7 Martin Luther King, Jr. 7

Building in Washington, D.C., destroyed during the riots that followed the

assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 1968. Library of Congress,

Washington, D.C. (digital fi le no. 03132u)

time concluded that Ray was the sole assassin, the killing

remains a matter of controversy.

ya ̄ sir ‘arafa ̄ t

(b. Aug. 24?, 1929, Cairo?, Egypt—d. Nov. 11, 2004, Paris, France)

I

n his efforts to lead the Palestinian people in their

attempts for statehood, Yāsir ‘Arafāt served as presi-

dent (1996 –2004) of the Palestinian Authority, chairman

(1969 –2004) of the Palestine Liberation Organization

(PLO), and leader of Fatah , the largest of the constituent