the [[Palestinian National Covenant]])–and toward the establishment of two separate entities: an Israeli state within the 1949 armistice lines, and an Arab state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On 2 April 1989, Arafat was elected by the Central Council of the Palestine National Council, the governing body of the PLO, to be the president of the proclaimed State of Palestine.<ref name="Intifada"/>

Prior to the [[Gulf War]] in 1990–91, when the Intifada's intensity began to wear down, Arafat supported [[Saddam Hussein]]'s invasion of [[Kuwait]] and opposed the US-led coalition attack on Iraq. He made this decision without the consent of other leading members of Fatah and the PLO. Arafat's top aide Abu Iyad vowed to stay neutral and opposed an alliance with Saddam; on 17 January 1991, Abu Iyad was assassinated by the [[Abu Nidal|Abu Nidal Organization]]. Arafat's decision also severed relations with Egypt and many of the oil-producing Arab states that supported the US-led coalition. Many in the US also used Arafat's position as a reason to disregard his claims to being a partner for peace. After the end of hostilities, many Arab states that backed the coalition cut off funds to the PLO and began providing financial support for the organization's rival Hamas and other Islamist groups.<ref name="Intifada"/> Arafat narrowly escaped death again on 7 April 1992, when an [[Air Bissau]] aircraft he was a passenger on crash-landed in the [[Libyan Desert]] during a sandstorm. Two pilots and an engineer were killed; Arafat was bruised and shaken.<ref>{{cite news|title=Timeline: Yasser Arafat|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136880,00.html|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[Fox News]]|date=8 February 2005|access-date=27 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804051541/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136880,00.html|archive-date=4 August 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>