Yasser Arafat 

Palestine. The P.L.O. became a considerable force in the middle east

politically and military wise.  There was a complex interaction between the two main factions of the P.L.O. Yasser Arafat's Fateh (nationalist movement) and George Habash's P.F.L.P. Yasser Arafat is respected by many Palestinians for his defence of Beirut in 1982.  The other major turning point in Palestinian history was the signing of a treaty to establish peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis in 1993. The Palestinian people reluctantly followed Yasser Arafat. Other Palestinian factions like George Habash's P.F.L.P and Hamas rejected the plan outright. He won the Noble peace prize for it. He esablished the Palestinian Authority in less than 30% of West Bank and Gaza (that is less than 10% of what used to be Palestine). He established  an international recognition of the Palestinian right to a state. The  plan was meant to be finalised in 5 years but the Israelis extended it for seven years. Israel eventually offered a deal that Arafat could not present to his people.  Israel rejected all Yasser Arafat suggested solutions. The Palestinian people were still living under the Israeli occupation.

In  Sept, 28th, 2000, Israel right wing leader Ariel Sharon visited the holiest shrine to Muslims in Palestine. The intifada erupted as a result. Yasser Arafat tried to calm the situation. But the Israelis continued attacks against his institutions and Police eroded his ability to govern. Yasser Arafat is still respected by many Palestinians but many Palestinians consider him as a failure because of his inability to lead the Palestinian people in an armed struggle against the Israelis when Israel waged its war.

Abdullah Azzam, (1941-1989)

Islamic leader; a strong beleiver in Muslim unity and the Islamic ideology. He was born in a village in the Jenin district. He was educated in Islamic law. He joined the P.L.O in the 1960's. He carried several attacks against Israel. He decided to quit the P.L.O for two reasons; the secular nature of the P.L.O. The second reason being that "the P.L.O. fighters

George Habash, (1925-living in Damascus)

Al-Hakeem (the "doctor"); leftist Pan Arabist Ideologist. This Christian Palestinian physician was born in Lydda; expelled from there in 1948. He completed his studies in Medicine in Beirut. His ideology was based on Arab unity and communism. This mixture of  Arab nationalism and Socialism was spread and encouraged by George Habash and his followers. His acheivement was the rise of his ideology in Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen. These countries provided his movement with the support he needed to carry out attacks against Israel. He grew sick of American support to Israel. His movement the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine P.F.L.P. masterminded several attacks against American interests. Blowing of oil pipelines, paralysing shipping routes by crude sea mines. Most infamous was his group's hijacking of four American Airliners in 1970 led by Wade'a Hadad and Leila Khaled. Passengers were released without harming them and the planes were later blown up.His group established relationships with revolutionaries across the world, South and Central America, Ireland, Vietenam and Japan. Possibly the greatest acheivement of his movement was the provision of university education  for thousands of Palestinians in communist and Arab countries. But the fall of communism resulted in the demise of his movement and it is currently sidelined. He attacked Yasser Arafat when he offered the Oslo agreement to the Palestinian Council in 1992. Yasser Arafat was saying that is what is now possible. Habash reacted in an eloquent speech which he stated "the revolution did not  start to acheive what is possible. It was started to defeat the impossible". Nevertheless, Yasser Arafat won the support from the council for his land for peace plan. George Habash later on resigned from his position in the P.F.L.P. He is heading a research centre studying the successes and failures of the Palestinian movement. He was followed by the charasmatic Abu Ali Mustafa. Abu Ali was assassinated in the summer of 2001. P.F.L.P reacted by assassinating an Israeli cabinet minister.

Fatehi al-Shaqaqi

Al-Husseini family, the uncrowned royal family of Palestine.

