Born in Qaryut, Nablus on 19 Jan. 1941; worked in the news department of Kuwait Radio from 1960-63; studied Political Sciences, History and International Law in Germany (1963-72); MA in Economy and Political Science from Heidelberg University, Germany; since 1963 leading member of the GUPS; in mid-1960s leading member of the Socialist Student Union in Germany; co-founder of the German Communist League; member of the DFLP Central Committee and its politburo in 1971; held high ranking positions in the party in Lebanon (1972-1982) and Jordan (until 1991); PNC member since 1972; concentrated his activism on public relations and solidarity activities with the Palestinians in the OPT; was elected member to the PLO Exec. Committee at the 20th PNC session (Sept. 1991) and put in charge of the national office for land defense; suspended his membership in the Exec. Committee in Sept. 1993 in protest against the secretly negotiated Oslo Declaration of Principles; among the Palestinian figures from various political backgrounds who met in Amman in Dec. 1994 to establish the Palestinian Democratic Party; one of nine PLO Exec. Committee members who signed a statement rejecting the Oslo II Agreement on 4 Oct. 1995; wrote several books on the Palestinian issue; imprisoned by Israeli authorities for several months in 2003; nominated himself as a running candidate for the position of President of the PA in the 2005 PA elections.