Birth: 1/1/1934 Death:1/1/1991
Born in Jaffa in 1934; attended Marwaniyya School; fled with his family to Gaza during the 1948 events; acquired paramilitary youth training through the Muslim Brotherhood; fought in 1948 alongside the defense forces of Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini in Palestine; completed secondary education in Gaza; left in 1951 to train in Cairo as a teacher; was a founding member and Yasser Arafat’s deputy of the GUPS in Egypt from 1952-56 and its Pres. from 1956-57; received a degree in Philosophy in 1957 and returned to Gaza, where he began a career as teacher; moved to Kuwait to join Arafat in 1958; worked as a teacher there; was a founding member of Fateh (1958-59) and its chief ideologue; member of Fateh Central Committee; became Chief of the PLO’s ‘Special Services’ from 1968-Sept. 1971; advocated non-confrontation with the Jordanian regime in the early 1970s; was head of the Jordanian Affairs Bureau since March 1972; advocated a two-state solution from Feb. 1974; was the PLO’s security and counter intelligence executive officer; considered the spiritual godfather and chief of the Black September Organization; was a leftist and maintained close ties with PFLP and DFLP; opposed the withdrawal of the PLO’s forces from Beirut in 1982, but settled with the other leadership in Tunisia following their evacuation; remained an Arafat loyalist despite personal differences; announced in Sept. 1988 the PLO‘s readiness to recognize Israel if Israel also recognizes the PLO and Palestinians’ right to self-determination; promoted direct dialogue with Israelis on PLO level; was strongly critical of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait; was assassinated in Tunis on 15 Jan. 1991, along with Hayel Abdul Hamid (Abu Al-Hol) and Fakhri Al-Omari by members of the Abu Nidal group.
