Bassam Abu Sharif
Bassam Abu Sharif (Arabic: بسام أبو شريف; born 1946 in Jerusalem) is a former senior adviser to Yasser Arafat and leading cadre of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He was previously a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Bassam Abu Sharif | |
|---|---|
Bassam Abu Sharif in 1989 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 August 1946 Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Children | Omar and Karma |
| Alma mater | American University of Beirut |
| Occupation | Former Senior Adviser to Yasser Arafat |
A Marxist and an admirer of Mao Zedong and Che Guevara, Abu Sharif, then a member of the PFLP, was dubbed the "face of terror" by Time magazine for his role in the Dawson's Field hijackings in 1970, when the PFLP hijacked Pan Am, Swissair, and TWA flights and blew them up in the Jordanian desert, triggering King Hussein's expulsion of the PLO from Jordan, which became known as Black September. A fourth pair of hijackers on an El Al flight were overpowered by security guards and passengers.