Mahmoud Abbas Fast Facts Personal Education: Damascus University, B.A.; Oriental College (in Moscow), Ph.D. Other Facts His family left the British Mandate area Safed, Palestine, to live in Syria as refugees in 1948. Abbas laid floor tiles and taught elementary school before earning a law degree. Played an integral role in the forging of the Declaration of Principles, the historic Oslo Accords signed in 1993 by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel. Was the primary force behind the Palestine National Council’s decision to work with Israeli peace groups. He is also known as Abu Mazen. (Abu is a slang term to describe the head of a family or father of children.)