The story of this aristocrat Palestinian family spans through three generations. Mosa Qasem Al-Hussieni was a senior official in the Ottoman empire. He had pro-independence inclinations from the Turks. When the Turks fled Palestine in 1917, the British occupied Palestine and commenced with allowing mass immigration of Jews into the country. He was shot by the British during an anti-immegration demonstration in Jerusalem in 1933. His son Abdul-Qader formed the Holy Jihad army. It is worth mentioning that the flag they carried was the current Palestinian flag with a crescent and a cross painted on it. This was to symbolise the unity of Muslim and Christian Palestinians against the influx of the Jews. The British and the Jewish terrorist groups suffered alot on the hands of his army. But the battle was lost in 1948 when Arab states refused to send arms to the Holy Jihad army insisting that the Arab armies will do the war. Abdul-Qader died fighting to the end defending East Jerusalem in 1948. Prior to the entry of the Arab armies the Holy Jihad army was in control of 60-70% of Palestine. Because of treason by Westren supported Arab governments only 22% of Palestine remained Palestinian. This brings the story Abdul-Qader's son Faisel. Faisel inherited even a worse position than his father. All Palestine is occupied by Israel. He was imprisoned for years by the Israelis because of his membership of Palestine Liberation Organization. His activities of maintaining the Arab identity of Jerusalem angered many Israelis. His work was carried out from the Orient House in East Jerusalem. During his imprisonment he learned Hebrew and grew more understanding of his enemies. The first intifada "uprising" erupted in 1987 against the Israeli occupation. He was one of the prominent leaders in that great struggle. Israel started negotiating with him and later directly with the P.L.O. The negotiations resulted in the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 10% of Palestine. Faisel died of a heart attack during a visit to the Arab state of Kuwait in the spring of 2001. He came to Kuwait to ask for Arab unity and support in the struggle to free Arab Jerusalem. He received a horrible reception because of accusations of Palestinian support of Iraq. Many considered his death in Kuwait highly symbolic to the division among Arabs.

Yahea Ayash, 

Naji al-Ali, 

Cartoonist was born in 1938 in Skajara village (Galilee) His family were expelled by Israeli forces in 1948. He grew up in Ein al-Hilwe refugee camp in Lebanon; published first drawings in Lebanese newspapers in the early 1970s. He worked in Kuwait. He was deported to Lebanon and later on to England, Britain. He was famous for his cartoons showing Palestine under occupation and his figure Hanzala. He criticised corruption in several Arab governments and within the P.L.O. His portrayal of Israeli savagery against the Palestinians and the lebanese in Lebanon won him several prizes and made him the most prominent cartoonist in the Arab region.  He died on August 29 following being shot in the head in London. The assailants are unknown but possibly Israelis. The Character "Hanzala" i.e.bitterness as in the bitter truth. Hanzala is a small poor boy with his hands behind his back watching in silence the scene unfolding in front of him. Whether it is the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, the corruption of Arab governments, the hypocrisy of the world. The silence of his character represented the Arab masses and indirect message to them to rise up to the challenge. The murder of Naji al-Ali was meant to strike terror in the hearts of people who opposed Israel. Naji al-Ali always said that "the red line for Yasser Arafat and the P.L.O. is recognising Israel's and making peace with the people who stole our country and made us refugees. You can not make peace with a theif." Several countries accused each others of being responsible for the murder. The truth is that all corrupt and savage regimes in the middle east were delighted with his murder.

Some of Naji al-Ali Cartoons. here

Ghassan Kanafani, 

Sa'ed Abu Awad (1977-2002),

the Qassam rocket engineer. He was born in Tulkarem in 1977. He was an active participant in the first intifada. His manufacturing of the Qassam-2 rocket made the stuggle enter a new phase. Despite the limited abilities of the rocket it nevertheless pointed to the more and more self reliance of the Palestinian people in their struggle against Israel. The Qassam rocket range is 10-12 km highly inaccurate but able to hit all major Israeli cities. He was killed during the invasion of Jenin.He resisted courageously.  It is said that he chosed to die fighting so he won't be captured and forced to speak about the other engineers involved in the developing of the Qassam rocket.

Abu Nidal (Sabri al-Bana)

Little is known about Abu Nidal himself. He comes from a wealthy family who lived in Yafa, Palestine. After the establishment of Israel, his family fled the city to live as refugees. He failed to complete his secondary school education and dropped out to work as an electrician. Abu Nidal grew up immersed with hate towards Israel and Arab countries which were mistreating Palestinian refugees. When he joined the P.L.O., he quickly risen to become the P.L.O. representative to Iraq. There he decided to work for the Iraqi regime to advance his goals. 
His movement revolutionary "Fateh" broke away from Yasser Arafat Fateh movement and considered all Palestinians who supported any other faction a legitimate target for their death squad. Revolutinary "Fateh" went on the ramapage in Arab and Westren capitals assassinating Palestinian diplomats, Jordanina officials, Iraqis opposition leaders. Also the movement assassinated several Israelis and westreners.
He was sentenced to death by President Yasser Arafat. The only death sentence ever passed by the P.L.O leader. The demise of his organization came about in the late 1980's. When hundreds of his followers deserted him. It was reported that he was suffering from a chronic disease. Abu Nidal was found dead in an apartment in the city of Baghdad, Iraq in August ,2002. Iraqi officials claim that he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head "several times". It is unclear if one of his many enemies or the Iraqis themselves were responsible for the end of Sabri al-Bana