Born in Safad in 1935; left as refugee for Syria in 1948, worked as an elementary teacher and later gained a BA in Law from Damascus University (1958); worked as Dir. of personnel in Qatar’s civil service (1957) and began to manage and organize Palestinian groups; founding member of Fateh; member of the Fateh Central Committee since 1964; member of the PNC (since 1968) and the PLO Exec. Committee since 1980; leading Palestinian figure devoted to the search for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; advocated negotiations with Israelis, since the early 1970; PhD from the Oriental College in Moscow in History (on Zionism); initiated dialogue with Jewish and pacifist movements in the 1970s; led negotiations with Matiyahu Peled that resulted in the announcement of "principles of peace" based on a two-state-solution in Jan. 1977; PhD in the field of Oriental Studies, Moscow, 1982; head of the PLO National and International Relations Dept. since 1984 (until 2000); elected by the PLO Exec. Committee to replace Abu Jihad (assassinated in April 1988) as chairman of the portfolio on the Occupied Territories in May 1988; coordinated the negotiation process during the Madrid conference; was the first PLO official to visit Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War in Jan. 1993, and ‘apologized’ to the Gulf countries for the PLO’s stand during the crisis; headed the Palestinian negotiating team to the secret Oslo talks and signed the DoP on 13 Sept. 1993 on behalf of PLO; head of the PLO Negotiating Affairs Dept. since 1994 (until his becoming a PM in 2003); signed the Interim Agreement in Sept. 1995 on behalf of PLO; returned to Palestine in Sept. 1995 after 48 years in exile and took residences in Gaza and Ramallah; authored an account on the Oslo negotiations entitled Through Secret Channels: The Road to Oslo (1995); drafted together with his Israeli counterpart Yossi Beilin the controversial ‘Framework for the Conclusion of a Final Status Agreement Between Israel and the PLO’ (better known as Abu-Mazen-Beilin Plan) in Oct. 1995 (although its existence was denied for five years before being published in Sept 2000); head of the Central Election Commission (1996-2002); was elected himself in Qalqilya; served as head of the PLO Arab and International Relations Dept. and later as head of the Refugee Dept.; Sec.-Gen. of the PLO Exec. Committee (since April 1996); headed (with Uri Savir) the first session of the Israeli-PA final status talks in May 1996; is considered as Arafat’s deputy; criticized the direction of the Intifada in late 2002, calling for an end to all military operations; nominated PM by Arafat on 10 March 2003 and sworn in as PM and PA Interior Min. on 30 April 2003; resigned from the Fateh Central Committee in July 2003 after being criticized for his handling talk with Israelis; submitted his resignation as PM on 6 Sept. 2003 (naming mainly Israel's unwillingness to implement its road map commitments and undertake constructive measures, but also blaming the international community and the Palestinian side for its lack of support, incitement and accusations); following the passing away of Yasser Arafat nominated as running candidate for Fateh in the 2005 PA elections.
Also see: http://www.abumazen.com/

Mayor of Jenin from 1935-37; dismissed from the post by the British in 1937.As a result, the Abboushi family lived in exile in Beirut Lebanon until1940.

Fahmi Abboushi had a close relationship with Awni AbdulHadi, both were thecofounders of the prominent Arab Independence Party in the 1930s. FahmiAbboushi was the chairman of the Arab National Bank, Jenin branch, in the1940s. He also served on numerous national committees during and after theBritish Mandate on Palestine.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Hafiz Basha AbdulHadi and HajjMustafa Abboushi were prominent figures in the Jenin Area, they were alsoclose friends. The two families always competed for the mayoral office.

Fahmi Abboushi was also well known for his oratory skills.

Palestinian notable from Gaza; member of the 'ulama (religious notables); served for the Ottomans until World War I; director of waqf properties; Shari'a Court judge in Gaza; appointed member of the Supreme Muslim Council for Gaza and Southern Palestine in 1930; held this position until his death in Gaza in 1955.

Born in 1878 in Sidon; served as General in the Ottoman army; Director-General of the Ottoman Agricultural Bank in Syria and Iraq in 1908; Director-General of the Palestinian waqf under Hajj Amin al-Husseini in 1925; founder of the Arab National Bank in 1930 and its chairman in the early 1940s; early member of the Istiqlal party; named as treasurer to the first Arab Higher Committee formed in 1936; established the Arab National Fund in August 1943 which supported the Istiqlal party; military governor in Jerusalem; named first Prime Minister of the All-Palestine Government's cabinet established in September 1948 in Gaza; appointed District Military Governor under Hashemite rule in the West Bank; appointed Palestinian representative to the Arab League; died in 1963 in Cairo.

