Famous Palestinian Leaders

Palestine or State of Palestine is a partially recognized state in Middle East which gained its independence in 1988. It includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has East Jerusalem as its designated capital. The State of Palestine is headed by the President who serves as the head of the state. Other than this, he also serves as the president of the Palestinian National Authority. Traditionally, the president of the State of Palestine isn’t a democratically elected member. Instead, he is elected by the PLO or Palestine Liberation Organization. Following its independence, the PLO elected Yasser Arafat as the first President of the State of Palestine. A Nobel Peace Prize winner, Arafat played an instrumental role in the negotiations at Oslo. In 1994, he was made President of the Palestinian National Authority. He served as the President of Palestine until his death in 2004 and was later succeeded by Mahmud Abbas. Abbas has been currently serving as the President of the State of Palestine since his formal appointment in 2005. However, before taking up the presidential duties, he served as the first prime minister of Palestinian Authority from March 2003 until September 2003. With this segment, find out more about Palestinian leaders, their political career and their personal life.