1 Palestinian Personalities A
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PALESTINIAN PERSONALITIES Personalities - Alphabetical Listing ABBAS, MAHMOUD ZEIDAN (ABU MAZEN) (1935-) Born in Safad in 1935; left as refugee for A Syria in 1948; worked as an elementary teacher and later gained a BA in Law from ABAS, IHSAN (1920-2003) Damascus University (1958); worked as Di- rector of Personnel in Qatar’s civil service in Born in Ein Ghazal near Haifa on 2 Dec. 1920; 1957; began, at the same time, to manage completed high school in Haifa and Acre, then and organize Palestinian groups; found- A attended four years at the Arab College in ing member of Fateh; member of the Fateh Jerusalem (1937-41); worked as a teacher at Central Committee since 1964; member Safad College from 1941-46; received a BA of the PNC since 1968 and the PLO Exec. in Arabic Literature from Cairo University in Committee since 1980; leading Palestinian 1950; taught at private schools in Cairo, then figure devoted to the search for a peaceful solution to the Palestin- moved to Khartoum, Sudan, where he worked ian-Israeli conflict; advocated negotiations with Israelis, since the ear- between 1951 and 1960 as a teacher at the ly 1970s and initiated dialogue with Jewish and pacifist movements; Gordon Memorial College (later known as the University of Khartoum), earned a PhD from the Oriental College in Moscow in History (on Zion- while still continuing his graduate studies; received an MA (1952) and ism) in 1982; led negotiations with Matityahu Peled that resulted in the PhD (1954) in Arabic Literature from Cairo University; was appointed announcement of “principles of peace” based on a two-state solution Professor of Arabic Literature at the AUB in 1961 and remained there in Jan. 1977; became head of the PLO Arab and International Rela- until his retirement in 1985; moved to Jordan in 1986 where he was as- tions Dept. in 1984 (until 2000); elected by the PLO Exec. Committee signed to conduct a research project on the history of the Levant for the to succeed Khalil Al-Wazir (assassinated in April 1988) as chairman University of Jordan; published numerous books, studies and articles on of the portfolio on the Occupied Territories in May 1988; coordinated history and Arabic Literature with a focus on Arab Andalusian Literature, the negotiation process during the 1991 Madrid conference; was the in addition to translating world literature into Arabic, for instance, Her- first PLO official to visit Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War in Jan. 1993, man Melville’s Moby Dick; has published his autobiography in Amman and ‘apologized’ to the Gulf countries for the PLO’s stand during the in 1996; was awarded several honorary prizes like the King Faisal In- crisis; headed the Palestinian negotiating team to the secret Oslo talks ternational Prize in 1980 and the Jerusalem Medal for Culture and Arts and signed the DoP on 13 Sept. 1993 on behalf of PLO; head of the awarded by the PLO in 1990; died in Amman in July 2003. PLO Negotiating Affairs Dept. from 1994 until his becoming a PM in 2003; signed the Interim Agreement (Oslo II) in Sept. 1995 on behalf of the PLO; returned to Palestine in Sept. 1995 after almost 48 years ABBAD, ABDUL RAHMAN (1945-) in exile and took residences in Gaza and Ramallah; authored an ac- count on the Oslo negotiations entitled Through Secret Channels: The Born in Zakariya near Hebron in 1945; Di- Road to Oslo (1995); drafted together with his Israeli counterpart Yossi ploma from the Teachers’ College, Lebanon; Beilin the controversial ‘Framework for the Conclusion of a Final Status BA in Arabic Language and Literature from Agreement Between Israel and the PLO’ (better known as Abu-Ma- Beirut Arab University (1977); MA (1982) zen-Beilin Plan) in Oct. 1995 (although its existence was denied for and PhD (1990) in Arabic Language and Lit- five years before being published in Sept 2000); head of the Central erature from the Jesuit University, Lebanon; Election Commission from 1996 until 2002; was elected in the Jan. teacher at Hebron University from 1982-1990; Professor at Al-Quds 1996 PLC elections in the Qalqilya district; served as head of the Refu- Open University, Bethlehem branch from 1990-92; Associate Professor gee Dept.; became Sec.