The remarkable leader, Yasser Arafat did not trust any of his peers as much as he had faith in the Palestentian leader, Mahmoud Abbas "Abu Mazen". You can easily tell through Abu Mazen's journey, what he is all about. He headed the negotiating delegation with Israel; the one that allowed Abu Ammar, also known as, Yasser Arafat, into Gaza to inaugurate the first self-rule in the occupied lands, and with a new rule, Abu Ammar became the prime minister and minister of interior. Upon Abu Ammar's death, Palestinians could not find any better than Abu Mazen to head the Palestinian authority and the President of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which is the legal and only representative for the Palestinian people, all of which are the positions Arafat was appointed to. Mahmoud Reda Abbas was born on March 26th, 1935, in Safd, Palestine, which was occupied by Britain. Abbas was born to a merchant father, and after his seventh grade, he had to leave for Syria after the occupation, in 1948, where most residents had to migrate to neighboring Arab countries. He got his Baccalaureate in Syria as well as Bachelor's, then enlisted in Cairo University to study law. In 1982, he had a Soviet fellowship in Moscow, where he got his PhD in political science. His thesis was about, "Secret relations between Nazi Germany and Zionist Movement." In 1957, he worked as a head of staff in ministry of Education in Qatar, during which he visited the West Bank and Gaza, several times to choose teachers and employees to work in Qatar. He worked there till 1970, when he devoted himself to his country. Political Life: Abu Mazen started his life through contacting the Palestinian national liberation movement, Fatah, which was founded in 1965. He was part of the primary central committee, yet he stayed away from all events for her was in Damascus. He led negotiations with Mattityahu "Matti" Peled, which led to announcing peace principles, on the ground of having a two-state solution January 1st, 1977. He was in charge of the occupied territories, following the assassination of minister, Khalil al-Wazir "Abu Gehad", and in 1996, he was chosen to be the executive secretary for PLO, making him the second man in Palestine's leadership. He was back to Palestine in 1995. He took part in the secret peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis through Dutch intermediaries, in 1989. He also organized negotiations during Madrid's conference for peace, which was held in 1991. He oversaw Oslo's negotiations. He was the head of negotiations for PLO since 1994, and worked for international affairs. Starting 2003, and in coordination with the American and Israeli administrations, he rose as a pragmatic star with Yasser Mostafa. Arafat appointed him as prime minister on March 19th, 2003, but he quite in September, 2003 as a protest for not having enough privileges. After Arafat passed away in 2005, he was voted by Fatah and he became the first Palestinian President by 62.52% poll voting. He still is in power despite not being the president in 2009, because of the military coup performed by Hamas. United Nations heroism: On November 30th, the United Nations granted Palestine to be an observer after being voted as such by 138 states versus 9 states. On September 11th 2015, the United Nations approved raising its flag, while Abu Mazen expressed his appreciation saying, "What happened is a big leap for the Palestinian cause as while we do that at the UN headquarters, we'll do that soon enough in Jerusalem." Days ago, Palestinians delivered documents to join Roma's convention and another 17 international agreements, which was condemned by the United States and Israel. American officials threatened to stop $400 million aid to Palestine. This new international status is nothing but a diplomatic victory, despite putting the Palestinian authority under such pressure to lose financial aid from Israel and America. "The United Nations is required to provide a birth certificate. 65 years ago today, it issued the 181 resolution mandating dividing Palestine, which was, in itself, a birth certificate for Israel," Abbas said. New landmarks: Recognizing Palestine will draw new landmarks for the political roadmap regarding the Palestinian cause. If that political direction succeeded in making the state internationally recognized, the conflict will seem clearer, since all occupied lands are now occupied by international laws. The political stance weighing here represents the Palestinian state which will soon make it an independent one with all rights of a country according to the international law. That alone should earn it a political support against the occupying Israel. What Abu Mazen did will be forever engraved with pure gold in the Palestinian history, remembered by the nest generations as the step that acknowledged the Palestinian state with June 4, 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital.
