Patrice Émery Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only twelve weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis.^[1] He was subsequently imprisoned and executed by firing squad, an act that was committed with the assistance of the government of Belgium, for which the Belgian government officially apologized in 2002.^[2][3]

Path to prime minister[link]

Early life and career[link]

Lumumba was born in Onalua in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai province of the Belgian Congo, a member of the Tetela ethnic group. Raised in a Catholic family as one of four sons, he was educated at a Protestant primary school, a Catholic missionary school, and finally the government post office training school, passing the one-year course with distinction. He subsequently worked in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and Stanleyville (now Kisangani) as a postal clerk and as a travelling beer salesman. In 1951, he married Pauline Opangu. In 1955, Lumumba became regional head of the Cercles of Stanleyville and joined the Liberal Party of Belgium, where he worked on editing and distributing party literature. After traveling on a three-week study tour in Belgium, he was arrested in 1955 on charges of embezzlement of post office funds. His two-year sentence was commuted to twelve months after it was confirmed by Belgian lawyer Jules Chrome that Lumumba had returned the funds, and he was released in July 1956. After his release, he helped found the broad-based Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) in 1958, later becoming the organization's president. Lumumba and his team represented the MNC at the All-African Peoples' Conference in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. At this international conference, hosted by influential Pan-African President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Lumumba further solidified his Pan-Africanist beliefs.

Patrice Lumumba

Leader of MNC[link]

In late October 1959, Lumumba as leader of the MNC was again arrested for allegedly inciting an anti-colonial riot in Stanleyville where thirty people were killed, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison. The trial's start date of 18 January 1960, was also the first day of a round-table conference in Brussels to finalize the future of the Congo. Despite Lumumba's imprisonment at the time, the MNC won a convincing majority in the December local elections in the Congo. As a result of pressure from delegates who were enraged at Lumumba's imprisonment, he was released and allowed to attend the Brussels conference. The conference culminated on January 27 with a declaration of Congolese independence setting June 30, 1960, as the independence date with national elections from 11–25 May 1960. Lumumba and the MNC won this election and the right to form a government, with the announcement on 23 June 1960 of 34-year-old Lumumba as Congo's first prime minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu as its president. In accordance with the constitution, on 24 June the new government passed a vote of confidence and was ratified by the Congolese Chamber and Senate.

Independence Day was celebrated on June 30 in a ceremony attended by many dignitaries including King Baudouin and the foreign press. Lumumba delivered his famous independence speech after being officially excluded from the event programme, despite being the new prime minister.^[4] The speech of Belgian King Baudouin praised developments under colonialism, his reference to the "genius" of his great-granduncle Leopold II of Belgium glossing over atrocities committed during the Congo Free State.^[5] The King continued, "Don't compromise the future with hasty reforms, and don't replace the structures that Belgium hands over to you until you are sure you can do better... Don't be afraid to come to us. We will remain by your side, give you advice."^[6] Lumumba responded by reminding the audience that the independence of the Congo was not granted magnanimously by Belgium:^[6]

For this independence of the Congo, even as it is celebrated today with Belgium, a friendly country with whom we deal as equal to equal, no Congolese worthy of the name will ever be able to forget that it was by fighting that it has been won, a day-to-day fight, an ardent and idealistic fight, a fight in which we were spared neither privation nor suffering, and for which we gave our strength and our blood. We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire, and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which was imposed upon us by force.^[6]

In contrast to the relatively harmless speech of President Kasa-Vubu, Lumumba's reference to the suffering of the Congolese under Belgian colonialism stirred the crowd while simultaneously humiliating and alienating the King and his entourage. Some media claimed at the time that he ended his speech by ad-libbing, Nous ne sommes plus vos macaques! (We are no longer your monkeys!) --referring to a common slur used against Africans by Belgians, however, these words are neither in his written text nor in radio tapes of his speech.^[2][7] Lumumba was later harshly criticised for what many in the Western world—but virtually none in Africa—described as the inappropriate nature of his speech.^[8]

Actions as prime minister[link]

A few days after Congo gained its independence, Lumumba made the fateful decision to raise the pay of all government employees except for the army. Many units of the army also had strong objections toward the uniformly Belgian officers; General Janssens, the army head, told them their lot would not change after independence, and they rebelled in protest. The rebellions quickly spread throughout the country, leading to a general breakdown in law and order. Although the trouble was highly localized, the country seemed to be overrun by gangs of soldiers and looters, causing a media sensation, particularly over Europeans fleeing the country.^[9]

The province of Katanga declared independence under regional premier Moïse Tshombe on 11 July 1960 with support from the Belgian government and mining companies such as Union Minière.^[10] Despite the arrival of UN troops, unrest continued. Since the United Nations refused to help suppress the rebellion in Katanga, Lumumba sought Soviet aid in the form of arms, food, medical supplies, trucks, and planes to help move troops to Katanga. Lumumba's decisive actions alarmed his colleagues and President Kasa-Vubu, who preferred a more moderate political approach.^[11]

Assassination[link]

Deposition and arrest[link]

In September, the President dismissed Lumumba from government. Lumumba immediately protested the legality of the President's actions. In retaliation, Lumumba declared Kasa-Vubu deposed and won a vote of confidence in the Senate, while the newly appointed prime minister failed to gain parliament's confidence. The country was torn by two political groups claiming legal power over the country. On 14 September, a coup d’état organised by Colonel Joseph Mobutu incapacitated both Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu.^[9] Lumumba was placed under house arrest at the prime minister's residence, although UN troops were positioned around the house to protect him. Nevertheless, Lumumba decided to rouse his supporters in Haut-Congo. Smuggled out of his residence at night, he escaped to Stanleyville, where he attempted to set up his own government and army.^[13] Pursued by troops loyal to Mobutu he was finally captured in Port Francqui on 1 December 1960 and flown to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) in ropes not handcuffs. He desperately appealed to local UN troops to save him, but he was no longer their responsibility^{[citation needed]}. Mobutu said Lumumba would be tried for inciting the army to rebellion and other crimes. United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld made an appeal to Kasa-Vubu asking that Lumumba be treated according to due process of law. The USSR denounced Hammarskjöld and the Western powers as responsible for Lumumba's arrest and demanded his release.

