Birth: NULL/NULL/1937 Death:NULL/NULL/NULL
Born in Jerusalem on 6 Nov. 1937; studied Pharmacy in India, graduating with a BSc in 1969; worked as editor of the daily newspaper Al-Fajr from 1974 (when the owner, his cousin Yousef Nassar, was kidnapped) until its closure in July 1993; founded Al-Fajr in English in 1980 (published until Sept. 1993) and served as its editor-in-chief; established the pro-PLO journal Al-Usbu‘ Al-Jadid, in March 1978 (becoming a weekly in 1982 and a bi-monthly in Nov. 1988), which was allowed to circulate in the West Bank only from 1991; established and edited, together with Zuheir Rayyes, Al-Mawqef weekly from Jan. 1985 to April 1987 (circulation was only allowed in East Jerusalem); was advocate of cooperation with Israelis; was, together with Fayez Abu Rahmeh, the only Palestinian accepted by the US and Israeli governments in Aug. 1985 to become part of the joint Jordanian‑Palestinian delegation to potential peace talks; was the first official Palestinian to meet US Sec. of State George Schultz in 1986 as representative from the OPT to help the process of recognition of the PLO at the end of the Reagan presidency; called for the extension of Israeli rights to Palestinians, culminating in his call for Palestinian participation in Jerusalem municipal elections in June 1987, and his candidacy in the city’s 1988 Municipal Council elections (although he withdrew under strong pressure from Palestinian factions); heads the European-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce since 1989; member of the PNC since 1990; served as Board Member of Birzeit Palestinian Pharmaceutical Co., Ramallah, from 1990-2000; was nominated by the PLO to serve as advisor to Palestinian delegation to the Madrid conference during 1991-92; founded the English weekly Jerusalem Times in Feb. 1994 and the New Middle East Report in mid-1994; General Manager of the Biladi Advertising Agency in Jerusalem since 1995; serves as Chairman of Siniora Star Ltd. US Air GSA, Jerusalem, since 1995; served as Chairman of the Palestinian American Chamber of Commerce from 1998-2003; is a permanent member of Socialist International; since 2004, serves as Chairman of the East Jerusalem Development Corporation, of the Palestinian Economic and Social Council (PESC), and the Chairman of Peace and Democracy Forum; serves as Co-CEO of IPCRI since 2005.
