Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Hussam Saeed Shehadeh Zomlot is a
Palestinian politician, diplomat, and academic born in the Shaboura refugee
camp in the Rafah governorate in 1973. He was appointed as the head of the
Palestinian mission in the United Kingdom in October 2018. Before coming to the
United Kingdom, he worked as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) office in the United States. The United States of America, which was
closed by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Zomlot is also a
leading member of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and
strategic affairs advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Zomlot
previously worked in the Fatah Movement's Commission for Foreign Affairs.
Before entering the political arena, Zomlot worked as a university professor in
public policy at Birzeit University. He was also a researcher at Harvard
University and a lecturer at the University of London. Zomlot also held an
economist position in the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator in Palestine.
his upbringing
Zomlot was born in the Shaboura
refugee camp in Rafah, Gaza Strip, which is run by the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA). His parents are from the village of Simsim, which was
expelled in 1948 after the establishment of the State of Israel.
Like most Palestinians, forced
exile and asylum were important factors in shaping Zomlot's political
orientation in the later stages of his life.
In a speech at a conference
celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of UNRWA, Zomlot said: “In
1948, my father lost his home and land, and as a result, I was born in a
refugee camp in Rafah.” “Millions have suffered from a life of diaspora.
Nothing is more bad for a man than being forced to live in exile.”
Zomlot was politically active
during his undergraduate studies at Birzeit University in the West Bank, and
then became a representative of the Fatah Student Movement Foundation
(Al-Shabiba) during the first intifada.
In 1999, while he was studying in
London, he was elected as the head of the branch of the General Union of
Palestine Students in the United Kingdom.
Academic experience
Zomlot studied at Birzeit
University in Ramallah, and after obtaining his bachelor's degree, he worked as
an economist in the office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the
Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). During his work, he was assigned to follow
up economic developments and alternative economic policies. He also provided
briefings to the Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time, Kofi
Annan.
In 2000, Zomlot completed an MA in
Development Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science
(LSE). He then obtained a PhD in Global Political Economy from the School of
Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in 2007.
Prior to his appointment as a
university professor of public policy in 2012, Zomlot was a resident scholar at
the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy for
Governmental Studies at the prestigious Harvard University between 2008 and
2010.
political march
Zomlot served as an official
spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation throughout the campaign to obtain
recognition from the United Nations for full membership of Palestine in New
York in 2011.
He was appointed as an ambassador
at large for the State of Palestine in the same year, in which he also worked
as director of the Fatah Commission for Foreign Affairs.
He then served as strategic affairs
advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2015 before being elected as
a member of the Fatah Movement's Revolutionary Council in 2016.
On December 4, 2016, Zomlot won the
elections of the Palestinian Revolutionary Council, which was held during the
seventh conference of the Fatah movement, and became a member of it.
In 2017, Zomlot was appointed as
the envoy of the United States of America, replacing Maan Rashid Erekat.
Zomlot was forced to cut off his
work as ambassador to the United States of America after the administration of
US President Trump closed the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization
in Washington, DC, and then recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In
December 2017, the White House announced its intention to move the US Embassy
in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. As a result, the Palestinian leadership
imposed a policy of not dealing with the American administration. .
In 2018, Zomlot was appointed as
the Head of the Palestinian Mission in the United Kingdom.
Palestinian ambassador to the
United States of America
Zomlot was appointed as the
Palestinian ambassador to the United States of America in March 2017, at a time
when the administration of US President Trump was taking over the reins of
power. This was followed by many vigorous bilateral contacts between the two
parties, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met his American counterpart
four times between May and November 2017.
However, these efforts were halted
when, in November 2017, the White House announced its intention to close the
Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, D.C., and then decided
to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
This step undermined the
Palestinian endeavors, which center on establishing the capital of the State of
Palestine in the eastern part of Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in
1967.
The announcement led to
demonstrations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Palestinian
leadership's rejection of the US role as a mediator in the peace process.
Zomlot said at the time: “You did
not remove Jerusalem from the negotiating table, but rather the entire table.
No Palestinian will ever be able to sit at this negotiating table. good
luck."
In September 2018, the Palestinian
representation in Washington D.C. was closed after Zomlot returned to Ramallah.
As a result, what would later be called the Trump Peace Plan for Prosperity was
worked on by the Trump administration without the participation of the
Palestinians and in full agreement with the government of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Despite this, Zomlot commented that
rethinking Palestinian-American relations would lead to three positive things:
"It will liberate the Palestinians from the shackles of a failed peace
process led by the United States of America for 27 years... and it will provide
an opportunity to repeal the (American) law that has been implemented." It
was enacted in 1987, which designates the Palestine Liberation Organization as
a terrorist organization... It will also help shift Palestinian interest to
long-term engagement with the American people.”
Ambassador of Palestine to the
United Kingdom
Zomlot was appointed as Head of the
Palestinian Mission to the UK in October 2018. Zomlot arrived in the UK in the
midst of the Brexit process and during his first year and a half there
Britain's Conservatives led two successive governments while the British opposition
leadership in Parliament underwent changes after the election Parliament in
2019.
Since his appointment,
British-Palestinian relations have deepened. Despite the US administration's
intention to prevent funding the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, British
support continued (and doubled in the case of UNRWA), while the British
government maintained its support for the two-state solution in accordance with
international law.
Other business
Zomlot was one of the founders of
the Palestinian Strategy Group (PSG), which was established in 2008 by 100
members who come from different Palestinian political, professional and
geographical spectrums.
In 2018, prior to his appointment
as ambassador to London, Zomlot had to defend himself against allegations that
he denied the Holocaust. These allegations were published by a British tabloid
newspaper in the news that former British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn
attended Zomlot's wedding.
Zomlot said in an interview with an
Israeli newspaper: "Certainly, I do not deny the occurrence of the Nazi
Holocaust, and it was a terrible crime. I know very well what happened to the
Jews of Europe, and I sat near members of the families of the survivors and
listened to the terrifying details of what happened to their loved ones."
private life
Dr. Hussam Zomlot is married to a
woman who was born in the Gaza Strip before her parents emigrated to Sweden. He
has two children, Said and Alma.
source
Achievements and Awards
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