Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Born in Bethlehem in 1920 to a Greek Orthodox Christian family; employed in the Public Works Dept. of the British Mandate; after 1948, became businessman and factory owner (mother of pearl and olive wood handicrafts) in the Bethlehem area; Chairman of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 1970; elected mayor of Bethlehem since 1972; head of the Board of Trustees of Bethlehem University since 1973; was the main non-nationalist (i.e., pro-Jordanian) candidate to win in the 1976 municipal elections; supported the PLO, was the only important mayor not to be dismissed in 1982 (remained in the post until his resignation in 1997 due to health problems); member of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace talks in Madrid and Washington in 1991 and thereafter; appointed as Minister of Tourism and Antiquities in the PA; died in an Amman hospital on 29 March 1998; buried in Bethlehem.
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