Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the first president of Palestine, was elected in the country's first elections on January 20, 1996, and took office a day later, on January 21.
Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the first president of Palestine, was elected in the country's first elections on January 20, 1996, and took office a day later, on January 21. Arafat fought fierce against Israel, which invaded his country within the PLO, which he founded in 1958. Arafat, who did not recognize the existence of Israel until 1988, adopted the resolution 242 of the United Nations Security Council on that date and thus a two-state solution came to the agenda. Arafat announced this decision when Arafat took the stand at the UN General Assembly in 1988 and announced that the PLO recognized and accepted Israel's right to exist. This statement made Arafat and the PLO more important in the eyes of the United States. Resolution 242 stipulated "Israel's withdrawal from all territories occupied in the last war" and "respect for the right of all states in the region to exist within secure and recognized borders." In 1989, the Palestinian Central Council declared Arafat the president of the Palestinian state. In 1990, Palestinian negotiators began peace talks in Madrid. While the talks continued with the mediation of America and Russia, Arafat was also supporting the secret peace talks in Norway. The 1993 Oslo Agreement is a product of this process.
