Birth: NULL/NULL/1923 Death:NULL/NULL/2006
Born in Nazareth in 1923; grew up and was educated in Nazareth, then enrolled at the AUB, where he studied Chemistry, graduating in 1945; returned to Palestine and fought in the 1948 War, during the course of which he was forced to flee, first to Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, then to Syria; worked as a Science teacher in Dir’a Secondary School in Damascus, then was appointed its principal; became Director of the Educational Dept. in the Dir’a District; moved to Cairo, where he worked in the Ministry of Education for eight months focusing on student scholarships; served as Cultural Attaché of the United Arab Union in Washington until the split of the Union; returned to the Syrian Ministry of Education; joined the PLO in 1964; member of the 1st PNC in 1964; member of the PLO Exec. Committee in 1964-65 and 1967-69; participated in the first Arab Summit led by Egyptian Pres. Gamal Abdul Nasir in Jan. 1964; was elected as speaker of the PNC at its 9th session held in Cairo in July 1971 (until 1984); Chairman of the PLO Central Council from Jan. 1973; involved in dialogue within the PLO and between the PLO and Syria; resigned from his positions in 1984 after boycotting the PNC in Amman, which resulted in a reconciliation between the PLO and King Hussein; co-launched the PNSF on 25 March 1985 in Damascus and served as its head since; member of the Damascus Ten based in Syria; was involved in PLO internal dialogue in the late 1990s and supported PLO-Syrian dialog since 1999; died in Syria on 5 Feb. 2006.