UN response[link]

The UN Security Council was called into session on 7 December 1960 to consider Soviet demands that the UN seek Lumumba's immediate release, the immediate restoration of Lumumba as head of the Congo government, the disarming of the forces of Mobutu, and the immediate evacuation of Belgians from the Congo. Hammarskjöld, answering Soviet attacks against his Congo operations, said that if the UN forces were withdrawn from the Congo "I fear everything will crumble."

The threat to the UN cause was intensified by the announcement of the withdrawal of their contingents by Yugoslavia, the United Arab Republic, Ceylon, Indonesia, Morocco, and Guinea. The Soviet pro-Lumumba resolution was defeated on 14 December 1960 by a vote of 8-2. On the same day, a Western resolution that would have given Hammarskjöld increased powers to deal with the Congo situation was vetoed by the Soviet Union.

Final days[link]

Lumumba was sent first on 3 December, to Thysville military barracks Camp Hardy, 150 km (about 100 miles) from Leopoldville. However, when security and disciplinary breaches threatened his safety, it was decided that he should be transferred to the Katanga Province.

Lumumba was forcibly restrained on the flight to Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi) on 17 January 1961.^[14] On arrival, he was conducted under arrest to Brouwez House and held there bound and gagged while President Tshombe and his cabinet decided what to do with him.

Death by firing squad[link]

Later that night, Lumumba was driven to an isolated spot where three firing squads had been assembled. According to David Akerman, Ludo de Witte and Kris Hollington,^[15] the firing squads were commanded by a Belgian, Captain Julien Gat; another Belgian, Police Commissioner Verscheure, had overall command of the execution site.^[16] The Belgian Commission has found that the execution was carried out by Katanga's authorities, but de Witte found written orders from the Belgian government requesting Lumumba's execution and documents on various arrangements, such as death squads. It reported that President Tshombe and two other ministers were present with four Belgian officers under the command of Katangan authorities. Lumumba and two other comrades from the government, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, were lined up against a tree and shot one at a time. The execution probably took place on 17 January 1961 between 21:40 and 21:43 according to the Belgian report. According to Adam Hochschild, author of a book on the Congo rubber terror, Lumumba's body was disposed of in an unmarked grave by a CIA agent ^[17]

No statement was released until three weeks later despite rumours that Lumumba was dead.

Announcement of death[link]

His death was formally announced on Katangese radio when it was alleged that he escaped and was killed by enraged villagers. On January 18, panicked by reports that the burial of the three bodies had been observed, members of the execution team went to dig up the bodies and move them to a place near the border with Rhodesia for reburial. Belgian Police Commissioner Gerard Soete later admitted in several accounts that he and his brother led the first and a second exhumation. Police Commissioner Frans Verscheure also took part. On the afternoon and evening of January 21, Commissioner Soete and his brother dug up Lumumba's corpse for the second time, cut it up with a hacksaw, and dissolved it in concentrated sulfuric acid (de Witte 2002:140-143).^[18] Only some teeth and a fragment of skull and bullets survived the process, kept as souvenirs. In an interview on Belgian television in a program on the assassination of Lumumba in 1999, Soete displayed a bullet and two teeth that he boasted he had saved from Lumumba's body.^[18] De Witte also mentions that Verscheure kept souvenirs from the exhumation: bullets from the skull of Lumumba.^[19]

After the announcement of Lumumba's death, street protests were organized in several European countries; in Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia, protesters sacked the Belgian embassy and confronted the police, and in London a crowd marched from Trafalgar Square to the Belgian embassy, where a letter of protest was delivered and where protesters clashed with police.^[20]

American and Belgian involvement[link]

"Lumumba’s pan-Africanism and his vision of a united Congo gained him many enemies. Both Belgium and the United States actively sought to have him killed. The CIA ordered his assassination but could not complete the job. Instead, the United States and Belgium covertly funneled cash and aid to rival politicians who seized power and arrested Lumumba."^[21] U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had said "something [to CIA chief Allen Dulles] to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated".^[22] This was revealed by a declassified interview with then-US National Security Council minutekeeper Robert Johnson released in August 2000 from Senate intelligence committee's inquiry on covert action. The committee later found that while the CIA had conspired to kill Lumumba, it was not directly involved in the actual murder.^[22]

Church Committee[link]

In 1975, the Church Committee went on record with the finding that Allen Dulles had ordered Lumumba's assassination as "an urgent and prime objective".^[23] Furthermore, declassified CIA cables quoted or mentioned in the Church report and in Kalb (1972) mention two specific CIA plots to murder Lumumba: the poison plot and a shooting plot. Although some sources claim that CIA plots ended when Lumumba was captured, that is not stated or shown in the CIA records. Rather, those records show two still-partly-censored CIA cables from Elizabethville on days significant in the murder: January 17, the day Lumumba died, and January 18, the day of the first exhumation. The former, after a long censored section, talks about where they need to go from there. The latter expresses thanks for Lumumba being sent to them and then says that, had Elizabethville base known he was coming, they would have "baked a snake".^[24] Significantly, a CIA officer told another CIA officer later that he had had Lumumba's body in the trunk of his car to try to find a way to dispose of it.^[25] This cable goes on to state that the writer's sources (not yet declassified) said that after being taken from the airport Lumumba was imprisoned by "all white guards".^[26]

Belgian investigation[link]

The Belgian Commission investigating Lumumba's assassination concluded that (1) Belgium wanted Lumumba arrested, (2) Belgium was not particularly concerned with Lumumba's physical well being, and (3) although informed of the danger to Lumumba's life, Belgium did not take any action to avert his death, but the report also specifically denied that Belgium ordered Lumumba's assassination.^[27]

Under its own 'Good Samaritan' laws, Belgium was legally culpable for failing to prevent the assassination from taking place and was also in breach of its obligation (under U.N. Resolution 290 of 1949) to refrain from acts or threats "aimed at impairing the freedom, independence or integrity of another state."^[28]

The report of 2001 by the Belgian Commission mentions that there had been previous U.S. and Belgian plots to kill Lumumba. Among them was a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored attempt to poison him, which may have come on orders from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.^[29] CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb was a key person in this by devising a poison resembling toothpaste.^{[30][31][32][33]} However, the plan is said to have been scrapped because the local CIA Station Chief, Larry Devlin, refused permission.^[31][32][34] However, as Kalb points out in her book, Congo Cables, the record shows that many communications by Devlin at the time urged elimination of Lumumba (p. 53, 101, 129-133, 149-152, 158-159, 184-185, 195). Also, the CIA station chief helped to direct the search to capture Lumumba for his transfer to his enemies in Katanga; was involved in arranging his transfer to Katanga (p. 158, Hoyt, Michael P. 2009, "Captive in the Congo: A Consul's Return to the Heart of Darkness"); and the CIA base chief in Elizabethville was in direct touch with the killers the night Lumumba was killed. Furthermore, a CIA agent had the body in the trunk of his car in order to try to get rid of it (p. 105, Stockwell, John 1978 In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story. Stockwell, who knew Devlin well, felt Devlin knew more than anyone else about the murder (71-72, 136-137).

