Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Mufid Ahmed Hassan Abu Shamala was born in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City on May 7, 1970, to a Palestinian refugee family whose origins go back to the displaced village of Beit Daras in the occupied Gaza Strip. He is married and has four sons and two daughters. He studied primary school at Al-Fellah School in Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, and secondary school at Yafa and Al-Furat schools, and obtained his high school diploma in 1988. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in media from the Islamic University in Gaza in 2001, and joined the Institute of Arab Research and Studies in Cairo to study for a master’s degree in 2005. Abu Shamala established the Al-Iman Center for Advertising and Publicity, and specialized in computer maintenance and training on how to use them since 1993. He trained media students at the Islamic University in Gaza on publishing and journalistic production programs between 1995 and 2001. He worked as director of the computer lab for the journalism department at the Islamic University , and participated in launching the Sawt Al-Jami’a newspaper. He worked as a lecturer in media at several Palestinian universities such as: the Islamic University, Al-Aqsa University, Palestine University, Gaza University, and the University College of Applied Sciences. He then worked as editor-in-chief at Ramatan Television News Agency between 2006 and 2009. He founded a media production company called Screen for Media Production in 2010, and launched Radio Locally, he worked as an editor-in-chief of Palestine Newspaper in 2012, and between 2017 and 2021. He launched a private newspaper called Society Newspaper in 2014, through his second company, Sham Castles Media. He headed it between 2014 and 2016, and became the head of the Center for Political and Development Studies since 2021.
Abu Shamala is active in political work, and participates in managing some political files in Gaza City. He was a member of the National Relations Committee for the National and Islamic Action Factions, and was also active in the cultural field, where he managed the Gaza International Documentary Film Festival in 2010, with the participation of 76 Arab and foreign films. He was involved in union work, as he was a member of the Journalist Bloc Council for southern Gaza between (2017-2021), and participated in youth activities; he founded the Al-Zeitoun Youth Club, and was a member of its board of directors between (2007-2017), and was Vice President of the Dolphin Club for Marine Sports until 2022.
Abu Shamala is a researcher and political analyst. He writes political articles in newspapers and websites, is hosted by various media outlets to comment on developments in the Palestinian cause, and gives political lectures in forums and civil institutions.
Abu Shamala believes that the future of the Palestinian cause lies in escalating the resistance systematically and continuously, reaching wider geographical areas and introducing it into the battlefield, and raising the cost of the occupation, which will eventually force it to surrender and leave. He describes the Oslo Accords as a historic mistake and a national catastrophe, and that it must be reversed, an apology must be made to the Palestinian people, and those involved must be held accountable and referred to the Palestinian Revolutionary Court, due to wasting three decades of the life of the Palestinian cause and harming the interests of the Palestinian people. He rejects the term “two parties to the division,” and believes that the responsibility lies with one party, the Palestinian Authority, as it did not accept the results of the elections and turned against the legitimate government, which led to its path deviating towards non-national and self-interested goals for a limited group of the Palestinian people, specifically Abu Mazen, who has ignored all the rights and interests of the Palestinian people at home and abroad, and monopolizes leadership positions in a dictatorial and unilateral manner.
Abu Shamala rejects partnership in the PLO in its current state, and calls for the necessity of reforming and developing it, then opening the door for the involvement of all segments of the Palestinian people in it democratically and fully and with clear shares (Jerusalem, the diaspora, Gaza, the West Bank, the 1948 territories and in prisons), and that there be representation for the leadership of the national project file, and the Palestinian Authority must remain in the service of the people and improving the living conditions of the Palestinian people, and it does not have the right to represent all Palestinians around the world politically. He supports resistance in all its forms, and calls for resisting the occupation with all the tools the resistance has, especially since the heavenly laws, the Geneva International Resolutions, the resolutions of the UN Security Council, and the UN General Assembly support the right of occupied peoples to resist until the occupation is completely removed, and their right to return, sovereignty and self-determination. He believes in the right of the Palestinians to recover the entire historical land of Palestine, but if this is not available under the current and objective circumstances all at once, then there is nothing wrong with the phased approach by establishing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders without recognizing the occupation or having any right to any inch of the land. He believes that it is necessary to establish the right to return and compensation for all refugees according to clear international resolutions, then to give the Palestinians in the diaspora a choice so that they do not lose the positions and gains they have reached whether in the diaspora countries or in the Arab countries, while demanding an end to the crises of the Palestinians in the camps in the Arab countries, granting them their full rights, opening all doors to work and geographical expansion without obstacles, and stopping the confiscation of those rights under the pretext of not allowing them to settle abroad.
Abu Shamala believes that the political system led by the Palestinian Authority is dictatorial, has worked to disrupt democracy for many years, and has deprived the people of exercising their rights. He describes the Arab situation as the Arab Nakba, which is characterized by complete submission and obedience from the Arab peoples. On the other hand, he believes that some Arab models express ambition, vision, and an advanced level, especially in economic matters, such as in Qatar, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Abu Shamala suffered in his life; his graduation from the Islamic University was delayed because it was closed by the occupation during the first intifada. He was also arrested by the occupation forces in 1990 for 22 months, and the occupation re-arrested him in 1992 for several months. He was unable to complete his master’s degree at the Institute of Arab Research and Studies in Cairo because of the siege on Gaza since 2006.
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