-Gen. of the PLO Exec. Committee since April at Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, from 1996-99; Professor in the Je- 1996; headed (with Uri Savir) the first session of the Israeli-PA final rusalem branch of Leeds University from 1998-2002; Chairman of the status talks in May 1996; criticized the direction of the Al-Aqsa Intifada Arabic Language and Islamic Culture Dept., UNRWA College, Ramal- in late 2002, calling for an end to all military operations; nominated PM lah; editor-in-chief of Al-Isra’ newspaper; has many publications deal- by Pres. Yasser Arafat on 10 March 2003 and sworn in as PM and PA ing with literary criticism, books for university students, short story col- Interior Min. on 30 April 2003; resigned from the Fateh Central Com- lections, novels and studies related to the Arab-Islamic culture; some of mittee in July 2003; submitted his resignation as PM on 6 Sept. 2003 his works have been translated into French, English, Russian, Czech, (naming mainly Israel’s unwillingness to implement its road map com- and Hebrew; received awards like the Palestine Prize for Literature in mitments and undertake constructive measures, but also blaming the 1989; a prize presented by late Pres. Yasser Arafat in 1997; an award international community and the Palestinian side for its lack of support, by Pope Shenuda of Egypt; and received the Jerusalem Medal, Beirut, incitement and accusations); following the death of Yasser Arafat, was in 2004; member of the General Union for Palestinian Writers; Board of elected the new head of the PLO and endorsed by the Fateh Revolu- Trustees member, Al-Liqa’ Center for Religious and Heritage Studies, tionary Council as its preferred candidate for the Presidential Elections Bethlehem; member, Higher Islamic Council; member, Higher Islamic on 25 Nov. 2004; elected as President of PA in the 9 Jan. 2005 Presi- Sufi Council; Executive Committee member, Union of Arab Historians; dential Elections (gaining 62.52% of the votes) and sworn in on 15 Jan.; Board of Trustees member, Al-Aqsa Islamic Schools; Advisory Board began to reform the government and security services, incl. forcing top member, Faculty of Qur’an and Islamic Studies, Al-Quds University, security leaders into retirement. Jerusalem; his books include Non-Violence in Islam (Arabic, 1995). 1 PALESTINIAN PERSONALITIES A ABBOUSHI, FAHMI (1895-1975) ABDUL BAQI, AHMAD HILMI (1878-1963) Born in Jenin in 1895; Mayor of Jenin from Born in Sidon, Lebanon, in 1878; moved with 1935-37; dismissed from the post by British the family to Nablus, where he received his Mandate authorities in 1937; as a result, the education; served as General in the Ottoman Abboushi family left and lived in exile in Bei- Army; became Dir.-Gen. of the Ottoman Agri- rut until 1940; had a close relationship with cultural Bank in Nablus and later with the gov- Awni Abdul Hadi, co-founding the promi- ernment in Iraq in 1908; served as Dir.-Gen. nent Arab Independence Party (Al-Istiqlal) of the Ministry of Finance in Syria and in Tran- in the 1930s; chairman of the Arab National sjordan, and, in 1919, as Minister; moved after Bank, Jenin branch in the 1940s; also served the occupation of Syria to Jordan, where he on numerous national committees during and after the British Mandate assisted in establishing the government led by A of Palestine; well known for his oratory skills; died in 1975. Emir Abdullah; was appointed Minister of Finance; moved to Al-Hijaz, then – following British pressure to remove politically-active Ministers from their posts – to Cairo; returned to Palestine and worked as General ABDALLAH, SAMIR see ALI, ABDULLAH SAMIR Inspector of the Palestinian Waqf under Hajj Amin Al-Husseini from 1925-30; co-founder of the Arab National Bank in 1930 with his son- in-law Abdul Hamid Shuman, and served as its Chairman in the early ABDEEN, ABDEL QADER (SHEIKH) (1927-2003) 1940s; helped founding the Agricultural Bank; was active in several fi- Born in Hebron in 1927; raised in Hebron and nancial, credit and economic institutions; early member of the Istiqlal Jerusalem, where he attended Al-Ibrahimi- Party; member and named as treasurer to the first Arab Higher Commit- yyeh School; studied at Al-Azhar University, tee formed in 1936; among those Arab Higher Committee members who Egypt, gaining a degree in Islamic Shari’a got deported to the Seychelles Islands by the British in 1937; established Law in 1950; specialized in Shari’a Law (1952) the Arab National Fund in Aug. 1943, which supported the Istiqlal Party; then in Education (1954); worked as teacher in named by King Abdullah in charge of the administration in Jerusalem Cairo from 1950-57, Saudi Arabia and Jordan; on 15 May 1948; formally appointed Military Governor in Jerusalem in returned to Jerusalem in 1962 and worked June 1948; named first PM of the All-Palestine Government’s cabinet, as a teacher in Rashidiyeh Boys’ School, Al- established in Sept. 1948 in Gaza; then appointed District Military Gov- Ma’muniyeh Girls’ School and the Agricultural School of Al-‘Urub; also ernor under Hashemite rule in the West Bank; appointed representative taught at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Dar Al-Aytam Al-Islamiya (Islamic Orphan- of the All-Palestine Government to the Arab League on 30 Oct. 1948 age School); then worked in the Shari’a Court in 1973; became a member and subsequently moved to Cairo, where he established the Al-Ummah of the Court of Appeals, then its Acting Chairman and Higher Shari’a Arab Bank; left Cairo for medical treatment in Lebanon, where he died Court Judge until his retirement in 1998; member of the Higher Islamic on 29 June 1963; buried in Jerusalem.