Bahjat Abu Gharbiyeh dies in Jordan

Bahjat Abu Gharbiyeh, dubbed "the Grand activist", passed away at the age of 96 after a struggle with illness early Friday in Jordan. Abu Gharbiyeh was born in 1916, and spent most of his life in Jerusalem. He was nicknamed "Grand Palestinian activist" due to his involvement in the Palestinian armed struggle, particularly the revolution of (1936-1939) and the (1947-1949)war where he was one of the leaders of the Holy War Army. Gharbiyeh participated in many battles including the Battle of Chestnut. He was wounded and imprisoned several times.  In 1949, he joined the Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and was elected a member of the national leadership (1951-1959) and later led the underground party struggle (1957-1960). He co-founded the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) with President Ahmad Shukeiri. In addition, he played a key role in the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Army and the FPL. He was elected a member of the Executive Committee of these three organisations. He remained a member of the Central Council of the PLO from its founding in 1964 until 1991, when he resigned in protest of the organisation accepting to recognise Israel under Security Council resolution 242. In 1993, the first part of his memoir, "Amidst the Arab Palestinian Struggle" was released. The second part, "From Catastrophe to Intifada", was released in 2004. The memoir was banned by Jordanian authorities for undisclosed reasons.