Bassem Abu Sharif
Bassem Abu Sharif (بسّام أبو شريف) was a senior advisor to Yasser Arafat and an early proponent of a two-state solution (despite criticising the Oslo Accords). He is a founding member Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the PLO‘s Palestinian National Council.
He was born in Jerusalem in 1946. After studying at the American University of Beirut he joined the Arab National Movement before co-funding the PFLP with George Habash and other left-wing figures. He eventually left the group over strategic differences.
During this time Abu Sharif worked a journalist at the al-Hadaf newspaper with the celebrated Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani. He was the target for an Israeli assassination attempt, losing four fingers.