Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Born in Jerusalem on 2 Feb. 1949; son of Anwar Nusseibeh; spent his childhood in Jordanian-ruled Jerusalem; studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Christ Church, Oxford University, graduating with a BA in 1971; went to live with relatives in Abu Dhabi, where he worked for the Abu Dhabi Oil Company and as columnist for Abu Dhabi News; won a scholarship to study for his doctorate in 1974 and earned a PhD in Islamic Philosophy from Harvard University in 1978; returned to the West Bank and became Professor of Philosophy at Birzeit University, 1978-90; also taught classes in Islamic Philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; in the early 1980s, helped organize the Teachers Union at Birzeit and served three terms as its Pres.; was a co-founder of the Federation of Employees in the Education Sector for the West Bank; head of the Holy Land Press Services; founder and head of the Palestinian Consultancy Group, undertaking research projects on the management of Palestinian infrastructure; first prominent Palestinian to hold talks with a senior Likud politician, Moshe Amirav, in Sept. 1987, together with Faisal Al-Husseini and Salah Zuheikah; in 1987, became a prominent - though controversial - advocate for Palestinian enfranchisement within a democratic Israeli-Palestinian state; helped in setting up technical committees throughout the West Bank during the first Intifada, aimed at actively restoring the Palestinian infrastructure and building the foundation for a state; was indicted by Israel for keeping the Intifada alive and had his press service closed down in June 1989; his English language newsletter, Monday Report, was also banned later that year; served as Director of Maqdes – Jerusalem Center for Strategic Studies from 1990; was arrested in Jan. 1991, accused of spying for Iraq, and imprisoned for three months (was adopted as a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International); was a member of the Steering Committee behind the Palestinian(-Jordanian) delegation to the Oct. 1991 Madrid Peace Conference (being as Jerusalem resident ineligible to become an official delegate); wrote dozens of articles and co-authored No Trumpets, No Drums (1991) with Mark Heller, calling for a two-state solution; was appointed Pres. of Al-Quds University in Feb. 1995, replacing the deceased Dr. Hatem Al-Husseini, and serves in the post since; considered a Fateh moderate in the West Bank; in Oct. 2001, was appointed by Pres. Yasser Arafat to be the PLO representative in Jerusalem after the death of Faisal Al-Husseini in May that year; was briefly arrested on 17 Dec. 2001 for planning a reception for foreign diplomats at a hotel in Jerusalem to celebrate the Eid Al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan on the grounds that the reception threatened Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem; was also appointed Secretary of the Jerusalem Committee (as part of the PLO Exec. Committee) in June 2002, and as PLO official for Jerusalem Affairs at non-cabinet ministerial level in Oct. 2002 (though he was relieved of that portfolio by Arafat on 19 Dec. 2002); had his university offices closed several times by the Israelis since 2002 on the grounds that they represented PA activity in Jerusalem; has criticized the militarization of the second Intifada; co-launched with former Israeli Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon “The People’s Voice”, a non-partisan civil initiative to mobilize grassroots support for a two-state solution, in June 2003.
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