The General Union of Palestine Students (Arabic: الإتحاد العام لطلبة فلسطين) (GUPS) is an organization run by Palestinian students since the early 1920s. It is generally considered one of the first Palestinian institutions started. It was officially launched in Cairo in 1959 with chapters formed in universities all over the Arab world.^[1]

Following the Oslo Accords, the majority of GUPS chapters collapsed. Prior to the signing of the Accords, there were 60 GUPS chapters on US campuses. Today, only the San Francisco State University chapter remains operational in the United States.^[2] Several GUPS chapters remain operational in Europe and South America, including in Chile and the United Kingdom. The organization is a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

Notable individuals

Several Palestinian politicians, writers, journalists and militants have been members or leaders of the GUPS. They include Yasser Arafat, Hanan Ashrawi, Faisal Husseini, Walid Khalidi, Mahmoud Hamshari, Afif Safieh, Elias Sanbar, Ahmad Abdel Rahman^[3] and many others.

Nearing the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Yasser Arafat moved to Cairo in order to re-enrol in the University of King Fuad I, later known as Cairo University, studying civil engineering and serving as chairman of the GUPS from 1952 until the year of his graduation of 1956 as well as the chairman of the Federation of Palestinian Students, both considered important positions in Palestinian politics. Abu Iyad, served as Secretary General of GUPS whilst studying at Al Azhar University before being deported by Egyptian secret police to Gaza in 1983 during the last year of his studies.^[4] The pair along with Khaled Yashruti, the then head of GUPS in Beirut, and others later formed Fatah in 1959.