A man of literature. He occupied various jobs under the Turks and was one of those exiled to al-Anadhol by Jamal Pasha. He is the father of 'Awni Abdul Hadi, one of the founders of "al-Fata al-'Arabiyyeh" Society. Haj Abdul Hadi died in 1938 when 'Awni was in Egypt and banned from entering Palestine. Judge Fu'ad Abdul Hadi is a son of Haj Abdul Hadi.

Born in 1889 in Nablus; landowner and lawyer; pan-Arabist; educated in Beirut, Istanbul, and at the Sorbonne University, Paris; founding member of the al-Fatat nationalist society in 1911 which was devoted to Arab independence and unity; among the organizers of the first Arab Nationalist Congress in Paris, 1913; private secretary of King Faisal I at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919; then adviser to Amir Abdullah in Transjordan; returning to Palestine in 1924 he became one of the chief spokespersons of the Palestinian-Arab nationalist movement; elected representative to the 5th (August 1922, Nablus) and 6th (June 1923, Jaffa) Congress of the Arab Executive Committee for Jenin and to the 7th (June 1928) for Beisan; secretary of the Executive Committee's Congress in 1928; member of the Palestinian Delegation to the United Kingdom in 1930; lawyer for the Supreme Muslim Council; founder, general secretary and first elected president of the Palestinian Istiqlal (Independence) Party, the first regularly constituted Palestinian political party (August 2, 1932); member and Secretary General of the Arab Higher Committee (formed in April 1936); partially responsible for the revolt of 1936-39; banned from re-entry to the country when the British decided to deport the committee members in 1937 (until 1941); member of the Palestinian delegation to the London Conference, St. James's Palace, February 1939; member and appointed Minister for Social Affairs of the All-Palestine government, established in 1948, served as Jordan's Minister (later ambassador) to Cairo, 1951-55; 1955-58 Jordanian senator; from 1958 chairman of the Arab League's Judicial Affairs Committee in Cairo; died on March 15, 1970 in Cairo.

Born in Beirut in March 1900. He studied at Freres School, Saint Joseph in Jaffa, then at the Arab College in Beirut. His university studies were spent at the University of Hughes in Versailles in Paris, France. In 1930, he graduated with a law degree from the Palestinian Law School in Jerusalem. His profession as a lawyer, from 1930 to 1950. covered working in Jaffa, Nablus, Jenin and Jerusalem. In 1951 he became a judge. His career from 1951 to 1960, ended in a judge's post at the Jerusalem Court of Appeals. In 1961 he became under secretary of the Ministry of Justice in Amman up until 1964 when he was appointed as a member of the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament. In 1967 he was one of the founding members of the Islamic Higher Council in Jerusalem and one of its active members on legal issues. He died in June 1977 in Jerusalem.

Palestinian notable; landowner from Nablus, Arrabeh and Jenin; supported the Decentralization Party under Ottoman rule.

From Nablus District and another Othoman educated man of Law. He was inclined to economy both Islamic economies and modern ones. He used to publish his articles in the local newspapers at the time.

Born in 1912 in Nablus; engineer; mayor of Nablus 1951-55; contributed as such a lot much to the city's development; Minister of Public Works and Economy in Jordan, 1955-57; member of Parliament in 1956.

Born in Jenin in 1885; served in the Ottoman diplomatic and consular corps; vice president of the Ottoman parliament in 1908; held senior positions in the Palestinian administration under the British Mandate (Chief Secretary of Palestine); elected secretary of the first Delegation to London, 1921; became a Minister in Jordan (Foreign Minister, 1949; Justice Minister, 1949 and 1952-53); died on July 16, 1954 in Nablus.

Member of the Decentralization Party which demanded autonomy for the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire in 1912; belonged to the 1st Arab nationalist group, who were executed by the Ottomans in Damascus/Beirut in 1915.

Palestinian feminist; gave a speech in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the Arab Womens March to holy sites on April 15, 1933, warning of the replacement of the Arab population of Palestine with Jewish immigrants; one of many activists in the 1930s' campaign aiming at the removal of the veil.