Belgian apology[link]

In February 2002, the Belgian government apologised to the Congolese people, and admitted to a "moral responsibility" and "an irrefutable portion of responsibility in the events that led to the death of Lumumba".

U.S. documents[link]

In July 2006, documents released by the United States government revealed that the CIA had plotted to assassinate Lumumba. In September 1960, Sidney Gottlieb brought a vial of poison to the Congo with plans to place it on Lumumba's toothbrush. The plot was later abandoned. The extent to which the CIA was involved in his eventual death is currently unknown .^[31]

This same disclosure showed that at that time the U.S. government believed that Lumumba was a communist.^[35] Eisenhower's reported call, at a meeting of his national security advisers, for Lumumba's elimination must have been brought on by this perception. Both Belgium and the US were clearly influenced in their unfavourable stance towards Lumumba by the Cold War. He seemed to gravitate around the Soviet Union, although this was not because he was a communist but the only place he could find support in his country's effort to rid itself of colonial rule.^[36] The US was the first country from which Lumumba requested help.^[37] Lumumba, for his part, not only denied being a Communist, but said he found colonialism and Communism to be equally deplorable, and professed his personal preference for neutrality between the East and West.^[38]

Legacy[link]

Statue of Lumumba in Kinshasa.

Political[link]

The results of his time in office are both mixed and polarising in their subsequent interpretation. To his critics, Lumumba bequeathed very few positive results from his term of office. Their critiques include his inability to promote development and failure to stave off or quell a civil war that erupted within days of his appointment as prime minister. Instead, he behaved impetuously and followed expedients rather than policies that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including himself.^[40]

To his supporters, Lumumba was an altruistic man of strong character who pursued his policies regardless of opposing viewpoints. He favoured a unitary Congo and opposed division of the country along ethnic or regional lines.^[41][42] Like many other African leaders, he supported pan-Africanism and liberation for colonial territories.^[43] He proclaimed his regime one of "positive neutralism,"^[44] defined as a return to African values and rejection of any imported ideology, including that of the Soviet Union: "We are not Communists, Catholics, Socialists. We are African nationalists."^[45]

2006 Congolese elections[link]

Nevertheless, the image of Patrice Lumumba continues to serve as an inspiration in contemporary Congolese politics. In the 2006 elections, several parties claimed to be motivated by his ideas, including the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), the political party initiated by the incumbent President Joseph Kabila.^[46] Antoine Gizenga, who served as Lumumba's Deputy Prime Minister in the post-independence period, was a 2006 Presidential candidate under the Unified Lumumbist Party (Parti Lumumbiste Unifié (PALU))^[47] and was named prime minister at the end of the year. Other political parties that directly utilise his name include the Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba (MNC-L) and the Mouvement Lumumbiste (MLP).

Family and politics[link]

Patrice Lumumba's family is actively involved in contemporary Congolese politics. Patrice Lumumba was married to Pauline Lumumba and had five children; François was the eldest followed by Patrice Junior, Julienne, Roland and Guy-Patrice Lumumba. François was 10 years old when Patrice died. Before his imprisonment, Patrice arranged for his wife and children to move into exile in Egypt, where François spent his childhood, then went to Hungary for education (he holds a doctorate in political economics). He returned to Congo in 1992 to oppose Mobutu since which time he has been the leader of the Mouvement National Congolais Lumumba (MNC-L), his father's original political party.^[48]

Lumumba's youngest son, Guy-Patrice, born six months after his father's death, was an independent presidential candidate in the 2006 elections,^[49] but received less than 10% of the vote.

Tributes[link]

USSR commemorative stamp, 1961

• In 1966 Patrice Lumumba's image was rehabilitated by the Mobutu regime and he was proclaimed a national hero and martyr in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By a presidential decree, the Brouwez House, site of Lumumba's brutal torture on the night of his murder, became a place of pilgrimage in the Congo.^[50]
• A major transportation artery in Kinshasa, the Lumumba Boulevard, is named in his honour. The boulevard goes past an interchange with a giant tower, the Tour de l'Echangeur (the main landmark of Kinshasa) commemorating him. On the tower's plaza, the first Kabila regime erected a tall statue of Lumumba with a raised hand, greeting people coming from N'djili Airport.
• In Bamako, Mali, Lumumba Square is a large central plaza with a life-size statue of Lumumba, a park with fountains, and a flag display. Around Lumumba Square are various businesses, embassies and Bamako's largest bank.
• Streets were also named after him in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, in Budapest, Hungary (between 1961 and 1990); Jakarta (between 1945 to 1967); Belgrade, Serbia; Sofia, Bulgaria (until 1991-2) Skopje, Republic of Macedonia; Bata and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Tehran, Iran; Algiers, Algeria (Rue Patrice Lumumba);^[51] Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (since 1960, formerly Avenida de Bélgica); Łódź, Warsaw, Poland; Kiev, Ukraine; Perm, Russia; Rabat, Morocco; Maputo, Mozambique; Leipzig, Germany; Lusaka, Zambia ("Lumumba Street"); Kampala, Uganda ("Lumumba Avenue"); Tunis, Tunisia; Fort-de-France, Martinique; Montpellier, France; Accra, Ghana and Antananarivo, Madagascar and Alexandria, Egypt.
• The Peoples' Friendship University of the USSR was renamed "Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University" in 1961, but it was later renamed "The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia" in the post-Soviet landscape in 1992.^[52]
• In Belgrade, Serbia, "The Patris Lumumba Hall of Residence" at Belgrade University was built in 1961 and continues to carry Lumumba's name.^[53]
• In Kampala, Uganda, "Lumumba Hall" of Residence at Makerere University continues to carry his name.
• "Lumumba" is a popular choice for children's names throughout Africa.^[54]
• In 1964 Malcolm X declared Patrice Lumumba "the greatest black man who ever walked the African continent".^[55]
• Comedian Patrice O'Neal was named after Lumumba.

