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RAMALLAH, Nov 5: Yasser Arafat, fighting for his life in a Paris hospital, came to symbolise the struggle for a Palestinian state over the course of the last four decades. Here are some of his most famous quotes.
Background
"I am a refugee for I have nothing, for I was banished and dispossessed of my homeland" - 1969 interview with Beirut's Al-Sayyad paper after becoming head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation
Palestinian strategy "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand" - November 1974 speech at the United Nations General Assembly
View of United States defending an Arab capital, defending Arab honour, standing up before the world for the whole Arab nation" - August 1982 comments on departure from Beirut after Israeli siege of Lebanese capital
First war in Iraq "Iraq and Palestine represent a common will. We will be together side by side and after the great battle, God willing, we will pray together in Jerusalem" - January 1990 address to a rally in Baghdad in build-up to war. -AFP
