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Episode details

World Service,13 Nov 2009,10 mins

Yasser Arafat's speech at the United Nations

Witness History

Available for over a year

When the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Yasser Arafat spoke at the United Nations in 1974, Jewish groups were outraged. Israel was incensed. For Palestinians and for the PLO it represented recognition for the Palestinian struggle. It also represented weeks of work for the man who had helped make it happen: Nabil Shaath. He tells Witness about the security, the furniture, and the speech itself. What happened when Yasser Arafat entered the General Assembly of the UN? And what was in the gun holster he was wearing?

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