Bibliography[link]

Writings by Lumumba[link]

• Congo, My Country (1962) London: Pall Mall Press. ISBN 0-269-16092-2. Foreword and notes by Colin Legum; translated by Graham Heath.
• Lumumba Speaks: The Speeches and Writings of Patrice Lumumba, 1958–1961 (1972) Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-53650-4. Editor, Jean Van Lierde; translated by Helen R. Lane.

Writings about Lumumba[link]

• Aimé Césaire, Une Saison au Congo (1966); Eng. trans. by Ralph Manheim, A Season in the Congo (1969). A poetic drama about the career and death of Lumumba.
• W. A. E. Skurnik, African Political Thought: Lumumba, Nkrumah, Touré (Social Science Foundation and Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver. Monograph series in world affairs, v. 5, no. 3-4), 1968, Denver: University of Denver, ASIN B0006CNYSW.
• Ludo De Witte, The Assassination of Lumumba, trans. by Ann Wright and Renée Fenby, 2002 (orig. 2001), London; New York: Verso, ISBN 1-85984-410-3.
• Thomas R. Kanza, Conflict in the Congo: The Rise and Fall of Lumumba (Penguin African library), 1972, New York: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-041030-9.
• Robin McKown, Lumumba: A Biography, 1969, London: Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-07776-9.
• G. Heinz and H. Donnay (pseudonyms for J. Brassine and J. Gerard-Libois), Lumumba: The Last Fifty Days, 1980, New York: Grove Press, ASIN B0006C07TQ.
• Panaf, Patrice Lumumba (Panaf Great Lives), 1973, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-901787-31-0.
• Kwame Nkrumah, Challenge of the Congo, 1967, New York: International Publishers.
• Bogumil Jewsiewicki, ed., A Congo Chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in Urban Art, 1999, New York: Museum for African Art, ISBN 0-945802-25-0. The catalogue of a travelling exhibition of contemporary Congolese artists who were inspired by the legacy of Lumumba.
• Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible is a fictional account of an American missionary family in the Congo during the election and assassination of Lumumba. The book is critical of western governments and their interference in Africa.
• David W. Doyle, Inside Espionage: A Memoir of True Men and Traitors (2000), tells the story of Lumumba's assassination from the point of view of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
• Godfrey Mwakikagile, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, Third Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, "Chapter Six: Congo in The Sixties: The Bleeding Heart of Africa", pp. 147 – 205, ISBN 978-0980253412; Godfrey Mwakikagile, Africa and America in The Sixties: A Decade That Changed The Nation and The Destiny of A Continent, First Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0980253429.

Films[link]

• El Congo 1961 – As himself in a documentary.
• Seduto alla sua destra (1968). A fictional film by writer-director Valerio Zurlini starring Woody Strode as a thinly disguised Lumumba. (Released in the U.S. as Black Jesus.)
• JFK at the Internet Movie Database (uncredited) Himself (archive footage)
• Lumumba (2000). Dramatized biography directed by Raoul Peck with Eriq Ebouaney as Lumumba.
• Tule tagasi, Lumumba at the Internet Movie Database aka Come Back, Lumumba. Estonian film from 1992.
• In the episode, Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, in the TV series, "The X-files", it is suggested that the Cigarette Smoking Man assassinated Patrice Lumumba.
• In the Dutch film De Noorderlingen, a boy called Thomas is portrayed, who lives in a fantasy world where he is Lumumba. This is based on radio broadcasts that he hears at home.
• Lumumba: Death of a Prophet (1992). Documentary distributed by California Newsreel.
• Lumumba: Un crime d'Etat (in English Lumumba: A state crime)
• Independence Cha-Cha – The Story of Patrice Lumumba (2009). Documentary produced by Kadi Kabeya

Archive video and audio[link]

• BBC On This Day – 14 September, 1960: Violence Follows Army Coup in Congo
• BBC On This Day – 13 February, 1961: EX-Congo PM Declared Dead
• BBC On This Day – 19 February, 1961: Lumumba Rally Clashes with UK Police

Other[link]

• In 1969 students from the Black Student Council and Mexican-American Youth Association of the University of California, San Diego proposed the name Lumumba-Zapata College, for what is now known as Thurgood Marshall College.
• In Viennese coffee houses, Lumumba is a cocoa with rum, Lumumba Coffee a black coffee with rum and whipped cream. Both beverages originate from northern Germany, where they are called Tote Tante (dead aunt, with cocoa) and Pharisäer (pharisee, with coffee; see Nordstrand, Germany) respectively.^[56][57]
• The rapper Nas dedicates his song My Country to Lumumba at the end of the song.
• American stand-up comedian Patrice Oneal is named after Lumumba.
• An Argentinian reggae band was named "Lumumba".
• Colombian salsa musician Yuri Buenaventura composed a song titled "Patrice Lumumba" in his honor.
• An avenue in a residential area in Kampala is named Lumumba Avenue
• Songwriter Neil Diamond lists Patrice Lumumba in his song "Done Too Soon".

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Patrice Lumumba

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Patrice Lumumba

• Speeches and writings by and about Patrice Lumumba, at the Marxists Internet Archive.
• Virtual Memorial to Patrice Lumumba, at Find-A-grave.
• Patrice Lumumba: 50 Years Later, Remembering the U.S.-Backed Assassination – video report by Democracy Now!
• SpyCast – 1 December 2007: On Assignment to Congo-Peter chats with Larry Devlin, the CIA’s legendary station chief in Congo during the 1960s.
• Africa Within. A rich source of information on Lumumba, including a reprint of Stephen R. Weissman's 21 July 2002 article from the Washington Post.
• BBC Lumumba apology: Congo's mixed feelings.
• Mysteries of History Lumumba assassination.
• Lumumba and the Congo Documentary of Lumumba's life and work in the Congo.
• BBC An "On this day" text. It features an audio clip of a BBC correspondent on Lumumba's death.
• Belgian Parliament The findings of the Belgian Commission of 2001 investigating Belgian involvement in the death of Lumumba. Documents at the bottom of the page are in English.
• Beat Knowledge tribute to Lumumba Tribute to Lumumba on the 50th anniversary of his assassination (17 January 2011).
• Belgian Commission's Conclusion A particular document from the previous link.
• D'Lynn Waldron Dr. D'Lynn Waldron's extensive archive of articles, photographs, and documents from her days as a foreign press correspondent in Lumumba's 1960 Congo.
• CIA plans included the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, report from the Washington Post by Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus.
• Patrice Emery Lumumba: Memory of Congolese Leader Lives on 50 Years Later.
• David Akerman (2000-10-21). "Who Killed Lumumba?". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/correspondent/974745.stm. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
• Harry Gilroy (1960-07-01). "Lumumba Assails Colonialism as Congo Is Freed". New York Times. http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/600701lumumba.html. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
• "The Bad Dream". Time Magazine. 1961-01-20. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871970,00.html. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 
• "Lumumba children get gifts from Germany". The Straits Times. February 13, 1961. http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610213.2.26.aspx. Retrieved 2010-10-08.  ( Picture of Lumumba's children in Egypt, visited by the wife of East Germany's leading foreign politician Heinrich Rau. )