Born in Gaza; physician; early education in Gaza and Jerusalem; M.D. graduate from American University in Beirut, 1943; worked in British Government Hospital of Jaffa after graduation, later as medical officer in the Jordanian army; returned to Gaza in 1945 and opened a private practice; member of the Arab Medical Society since 1945; director for medical services in the Gaza Strip, 1957-60; head of the Gaza Parliament's Legislative Council from 1962-65; member of the first all-Palestinian conference convened in Jerusalem in 1964, which established the PLO, deported to Lebanon in 1970 for PLO activities; head of Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza since 1972; head of the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Conference in 1990; led the Palestinian negotiation team for 22 months in the Washington talks.

He succeded S'ad ash-Shawa to the membership of the Islamic Council. Al-Azhar graduate - he assumed many posts during the Othoman Rule. He died in Gaza in 1955.

Born in Jaffa; co-founder (with Nayef Hawatmeh), former leader and Deputy Secretary-Gen. of the DFLP before broke off relations in 1990; founder of the Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA); head of the PLO's information department in Tunis; leading PLO moderate; member of the PLO Executive Committee; close advisor to Arafat during the peace negotiations with Israel; Minister for Information and Culture in the PA.

Cofounder (with Abdullah Rimawi and Abdullah Nawas) of the Baath Arab Party's branch in Ramallah (Renaissance Party) in 1952; active member of the PNC; member of PLO Executive Committee in the 1960s.

Born in 1913 in Amman. He obtained a law degree from The Lawyers' Union in London in 1942, in addition to a degree in philosophical law that same year. Later, he obtained a law degree from London University in 1940, and a BA degree in history and politics from The American University in Beirut in 1935. Ghazaleh practiced law in Palestine from 1944-1948, and worked as a deputy at the Appeals Court in Jerusalem during 1948-1951. He was appointed a member of the Jerusalem Appeals Court from 1951-1952. He became deputy of the High Court in 1956-1959 in Khartoum, and was also appointed as General Director of Al-Aqaba port from 1959-1961. In 1961 he became Governor of Jerusalem. In December 1962 he was appointed as the Minister of Transport until March 1962. He was re-instituted as Governor of Jerusalem and held the post until December 1965. After, he became Jordan's ambassador to Spain, and in 1967, its ambassador to Iran.

Born in 1891 in the village of Massoudeh, Jaffa. Studied in local schools and worked in agriculture and trade. He later became Secretary-General of the Central Society for Villages of Jaffa and a member of the Agricultural Society in Lydda during the British Mandate.

Born in 1912 in Ein Anoub in Lebanon. Studied at the American School in Lebanon then at the National University at Shwaifat. Graduated with a BA in political science in 1929. He came to Palestine in 1930. Appointed with the General Police in Haifa in 1933, then as Inspector of Police in 1937. He later became a captain in the criminal investigation branch in 1938. In 1943 he joined the British army until 1944. During his service he was in charge of extradition matters between the British Authorities in Palestine and Austria. In the last years of the British Mandate, he joined the Palestinian School of Law in Jerusalem, and graduated as a lawyer.

Born in 1900 into the Abu Kheshek family of Jaffa. He became the chief of Abu Kheshek when he was sixteen, upon the death of his father. In 1929, he was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment for participating in the 1929 Palestinian uprising. Upon the protestations of Arab leaders, the British High Commissioner replaced the prison sentence with a fine of two thousand five hundred Egyptian pounds. He was a member of the National Front and the head of the village society of Jaffa.

Born in Jaffa; professor of Political Science; B.A. and M.A. from the University of Illinois, USA (1953 and 1954); Ph.D. from Princetown University, 1962; lecturer at several US universities; author of many works on the question of Palestine; head of the Palestinian Independent Group for Elections in the OPT; head of Palestinian Higher Committee on Education Curricula. Died on the 23 of May, 2001.

Born in Gaza; Palestinian lawyer; L.L.B. graduate from Alexandria University, Egypt, in 1971; member of various Palestinian councils and associations; former elected Chairman of Gaza Bar Association (1989-94); member of the Palestinian negotiating team to the Madrid peace conference of 1991; PA Minister of Justice.

Born in 1871; sheikh of tribe from the Beer Sheva, Negev and Gaza area; head of the tribal court in the Negev; took part in the Arab Revolt of 1916; When the British entered Palestine in 1917, he helped them enter Gaza. As a reward he was made a member of the Consultative Council representing the clans of Beershiba; later he became the first mayor of Beer Sheva in 1922; took refuge in Gaza after the 1948 war; owned much of the land; died in 1955.

