Haidar Abdel-Shafi (Heidar Abdul-Shafi) ( ar, حيدر عبد الشافي June 10, 1919 – September 25, 2007), was a
Palestinian physician,
community leader and
political leader
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who was the head of the Palestinian delegation to the
Madrid Conference of 1991.
Background
Abdel-Shafi was born in
Gaza, one of six children of Sheikh Muheiddin Abdel-Shafi, head of the Higher Islamic Council
Waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...
and custodian of the holy places in Gaza and
Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...
(from 1925–27). He attended primary school in Gaza; secondary education as a boarder at the
Arab College in Jerusalem
The Arab College in Jerusalem was secondary school in British Mandatory Palestine. The Arab College lasted from 1918 until 1948, when it was swept away in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The British administration began an education system in the form ...
and graduated in 1936. He graduated in 1943 from the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
College of Medicine in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. At the University he joined
George Habash
George Habash ( ar, جورج حبش, Jūrj Ḥabash), also known by his laqab "al-Hakim" ( ar, الحكيم, al-Ḥakīm, "the wise one" or "the doctor"; 2 August 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a Palestinian Christian politician who founded th ...
's
Arab Nationalist Movement dedicated to
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language ...
and the "liberation of
Palestine".
Political and community service career
Pre-1948
Abdel-Shafi worked at the
British Mandate of Palestine's Municipal Hospital in
Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
. In 1944-1945 he joined the Desert Army of the British Jordanian Army, then part of a new British Ninth Army intended to open a second front - which never materialized - in the Balkans. Spent the war instead in various locations in Palestine: Al-Azraq, Ashona,
Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho ...
, Gaza, and resigned his commission at the war's end. He returned to Gaza and entered private medical practice. He then co-founded a branch of the
Palestine Medical Society in 1945, and participated in the first Palestine Medical Congress in 1946.
In 1947 and during the Arab-Israeli clashes following the UN partition plan, he provided medical support for the Palestinian fighters. During the 1948 Arab Israeli war, he ran a clinic in Gaza to serve the refugees who flooded into Gaza in large numbers. During this period he worked closely with the
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
, who provided humanitarian relief for the refugees until UNRWA was established in 1951.
1948–1967
In 1951 he began his studying medicine at
Miami Valley Hospital in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...
. He returned to Gaza in 1954, by which time it was under
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
ian rule. He worked as a surgeon at the Tal Zahur Hospital. In 1956, as the Gaza strip came under the control of Israel, a municipal council with Abdel-Shafi as one of its ten (10) members was installed.
In 1957 Dr. Abdel-Shafi married Hoda Khalidi, from a prominent
Jerusalemite family. 1948. Dr. Abdel-Shafi was appointed as Head of medical services in the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
from 1957 until 1960. During this period, he became a strong admirer and personal friend of
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...
. In 1960, he returned to his private medical practice.
He held a two-year term as chairman of the first
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, ...
in Gaza beginning in 1962. He was also a delegate to the first all-Palestinian conference (Palestinian National Council) which convened in Jerusalem in 1964 and helped establish the
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...
(PLO). He served as a member of the first PLO-Executive Committee (1964-1965). By 1966 he was a leading PLO figure in the Gaza Strip.
1967–1991
In June 1967,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
controlled Gaza after the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
. During and shortly after the war, Dr. Abdel-Shafi volunteered at
al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. He was later temporarily detained by Israel, suspected of support for the military activities of
George Habash
George Habash ( ar, جورج حبش, Jūrj Ḥabash), also known by his laqab "al-Hakim" ( ar, الحكيم, al-Ḥakīm, "the wise one" or "the doctor"; 2 August 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a Palestinian Christian politician who founded th ...
's new guerilla faction, the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an offshoot of the Arab Nationalist Movement. Abdel-Shafi denied membership, but expressed his sympathy for the group's goals.
Upon his release, he refused all co-operation with Israel's plans to tie Gaza to Israel through the development of a common infrastructure.
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) dur ...
expelled him for three months to the isolated Sinai village of
Nekhl in 1969. Deported again on September 12, 1970, this time to Lebanon for two months, along with five other prominent members of the Gazan leadership, in retaliation for a PFLP hijacking.
He was the founder and director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip in 1972, his own rallying organisation for Palestinian improvement. He was attacked by Islamists, who, in 1981 burned down his clinic.
['']The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'', October 6th 2007, page 115
During the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''wikt:intifada, intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "wikt:uprising, uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sus ...
in May 1988 he was one of three Palestinians (the others were
Saeb Erekat
Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat ( ar, صائب محمد صالح عريقات ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt''; also ''ʻRēqāt, Erikat, Erakat, Arekat''; 28 April 195510 November 2020) was a Palestinian politician and diplomat who was the secretary gener ...
and
Hanan Ashrawi
Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi ( ar, حنان داوود مخايل عشراوي ; born 8 October 1946) is a Palestinian politician, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson ...
) to participate in ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the prog ...
s
Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
meeting from
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. It was the first time that Palestinians and high ranking PLO members had directly addressed Israeli and Western audiences.
The Madrid Conference and after
In 1991, he led the Palestinian delegation to the
Madrid Peace Conference and subsequently led the Palestinian negotiation team for 22 months in the Washington talks (1992–93). He broke with the Palestinian negotiating team over the
Oslo peace agreement over the question of the Israeli settlements. He was one of the first to predict that the Oslo process would collapse because it failed to tackle the issue of settlements.
In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with the highest number of votes as member for Gaza. He took up leadership of the PLC's political committee. He resigned as a deputy in the PLC in late 1997 to protest what he described at the time as the failure to deal with corruption in the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, . Two years later he initiated unity talks for all factions in Gaza. Following the outbreak of the
second Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel ...
, he urged the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, (PA) to organize the Intifada rather than distance itself from it, and to widen its democratic base by forming a government of national unity.
He co-founded the
Palestinian National Initiative in 2002 along with
Edward Said,
Mustafa Barghouti and
Ibrahim Dakkak
Ibrahim Dakkak (1929-2016) was a Palestinian civil engineer and activist.
Early life
Dakkak completed his secondary education in Palestine and graduated from the American University in Cairo with degrees in science and mathematics in 1947. He w ...
as a national platform for combining the struggle for national liberation and the return of refugees with the values of national unity, democracy and social justice.
On April 8, 2007 he was presented with the Palestinian Star of Honor by President
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Nati ...
largely for his role as founding member and President of the Palestinian National Initiative.
He died from cancer in Gaza aged 88. His funeral rally was attended by various political factions in Gaza in a rare show of unity. He is survived by his wife, four children (Hind, Khaled, Tareq, Salah) and seven grandchildren.
Sources
Dr. Haider Abd esh-Shafi, a prominent Palestinian leader dies in Gaza1992
''Time'' article
References
External links
Obituary in ''The Times'', 27 September 2007*
*
ttps://archive.today/20130506160233/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2998889.ece The Independent (UK), obituary for Dr. Haidar Abdel-ShafiHaidar Abdel-Shafi's obituary, UK Times Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdel-Shafi, Haidar
1919 births
2007 deaths
American University of Beirut alumni
Palestinian activists
Palestine Liberation Organization members
People from Gaza City
Palestinian surgeons
Deaths from cancer in the Palestinian territories
Members of the 1996 Palestinian Legislative Council
20th-century politicians
Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Expatriates in Lebanon