v t e Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (list) Republic of the Congo (1960–1971) Patrice Lumumba • Joseph Iléo • Albert Ndele • Justin Marie Bomboko • Antoine Gizenga (rebel) • Cyrille Adoula • Moise Tshombe • Évariste Kimba Republic of Zaire (1971–1997) Léonard Mulamba • Mpinga Kasenda • Bo-Boliko Lokonga Mihambo • Jean Nguza Karl-i-Bond • Joseph Untube N'singa Udjuu • Kengo Wa Dondo • Mabi Mulumba • Sambwa Pida Nbagui • Lunda Bululu • Mulumba Lukoji • Étienne Tshisekedi • Bernardin Mungul Diaka • Faustin Birindwa • Kengo Wa Dondo • Likulia Bolongo Democratic Republic of the Congo (1997–present) Antoine Gizenga • Adolphe Muzito • Louis Alphonse Koyagialo (Acting) • Augustin Matata Ponyo

v t e Pan-Africanism Proponents Politicians Nnamdi Azikiwe Amílcar Cabral Muammar Gaddafi Marcus Garvey David Comissiong Kenneth Kaunda Jomo Kenyatta Patrice Lumumba Thabo Mbeki Abdias do Nascimento Gamal Abdel Nasser Kwame Nkrumah Julius Nyerere John Nyathi Pokela Thomas Sankara Haile Selassie Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Ahmed Sékou Touré I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson Others Marimba Ani Molefi Kete Asante Steve Biko Edward Wilmot Blyden John Henrik Clarke Cheikh Anta Diop W. E. B. Du Bois Frantz Fanon John G. Jackson Leonard Jeffries Yosef Ben-Jochannan Maulana Karenga Fela Kuti Bob Marley Malcolm X Zephania Mothopeng George Padmore Motsoko Pheko Runoko Rashidi Paul Robeson Walter Rodney Burning Spear Henry Sylvester-Williams Stokely Carmichael Omali Yeshitela Concepts United States of Africa Afrocentrism Kwanzaa Pan-African colours Pan-African flag Négritude African nationalism African socialism African Century Africanization Kawaida Ujamaa Harambee Ubuntu Zikism Black nationalism Organizations African Union Organization of African Unity Uhuru Movement UNIA-ACL African Unification Front International African Service Bureau

Zaire portal

Vicky Longomba (December 13, 1932 – March 12, 1988 in Kinshasa ^[1]) was a singer and a founding member of Tout puissant OK Jazz, a Congolese rumba group.^[2][3]

He later formed his own group, Lovy du Zaire.

He was the father of Lovy Longomba (member of Super Mazembe) and Awilo Longomba, both popular musicians.

References[link]

1. ^ www.congolite.ca
2. ^ Franco: National Geographic World Music
3. ^ Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Richard Trillo (1999). World Music. Rough Guides. ISBN 1858286352. 

This article on an African musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article about a person from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Mahmoud Abbas مَحْمُود عَبَّاس
2nd President of the Palestinian National Authority Disputed since January 2009
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 January 2005*
Prime Minister	Ahmad Qurei Nabil Shaath (Acting) Ahmad Qurei Ismail Haniyeh Salam Fayyad
Preceded by	Rawhi Fattouh (Acting)
Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 October 2004 Acting: 29 October 2004 – 11 November 2004
Preceded by	Yasser Arafat
Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority
In office 19 March 2003 – 6 September 2003
President	Yasser Arafat
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Ahmad Qurei
Personal details
Born	(1935-03-26) 26 March 1935 (age 77) Safed, British Palestine
Political party	Fatah
Spouse(s)	Amina Abbas
Alma mater	Damascus University Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University
Religion	Sunni Islam[1]
*Abbas's term as President expired 15 January 2009, since then Aziz Duwaik has been recognised as President by the Haniyeh government in the Gaza Strip, while Abbas is recognised as President by the Fayyad government in the West Bank.[2]

Mahmoud Abbas (Arabic: مَحْمُود عَبَّاس‎, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 26 March 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen (Arabic: أَبُو مَازِن‎, Åbú Mázɩn), has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah (فتح Fataḥ) ticket.

Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally extended his term for another year and continues in office even after that second deadline expired. As a result of this, Fatah's main rival, the political party Hamas announced that it would not recognise the extension or view Abbas as rightful president.^[3][4][5] Abbas was chosen as the President of the State of Palestine by the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council on 23 November 2008,^[6] a job he had held unofficially since 8 May 2005.^[7] Abbas served as the first Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority from March to October 2003 when he resigned citing lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government.^[8] Before being named prime minister, Abbas led the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department.

In 2011, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas stated that the Arab rejection of the United Nations Partition Plan in 1947 was a mistake he hoped to rectify.^[9]

Biography[link]

Mahmoud Abbas was born in Safed in Galilee.^[10] He and his family fled to Syria during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.^[10] He graduated from the University of Damascus before going to Egypt where he studied law.

Abbas later entered graduate studies at the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where he earned a Candidate of Sciences degree^[11][12] (the Soviet equivalent of a PhD). The theme of his doctoral dissertation was "The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism".

He is married to Amina Abbas and they have had three sons. The eldest, Mazen Abbas, ran a building company in Doha and died in Qatar of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 42.^[13] The kunya of Abu Mazen means "father of Mazen". Their second son is Yasser Abbas, a Canadian businessman who was named after former PA leader Yasser Arafat.^[14] The youngest son is Tareq, a business executive.