Born in 1955 in Gaza’s Shati RC to refugee parents; studied at Al-Mansur University in Cairo and later graduated with a MA in Engineering from Colorado State University; instructor in Engineering at Gaza Islamic University; was imprisoned in 1989 for his role in establishing Hamas and serving as a deputy to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin; released in 1996; elected – on the Hamas slate - chairman of the Palestinian Engineers Association in 1996; served as Hamas’ observer to the PLO Central Council; one of the leaders and spokespersons – especially with regard to the foreign press due to his good English skills - of Hamas’ political wing in Gaza, considered the movement’s leading pragmatist and a moderate voice; Hamas representative to the 2002 talks in Gaza of all major factions towards a unified Palestinian position as well as to the summer 2003 talks with PM Mahmoud Abbas on a (temporary) ceasefire agreement (hudna); Hamas’ liaison with PM Abbas; assassinated by Israel on 21 August 2003 along with his two bodyguards in an air missile strike at a car carrying him in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.

From Jerusalem. He studied at the American Schools in Jerusalem until WWI. Also studied at "as-Salahiyyeh College" which was established by Jamal Pasha in Jerusalem, to turn out Arab youth who would contribute to the advancement of the Arab and Islamic worlds after the War. Sheikh Hasan took a teaching job at "Rawdat al-Ma'arif" in Jerusalem until 1933. Afterwards, the Islamic Council employed him in the Shari'ah Judiciary. He died in Cairo in 1957.

A Jerusalemite. Studied medecine in al-Asitana in the first decade of the 20^th Century and settled in Palestine. An advocate of the National Movement. He was brought before the Military Tribunal in 'Aleih-Lebanon- but he escaped trial.

Palestinian engineer; in the late 1950s a teacher in Qatar; later studied petroleum engineering in Cairo; Fateh key figure and Central Committee member; among the top leaders of the Black September Organization; PLO leader in charge of operations in the OPT; killed by an Israeli raid in Beirut on April 10, 1973.

Born in 1906 in Ramallah. He obtained his BA degree in science from the American University in Beirut in 1927, and a degree in law from the Palestinian Law Institute in 1934. He practiced soon after and later became a member of the Jordanian Parliament representing Ramallah district from 1954 to 1967.

Mayor of Jerusalem 1906-09 and elected member of the "Administrative Council" for the sanjaq of Jerusalem in the Ottoman Parliament, 1914-18.

Born in Jerusalem in 1897; son of Faidi al-Alami; landowner; graduated in law from Cambridge University; during the 1930s served as Secretary to the High Commissioner and Junior Crown Counsel in the Mandatory Administration; in 1936 Secretary General of the Legal Department in Jerusalem; participated in the 1936-39 revolt alongside the Mufti; held a series of talks with Jewish Agency leader David Ben Gurion; member of the Palestinian delegation to the London Conference, St. James's Palace, February 1939; representative of the Palestinian Political Parties at the Preparatory Conference for the Establishment of the Arab League, held in Alexandria in September/October 1944, preceding the establishment of the League of Arab States in 1945; founded Palestinian-Arab propaganda offices in Jerusalem, Beirut, London and Washington and created a special fund to help Palestinian farmers to retain their land in 1945; after the 1948 war, founded the Arab Development Society in Jericho; died on June 8, 1984 in Jerusalem.

Cartoonist; born in 1938 in Skajara village (Galilee); grew up in Ein al-Hilwe refugee camp in Lebanon; published first drawings in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Muharar in the early 1970s; worked later for Al-Watan newspaper in Kuwait; returned in the mid-1970s to Lebanon, drawing for different newspapers; went back to Kuwait in 1982 to work for Al-Qabas newspaper; transferred to their London office; famous for his cartoons showing Palestine under occupation and his figure Handalla; shot on 22 July 1987 in London; led to his death on August 29.

Born in 1903, in Nablus. He graduated from The American University in Beirut in 1926 with a BA degree in science. In 1934, he attained a PhD in science from Cambridge University. He started his professional life as a lecturer at the Arab College, then became an inspector of the Education Department in Palestine until 1948. Became a specialized inspector at the Syrian Education Department, as well as an administrative manager and secretary of the Arab Bank. In 1970 he was appointed Minister of Finance in the Jordanian government.

