Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Born in Jerusalem in 1946; graduated from the De La Salle Frères College; grew up in Amman; moved to Beirut in 1963 and graduated from the AUB in 1967; was an active student leader at both the student council and the GUPS; became involved with the Arab National Movement while in Beirut; founding member of the PFLP, in its Central Council (1968) and politburo member (1972); elected Secretary to the General Union of Palestinian Journalists and Writers (GUPJW) in 1972; became deputy editor and editor of the Lebanese weekly magazine Al-Hadaf; seriously wounded and partially blinded by a Mossad letter bomb on 25 July 1972 in Beirut; after months of operations and rehabilitation, he resumed his work at Al-Hadaf and as PFLP politburo member in charge of information in 1973; elected as PNC member in 1974; Secretary to the International Organization of Journalists in 1974; in 1978, elected as a member of the Board and Vice-Pres. of the GUPJW; favored closer cooperation of the PFLP with Fateh; was removed from the politburo in 1981 and drew closer to Yasser Arafat; during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in charge of information for the joint Palestinian-Lebanese leadership; left Beirut with the rest of the Palestinian leadership in Sept. 1982; was expelled from the PFLP in 1987 and became special advisor to Arafat, advocating the two-state solution and non-military means in solving the Palestine problem; published a statement about negotiated peace in the Middle East on 5 June 1988 (‘Abu Sharif Document’), which led to an internal Palestinian debate and the adoption by the PNC of a political program calling for a two-state solution; played a central role in drafting Arafat’s address at the UNGA in Geneva on 13 Dec. 1988, renouncing terrorism and recognizing Israel; authored several books about Liberation Movements and Middle East politics, incl. Tried by Fire (UK: Little Brown, 1995 – entitled Best of Enemies in the US), co-authored with Israeli former intelligence officer Uzi Mahnaimi; returned to Ramallah in 1996 after 28 years in exile; served as Arafat’s special advisor and PNC member since and writes op-eds for Arabic and English papers, incl. Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat; editor-in-chief of One Palestine, published in Ramallah since 2002.
Source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
: From
To