Abbas with President of the United States George W. Bush and Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon at the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, 4 June 2003

Political activism[link]

In the mid-1950s, Abbas became heavily involved in underground Palestinian politics, joining a number of exiled Palestinians in Qatar, where he was Director of Personnel in the emirate's Civil Service. While there, in 1961, he was recruited to become a member of Fatah, founded by Yasser Arafat and 5 other Palestinians in Kuwait in the late 1950s.^[15] At the time, Arafat was establishing the groundwork of Fatah by enlisting wealthy Palestinians in Qatar, Kuwait, and other Gulf States.

Abu Daoud, who planned the 1972 Munich Massacre, the hostage-taking of members of the Israeli team at the Munich Olympic Games which ended with the murder of eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German policeman, wrote that funds for the operation were provided by Abbas, though without knowing what the money would be used for.^[16]

In 1985, he temporarily went into hiding in Yugoslavia upon avoiding international justice mechanisms in Rome, Italy.^[17]

At the same time he has performed diplomatic duties, presenting a moderating face for PLO policies. Abbas was the first PLO official to visit Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War in January 1993 to mend fences with the Gulf countries for the PLO's support of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. At the 1993 peace accord with Israel, Abbas was the signatory for the PLO on 13 September 1993. He published a memoir, Through Secret Channels: The Road to Oslo (1995).^[18]

Political career[link]

By early 2003, as Israel and the United States refused to negotiate with Yasser Arafat, Abbas began to emerge as a candidate for a more visible leadership role. As one of the few remaining founding members of Fatah, he had some degree of credibility within the Palestinian cause, and his candidacy was bolstered by the fact that other high-profile Palestinians were for various reasons not suitable (the most notable, Marwan Barghouthi, was under arrest in an Israeli jail after being convicted of multiple murders). Abbas's reputation as a pragmatist garnered him favor with the West and certain elements of the Palestinian legislature, and pressure was soon brought on Arafat to appoint him prime minister. Arafat did so on 19 March 2003. Initially, Arafat attempted to undermine the post of prime minister, but was eventually forced to give Abbas some degree of power.

However, the rest of Abbas's term as prime minister was characterised by numerous conflicts between him and Arafat over the distribution of power. Abbas hinted he would resign if not given more control over the administration. In early September 2003, he confronted the Palestinian parliament over this issue. The United States and Israel accused Arafat of undermining Abbas and his government. In addition, Abbas came into conflict with Palestinian militant groups, notably the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement and Hamas because his pragmatic policies were opposed to their hard-line approach. However, he made it clear that he was forced to abandon, for the moment, the use of arms against Israeli civilians inside the green line due to its ineffectiveness.^{[citation needed]}

Initially he pledged not to use force against the militants in the interest of avoiding a civil war, and attempted negotiation. This was partially successful, resulting in a pledge from the two groups to honor a unilateral Palestinian cease-fire. However, continuing violence and Israeli "target killings" of known leaders forced Abbas to pledge a crackdown in order to uphold the Palestinian Authority's side of the Road map for peace. This led to a power struggle with Arafat over control of the Palestinian security services; Arafat refused to release control to Abbas, thus preventing him from using them on the militants. Abbas resigned as prime minister in October 2003, citing lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government.^[8]

2005 presidential election[link]

Part of a series on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and Arab–Israeli conflict
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
Israel with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights:    Israel    West Bank · Gaza Strip, Golan Heights
Negotiating parties
Israel · Palestinians
History
Camp David Accords · Madrid Conference
Oslo Accords / Oslo II · Hebron Protocol
Wye River / Sharm el-Sheikh Memoranda
2000 Camp David Summit · Taba Summit
Road Map · Annapolis · State of Palestine
Primary negotiation concerns
Final borders · Israeli settlements · Refugees (Jewish · Palestinian Arab) · Security concerns
Status of Jerusalem · Water
Secondary negotiation concerns
Antisemitic incitements
Israeli West Bank barrier · Jewish state
Palestinian political violence
Places of worship
Current leaders
Palestine Mahmoud Abbas · Salam Fayyad Israel Shimon Peres · Benjamin Netanyahu
International brokers
Diplomatic Quartet (United Nations · United States · European Union · Russia)
Arab League (Egypt · Jordan) · United Kingdom · France
Other proposals
One-state solution (Isratine) · Two-state solutions (Arab Peace Initiative · Geneva Accord · Allon Plan · Elon Peace Plan · Lieberman Plan) · Three-state solution Israeli unilateral plans: Disengagement · Realignment
Peace-orientated projects: Peace Valley · Middle East economic integration
Major projects, groups and NGOs
Peace-oriented projects · Peace Valley · Alliance for Middle East Peace · Peres Center for Peace
v t e

After Yasser Arafat's death Mahmoud Abbas was seen, at least by Fatah, as his natural successor. On 25 November 2004, Abbas was endorsed by Fatah's Revolutionary Council as its preferred candidate for the presidential election, scheduled for 9 January 2005. On 14 December Abbas called for an end to violence in the Second Intifada and a return to peaceful resistance. Abbas told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that "the use of arms has been damaging and should end." However, he refused to disarm Palestinian militants and use force against groups designated as terrorist organizations.

With Israeli forces arresting and restricting the movement of other candidates, Hamas' boycott of the election, and his campaign being given 94% of the Palestinian electoral campaign coverage on TV, Abbas' election was virtually ensured,^[19] and on 9 January Abbas was elected with 62% of the vote as President of the Palestinian National Authority.

In his speech, he addressed a crowd of supporters chanting "a million shahids", stating: "I present this victory to the soul of Yasser Arafat and present it to our people, to our martyrs and to 11,000 prisoners". He also called for Palestinian groups to end the use of arms against Israelis.^[20]

Presidency[link]

Despite Abbas' call for a peaceful solution, attacks by militant groups continued after his election, in a direct challenge to his authority. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement launched a raid in Gaza on 12 January that killed one and wounded three military personnel in Gaza. On 13 January Palestinians from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Hamas, and the Popular Resistance Committees launched a suicide attack on the Karni crossing, killing six Israelis. As a result, Israel shut down the damaged terminal and broke off relations with Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, stating that Abbas must now show a gesture of peace by attempting to stop such attacks.