Palestinian writer and politician; Greek-Orthodox Christian of Lebanese origin; born in 1891 in Cairo; graduate from Cambridge University in 1913; Deputy Press Censor in Alexandria during World War I; came to Palestine in 1921 and started civil service career in the Education Department (1921) and the Secretariat (1927) of the British Mandate Executive; obtained Palestinian Citizenship in 1925; advisor to the Mufti; resigned from British service in 1930 in protest over British discrimination policy against Palestinians; began his work as Middle Eastern associate of C.R. Crane's Institute of Current World Affairs, New York; appeared before the Peel commission 1936-37; author of The Arab Awakening (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1938) a classic work on Arab nationalism; member of the Palestinian delegation at the London Conference, St. James's Palace, February 1939, functioning as secretary to the Palestinian delegation and Secretary General to the United Arab delegation; died in Jerusalem on December 27, 1941.

Born in Cairo on 4 Aug. 1929; full name is Abdul Rahman Abdul Ra�uf Arafat Al-Qudwa Al-Husseini; grew up mainly in Cairo and, for a brief period, in Jerusalem; fought in 1948 alongside the Mufti's defense forces of Palestine; graduated from Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering, in 1956; founder and president (1952-57) of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) in Cairo/Egypt; founder and chairman of the Union of Palestinian Graduates in 1956; volunteered in the Egyptian army during the Suez Canal crisis; left to Kuwait in late 1956; co-founder (with Abu Jihad) of the first Fateh-cell in 1957; founder of Fateh party (January 1959), until today PLO's largest faction; Fateh leader since 1958 and its spokesperson since 1968; member of the first Palestinian delegation to China to confer with Premier Chou-En-Lai in March 1964; elected chairman of the PLO Exec. Committee since Feb. 1969 when Fateh took over the PLO; changed the directions of the PLO from being pan-Arabist to focusing on the Palestinian national cause; appointed Commander-in-Chief of the all-Palestinian/Arab guerilla forces in Sept. 1970; agreed to �liberate Palestine by stages� at the PNC conference of 1974; addressed the UN General Assembly in New York for the first time on 13 Nov. 1974, saying he bore an olive branch (for peace) in one hand, and a gun (for war) in the other; rejected Egyptian President Sadat�s peace talks with Israel from 1977-1978, after it became clear that its version of Palestinian autonomy fell far short of statehood, and gave no role to the PLO; in 1985, signed a Framework for Peace with his old enemy, King Hussein of Jordan, encompassing plans for a Palestinian-Jordanian confedera�tion (was abrogated by King Hussein in 1986 when Arafat failed to condemn the Achille Lauro affair); in March 1986, offered to accept UN Res. 242 and 338, and thus Israel, if the permanent UNSC members guarantee the Palestinians� right to self-determination; on 15 Nov. 1988, recognized Israel, renounced terrorism and proclaimed the independent Palestinian State; and elected by the PLO Central Council as the first President of the State of Palestine on 2 April 1989; offered his �good offices� to negotiate an Arab solution to the 1990-1991 Gulf Crisis, after Saddam Hussein�s �call to arms� on behalf of Palestine; announced his marriage to Suha Tawil in Feb. 1992; survived an air crash over the Libyan Sahara in April 1992; supervised secret negotiations with Israel from 1992 which led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles between PLO and Israel on 13 Sept. 1993; since then negotiating with Israel on Palestinian self-rule; returned to Palestine on 1 July 1994; set up the PA and appointed as President and Minister of Interior; awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace together with Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and FM Shimon Peres in 1994; elected President in the Jan. 1996 elections (with 87.3% of the vote); appointed a committee to draw up a Palestinian constitution; met Pres. Clinton during his first official visit to the US in May 1996; announced a new 25-member cabinet on 9 May; faced with resignations from the PLC and his cabinet in 1997-1998 (e.g., Hanan Ashrawi and Haidar Abdul Shafi) over his failure to implement reforms and combat corruption; received the �Golden Pegasus� prize in Florence in June 1998; signed the Wye River Plantation Agreement with Israel in October 1998, calling for further Israeli withdrawals and a Palestinian crackdown on militants; in 1999, threatened to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state in the WBGS with East Jerusalem as its capital, at the end of the Interim Period following Israel�s failure to meet its commitments, but is persuaded against this; signed the Sharm Esh-Sheikh Agreement in Sept. 1999, which calls for a 7%-transfer of �Area C� to �Area B�; headed the negotiations in Camp David with Pres. Clinton and PM Barak in July 2000, taking a firm stand, and was held responsible when no agreement was reached; increasingly marginalized by the Israeli govt. following the election of right-wing PM Ariel Sharon in Feb. 2001, who refused to meet or deal with him; banned from traveling and confined to his compound (the �Muqata�a) in Ramallah by the Israeli army for much of the Al-Aqsa Intifada; accepted under international pressure to appoint a PM in Feb. 2003, and swore in Mahmoud Abbas as first ever PM in April 2003; after Abbas resignation, announced an PA Emergency Govt. in early Oct. 2003; swore in the subsequent govt. of the new PM Ahmed Qrei�a govt. on 12 Nov. 2003; turned seriously ill in Oct. 2004 and was flown from Ramallah to Paris via Amman to receive further medical treatment on the suspicion of suffering from a potentially fatal blood disorder, marking the first time he went abroad since 2001; underwent medical checks and treatment at the Percy Military Teaching Hospital in Clamart, outside Paris, from 29 October 2004 but failed to recover and was pronounced dead on 11 November 2004, ending days of rumors over his condition. Will be dearly remembered by his people for forcing their plight into the world spotlight, devoting his life to the quest for Palestinian statehood, and unified them in their struggle for national freedom and independence.

