Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Tahseen Abdul Hamid Muhammad Al-Astal was born in Khan Yunis on March 15, 1972. He is married and has two sons and five daughters. He studied primary school at Abdul Qader Al-Husseini School for Boys, and secondary school at Khan Yunis Secondary School, where he obtained his high school diploma in the literary branch in 1990. He obtained a BA in Journalism from the Faculty of Arts at the Islamic University in 1997, a MA in Media from the Institute of Research for Arab Studies in Cairo in 2003, and a PhD in Media from the same institute in 2009. He worked as a newspaper correspondent between 1995 and 2000, then as a newspaper editor at Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper between 2000 and 2007, then as editor-in-chief of the same newspaper in the Gaza Strip since 2014, and a part-time lecturer at the media faculties of three universities in the Gaza Strip since 2008: Al-Quds Open University, Al-Aqsa University, and Al-Azhar University.
Al-Astal joined the Fatah movement in 1993, participated in its national activities, and held positions in the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization; he became a member of the National Council in 2018, and a member of the Central Council in 2021. He was active in union work, especially in the field of journalism; he became Deputy Head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in 2012, a member of the International Federation of Journalists in 1999, and a member of the Permanent Bureau of the General Union of Arab Journalists in 2010. He is also the rapporteur of the Media Studies Unit at the World Institute for Arab Renewal in 2021, in addition to his activity in the field of supporting democracy and women's rights.
Al-Astal participated in a number of academic conferences and presented research papers and studies, including: the Martyr Yasser Arafat Conference, History and Memory, held at Al-Azhar University (2011), where he presented a research paper entitled “Palestinian Newspapers’ Treatment of the Incident of the Illness and Martyrdom of President Yasser Arafat,” and the Prisoners’ Conference, held at Al-Quds Open University (2012), where he presented a research paper entitled “Palestinian Newspapers’ Treatment of the Issue of Prisoners in Occupation Prisons,” and he also participated in the Fourth Conference for the Defense of Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem, held in Ramallah, where he presented a research paper entitled “The Role of Palestinian Diplomatic Media in Defending the Holy Sites and Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem,” and the Fifth Jerusalem Conference on Islamic Finance, organized by the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in Ramallah, where he presented a research paper entitled “Palestinian Employees’ Attitudes in the Gaza Strip Towards Islamic Finance: An Applied Study,” in addition to his participation in conferences outside Palestine, including the Institute of Journalism and News Sciences Conference, held in Tunisia (2014), where he presented a study entitled “The Role of Social Media in Political Awareness in Palestine.” An applied study on the leaders of the Palestinian factions.
Al-Astal believes that the Oslo Accords are a temporary solution agreement and cannot be a permanent strategic option. He calls for working to find a suitable strategic solution for the Palestinian cause, especially in these current circumstances. He demands the necessity of ending the bitter division, and that it is necessary to achieve national partnership between all Palestinian factions and protect this partnership as a democratic and inclusive option for all Palestinians. He supports peaceful resistance and the two-state solution with the full return of refugees to their homes from which they were displaced . He believes that the future of the Palestinian cause is linked to the will of the Palestinians and their popular insistence on continuing on the path of liberation and establishing the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, despite the reality of the incapable Arab states. He also believes that the Palestinian cause needs media awareness at all levels, and the implementation of practical steps that help advance it and reach the desired goal of liberation.
Khalaf suffered from the occupation; he was prevented from traveling for several years, and was beaten more than once during the first intifada.
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