Abbas was formally sworn in as the Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority in a ceremony held on 15 January in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

On 9 August 2005 he announced that legislative elections, originally scheduled for 17 July, would take place in January 2006. On 15 January 2006 he declared that despite unrest in Gaza, he would not change the set date of the elections (25 January), unless Israel decided to prevent Palestinians in East Jerusalem from voting.^[21] Hamas won a majority of votes in this vote.

Relations with Israel[link]

Abbas with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

On 23 January 2006, Israeli radio reported that Abbas had secured a thirty-day ceasefire from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On 12 February lone Palestinians attacked Israel settlements and Abbas quickly fired some of his security officers for not stopping the attacks in a ceasefire.

On 9 April 2006, Abbas said that the killing of three Palestinians in southern Gaza by Israeli soldiers is a deliberate violation of the declared ceasefire deal. "This violation is made on purpose," Abbas said in a written statement sent to reporters in the West Bank capital of Ramallah. Abbas made the statement shortly after three Palestinian teenage boys were shot dead by Israeli troops in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Israel claimed they thought the boys were attempting to smuggle weapons, while Palestinians claimed a group of boys were playing soccer and three of them went to retrieve the ball near the border fence.^[22]

In response to the teens' deaths, Abbas said, "The Palestinian National Authority will not turn a blind eye to the shedding of the blood of our people and our children. We can never accept opening fire at our children who pose no danger at all." Abbas said the Palestinian children "are as precious to their parents as the Israeli children to their parents." Condemning the Israeli shooting as "unjustified", Abbas urged Israel to take serious actions to show commitment to the truce.

In May 2006, Abbas travelled to the White House and met with his American counterpart, George W. Bush. Bush, in return for Abbas' crackdown on terrorists, pledged 50 million USD in aid to the Palestinian Authority and reiterated the US pledge for a free Palestinian state. It was the first direct aid the United States has given to them, as previous donations have gone through non-governmental organizations. The next day Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada pledged 9.5 million CAD in new aid for judicial reform and housing projects, monitors for the coming Palestinian elections, border management and scholarships for Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon.^[23]

On 25 July 2006 he announced that he would move his office to Gaza until the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops in order to coordinate the Palestinian side of the withdrawal, mediating between the different factions.^[24]

Abbas has been called the most "courageous" pro-peace senior leader the Palestinians ever had.^{[citation needed]} Ephraim Sneh, a former minister in the Israeli cabinet wrote that on April 19, 2006, following the elections in Israeli but before Ehud Olmert was sworn in, he met with Abbas and Abbas requested that negotiations resume immediately with the new Israeli government and that he be put in touch right away with a contact person to be appointed by the prime minister. Sneh reported that he immediately conveyed the substance of their meeting to the prime minister's office, but the prime minister had no interest in the matter.^[25]

On 16 January 2006, Abbas said that he would not run for office again at the end of his current term.^[26]

On 25 May, Abbas gave Hamas a ten-day deadline to accept the 1967 ceasefire lines.

On 2 June, Abbas again announced that if Hamas did not approve the prisoners' document—which calls for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict according to the 1967 borders—within two days, he would present the initiative as a referendum. This deadline was subsequently extended until 10 June 2006. Hamas spokesmen stated that a change in their stance would not occur, and that Abbas is not constitutionally permitted to call a referendum, especially so soon after the January elections.

Abbas warned Hamas on 8 October 2006 that he would call new legislative elections if it did not accept a coalition government. To recognize Israel was a condition he has presented for a coalition. But it was not clear if Abbas had the power to call new elections.^{[citation needed]}

On 16 December 2006, Abbas called for new legislative elections, to bring an end to the parliamentary stalemate between Fatah and Hamas in forming a national coalition government.^[27]

Abbas meets with then United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

On 17 March 2007, a unity government was formed incorporating members of both Hamas and Fatah, with Ismail Haniyeh as Prime Minister and independent politicians taking many key portfolios.

On 14 June 2007, Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led unity government of Haniyeh, declared a state of emergency, and appointed Salam Fayyad in his place. This followed action by Hamas armed forces to take control of Palestinian Authority positions controlled by Fatah militias. The appointment of Fayyad to replace Haniyeh has been challenged as illegal, because under the Palestinian Basic Law, the president may dismiss a sitting prime minister, but may not appoint a replacement without the approval of the Palestinian Legislative Council. According to the law, until a new prime minister is thus appointed, the outgoing prime minister heads a caretaker government. Fayyad's appointment was never placed before, or approved by the Legislative Council.^[28] For this reason, Haniyeh the Hamas prime minister has continued to operate in Gaza, and is recognised by a large number of Palestinians as the legitimate acting prime minister. Anis al-Qasem, a constitutional lawyer who drafted the Basic Law, is among those who publicly declared Abbas' appointment of Fayyad to be illegal.^[29]

On 18 June 2007, the European Union promised to resume direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, Abbas dissolved the National Security Council, a sticking point in the defunct unity government with Hamas.^[30] That same day, the United States decided to end its fifteen-month embargo on the Palestinian Authority and resume aid, attempting to strengthen Abbas's West Bank government.^[31] A day later, the Fatah Central Committee cut off all ties and dialogue with Hamas, pending the return of Gaza.^[32]

On 2 March 2008, Abbas stated he was suspending peace talks with Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to press on with military operations against militants who have been launching home-made rockets into southern Israel.^[33]

On 20 May 2008, Abbas stated he would resign from his office if the current round of peace talks had not yielded an agreement in principle "within six months". He also stated that the current negotiations were, in effect, deadlocked: "So far, we have not reached an agreement on any issue. Any report indicating otherwise is simply not true."^[34]

On 9 January 2009, Abbas term as president, at least as he was originally elected, ended. Abbas extended his term for another year, stating the Basic Law gave him the right to do so, so he could align the next presidential and parliamentary elections. Pointing to the Palestinian constitution, Hamas disputes the validity of this move, and considers Abbas' term to have ended, in which case Abdel Aziz Duwaik, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council has become acting president. Abbas remains as the president even though his one year extended term has expired. ^[5][35][36]

Relations with foreign leaders[link]

In May 2009, he welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to the West Bank, who supported Abbas' goal of a Palestinian State.^[37]

Also in May 2009, Abbas made a visit to Canada, where he met with foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In February 2010, Abbas visited Japan for the third time as Palestinian President. In this visit he met Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He also visited Hiroshima, the first such visit by a Palestinian leader, and spoke about the suffering of Hiroshima, which he compared to the suffering of the Palestinians.^[38]

Published works[link]

The Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement 1933 - 1945 is the title of Mahmoud Abbas' CandSc thesis, completed in 1982 at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, and defended at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In 1984 it was published as a book in Arabic titled "The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism" (Arabic: al-Wajh al-Akhar: al-'Alaqat as-Sirriya bayna an-Naziya wa's-Sihyuniya).

