In news from the Middle East, Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, has died at 65 after he became infected with COVID-19. Erekat was a key Palestinian negotiator involved in peace talks for over three decades. He famously showed up at the 1991 Madrid Conference proudly wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism. He stood in staunch opposition to Trump’s Middle East plan, which he called the “fraud of the century,” and condemned recent agreements normalizing relations between Israel and Gulf nations. This is Saeb Erekat speaking in 2018.

Saeb Erekat: “I think, as Palestinians, we have defined our interest, as no one benefits more from achieving peace than us, and nobody stands to lose more in the absence of peace more than us.”

Erekat is survived by his wife, four children and eight grandchildren.