Born in 1933; brother of Yasser Arafat; studied Medicine at Cairo University, 1950-57; practiced as pediatrician in Cairo hospitals, then in Kuwait (from 1962) and Jordan (from 1967); became a member of the PNC in 1967; President of Palestine General Union of Physicians and Pharmacists since 1968; Vice-Pres. of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) since 1968 and Pres. since 1978; in 1972, Honorary Secretary of the Executive Board of the Council of Arab Ministers of Health; in 1982, elected Vice-President, Council of Ministers of Public Health of the Non-Aligned Countries; since 1982 Chief Delegate for Palestine to the World Health Organization in Geneva; since 1992 President of the Palestine Academy for Science and Technology (formerly Palestine Academy for Scientific Research), and Pres. of the Palestine Higher Health Council; died in Cairo on 1 December 2004.

Born in Jerusalem in 1891; studied in Turkey and conscripted into the Turkish army in World War I; captured and spent three years in a camp in Siberia, from where he escaped after the Russian Revolution and went back to Palestine; editor of the first Arab nationalist newspaper Suriyya al-Janubbiyya, published in Jerusalem in 1919; advocated a policy of militant but non-violent opposition to Zionism; arrested during riots in 1920, escaped with fellow-accused Haj Amin al-Husseini to Syria; sentenced to 10 years in prison in absencia on charges of fomenting the riots; transferred back to Palestine in 1929; became civil servant under the British Mandate (1933-48); District Administrative Officer in Beer Sheba in 1936; then ministerial officer in Jordan; appointed mayor of Jerusalem (1950-55); in 1963, appointed director of Rockefeller Musem in Jerusalem; author of Bedouin Love, Law and Legend, History of Beersheba and Its Tribes, History of Gaza 1943, and History of Jerusalem 1951; died on July 30, 1973 in Ramallah.

Palestinian politician; born in 1946 in Ramallah; member of the General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW), 1967-72; member of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) in Beirut, 1967-70; worked at the Palestinian Information Office, Beirut, 1968-70; graduate from American University of Beirut (M.A., English literature, 1970); Professor of English Literature at Birzeit University since 1974; founding member and director of the Legal Aid Committee since 1974; Ph.D., English Literature, at University of Virginia, USA, 1981; Dean of Arts at Birzeit University 1986-90; member of the Union of Palestinian Writers; former member of Palestinian steering committee in the peace process and Palestinian delegation spokesperson for the negotiations at the Madrid and Washington peace talks; presented the Palestinian case in a moderate pragmatic way; contributed to development of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue; founder and head (1993-1995) of the Independent Palestinian Citizen's Rights Commission.

Born in Sayda, Tulkarem in 1958; studied at Birzeit University, where he was one of the leaders of the Islamic bloc, graduating with an BA in 1982; continued his studies in Greece, graduating with an MA in Business Management (1989); moved the same year to the US, where he gained a PhD in Business Administration from Mississippi University; Professor at Howard University, Washington, US; deprived of returning by the Israeli Embassy in the US which refused to renew his travel document on the pretext that he spent over six years without returning to his hometown; in 1998 and 1999, detained for several months by US authorities under allegations of fundraising for Islamic organizations in the US (he refused to testify before a US judicial commission on such a case); discharged from his teaching position at Washington University in Aug. 2004, arrested by US authorities, charged with racketeering and illegally collecting funds for Hamas, and put under house arrest in Alexandria, Virginia, since then; nominated himself as an independent running candidate in the 2005 PA elections following the passing away of Yasser Arafat; his sister in law assassinated while campaigning for him in Dec. 2004.