In the doctoral thesis and book, Abbas describes the Nazi Holocaust as "the Zionist fantasy, the fantastic lie that six million Jews were killed."^[39]

The dissertation and book discussed topics such as the Haavara Agreement, by which the Third Reich agreed with the Jewish Agency to facilitate Jewish emigration to Palestine.^[11][40] Some content of his thesis has been considered as Holocaust denial by critics, especially the parts disputing the accepted number of deaths in the Holocaust as well as the accusations that Zionist agitation was the cause of the Holocaust ^[41] a charge that he denies.^[42]

Quotes[link]

• "The Arab armies entered Palestine to protect the Palestinians from the Zionist tyranny but, instead, they abandoned them, forced them to emigrate and to leave their homeland, and threw them into prisons similar to the ghettos in which the Jews used to live in Eastern Europe, as if we were condemned to change places with them: they moved out of their ghettos and we occupied similar ones." (1976)^[43]
• "There is absolutely no substitution for dialogue." (2003)
• "The armed struggle necessitates certain conditions and opportunities that do not exist for us in Palestine. We cannot equate what is happening in Palestine with what is going on Lebanon or Algeria. Therefore, military activities under these circumstances and means are ineffective. For this reason, we stated that we have no choice but to stop it [military activities] for a year, which is not a submission from our point of view. As long as the circumstances are not equivalent." (A-Sharq Al-Awsat, 3 March 2003)^{[citation needed]}
• "The little jihad is over, and now we have the bigger jihad - the bigger battle is achieving security and economic growth" (2005)^[44]
• "From here [the Gaza withdrawal], our people begin the march towards establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital"^[45]
• "Today we are visitors to the airport (referring to Yasser Arafat International Airport), tomorrow we will come here as travellers." (19 August 2005)^{[citation needed]}
• “His Holiness was moved to receive this accolade from the people of Bethlehem and paid special attention to the message of the passport.” On giving the Bethlehem Passport to Pope Benedict XVI. The citation refers to "all people who uphold a just and open society."^[46]
• "I renew my commitment to continuing the road he [Arafat] began and for which he made a lot of sacrifices, until the Palestinian flag flies from the walls, minarets and churches of Jerusalem." (2005)^[47]
• "A Jewish state, what is that supposed to mean? You can call yourselves as you like, but I don't accept it and I say so publicly."(April 27, 2009)^[48][49]
• "Zionist forces expelled the Palestinian Arabs to ensure a decisive Jewish majority in the future state of Israel, and Arab armies intervened. War and further expulsions ensued" (2011).^[50]
• "We go to the United Nations now to secure the right to live free in the remaining 22 percent of our historic homeland because we have been negotiating with the State of Israel for 20 years without coming any closer to realizing a state of our own.^[50]"
• "It [the Arab rejection of the 1947 UN Partition Plan to divide Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state] was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole."^[51]

References[link]

'After Abbas' by Matthew Kalman, Tablet Magazine, March 15, 2011

External links[link]

	Palestine portal
	Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mahmoud Abbas

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mahmoud Abbas

Wikinews has news related to: Mahmoud Abbas

• Mahmoud Abbas' speech at UN; A bid for a Palestinian State
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Mahmoud Abbas on Charlie Rose
• Mahmoud Abbas at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Mahmoud Abbas in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Mahmoud Abbas collected news and commentary at The Electronic Intifada
• Mahmoud Abbas collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Mahmoud Abbas collected news and commentary at Ha'aretz
• Mahmoud Abbas collected news and commentary at The Jerusalem Post
• Mahmoud Abbas collected news and commentary at MSNBC.com
• Mahmoud Abbas collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Mahmoud Abbas at the Notable Names Database
• Profile: Mahmoud Abbas, BBC News, 5 November 2009
• Mahmoud Abbas at the Open Directory Project

Articles

• Abbas: No Force Against Arab Militants, AP (9 June 2003)
• Someone Was Going to Kill Newsweek Interview of Mahmoud Abbas (21 June 2004)^{[dead link]}
• Palestinian Head Meets Barghouti, BBC News (26 November 2004)
• I Don't Have a Magic Wand, Der Spiegel (21 February 2005)^{[dead link]}
• Bush pledges $50 million to Palestinian Authority, CNN (26 May 2005)
• Chairman Abbas' address to the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (26 September 2008)

v t e Presidents of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat · Rawhi Fattouh  · Mahmoud Abbas/Aziz Duwaik

v t e Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas · Ahmad Qurei · Nabil Shaath (acting) · Ahmad Qurei · Salam Fayyad (West Bank)/Ismail Haniyeh (Gaza Strip)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

The Opie & Anthony Show

Jim Norton, Anthony Cumia, and Gregg "Opie" Hughes
Genre	Talk, Comedy
Running time	6am to 10am, Monday through Friday
Country	United States
Starring	Gregg "Opie" Hughes Anthony Cumia Jim Norton
Creators	Gregg Hughes Anthony Cumia
Air dates	since March 28, 1995
Opening theme	"The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone "Street Fighting Man" by Rage Against the Machine
Website	SiriusXM.com

Gregg "Opie" Hughes (born May 23, 1963) and Anthony Cumia (born April 26, 1961) are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM. It is co-hosted by stand up comedian Jim Norton. Based in New York City, the show was previously on WXRK-FM and WNEW-FM in New York, and prior to that, on WAAF-FM in Boston, Massachusetts.

On April 26, 2006, Opie and Anthony returned to the terrestrial airwaves after a four year absence, replacing CBS Radio's short-lived David Lee Roth Show, which aired mainly on the eastern coast of the United States. The terrestrial portion of the show ran until March 9, 2009. The team was terminated by WXRK-FM when it flipped formats from rock to Top 40.

The Opie & Anthony Show airs weekdays live from 6am through 10am ET exclusively on XM Radio Channel 105 and Sirius Radio Channel 206 "The Opie & Anthony Channel". Replays are available throughout the day on their XM and Sirius channels and on audible.com.