1. For half a century, this outstanding Palestinian leader not only led the Palestinians in the arduous armed struggle against the Israeli occupation, but also opened the peace process between Palestine and Israel with extraordinary courage.
Arafat had always advocated fighting for the national rights of Palestine through armed struggle. By the mid-to-late 1980s, as the international situation continued to change, Arafat's attitude towards resolving the Palestinian issue gradually became more Be gentle and pragmatic.
In November 1988, the Palestinian National Council, the highest authority of the PLO, issued the Declaration of Independence in Algeria, declaring the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. It also expressed its acceptance of United Nations Resolution 181, implicitly , indirectly recognizing the existence of Israel.
In October 1991, the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference established the basic principle of "land for peace", and the PLO led by Arafat subsequently made a historic decision: to achieve peace between Palestine and Israel through negotiations. .
In January 1993, the PLO and Israel began to have separate and direct contacts. They successively conducted 14 rounds of secret negotiations in Oslo, the capital of Norway, and finally reached a framework aimed at achieving permanent peace. protocol.
On September 9, 1993, Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Rabin exchanged letters. Palestine announced its recognition of the state of Israel, and Israel announced its recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
On September 13, 1993, Palestine and Israel formally signed the Declaration of Principles of Palestinian Autonomy on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, allowing the Palestinians to exercise self-government in the Gaza-Jericho area. Arafat and Rabin achieved a historic handshake, opening a new page in the Middle East peace process.
2. Peace is Arafat’s lifelong pursuit. Arafat once said famously: "I came here with an olive branch and a gun of a freedom fighter. Please don't let the olive branch fall from my hands." In recognition of Arafat's contribution to peace, in September 1993, the United Nations UNESCO awarded him the Boigny Peace Prize. In 1994, Arafat, together with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, won the Nobel Peace Prize.