Arabi Musa Awwad (1928 – 20 March 2015) (), kunya Abu Fahd, was a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician. He was a member of the Central Committee of the

Palestinian National Liberation League The National Liberation League in Palestine (, ''ʿuṣbat at-taḥrīr al-waṭaniyy fi filasṭīn'') was a political party in Palestine, founded in early 1944 by Arab members of the Palestine Communist Party (which had experienced a split betwe ...

and later the

Jordanian Communist Party The Jordanian Communist Party (JCP; , ''al-Hizb al-Shuyu'i al-Urduni'') is a communist party in Jordan, founded in 1948. Its current general secretary is Saud Qubailat. It publishes ''al-Jamahir'' (, "The Masses"). History In June 1952, the P ...

. Awwad was designated as secretary of the West Bank section of the

after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967 and emerged as a key leader of the Palestinian National Front. He spent over a decade in Jordanian and Israeli prisons and detention centers and was deported to Jordan in 1973. Awwad was elected to the

Palestinian National Council The Palestinian National Council (PNC; ) is the legislative body - in Arabic, the ''Majlis'' - of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PNC is intended to serve as the parliament that represents all Palestinians inside and outside th ...

and included in the

Palestinian Central Council The Palestinian Central Council (PCC; ), also known as the PLO Central Council, is one of the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PCC makes policy decisions when the Palestinian National Council (PNC) is not in sess ...

. In 1982, he founded the Revolutionary Palestinian Communist Party and became its general secretary. Awwad died in Amman, Jordan, in 2015.''Bayane al-Yaoume''
عربي موسى عواد ..ثمانية عقود من النضال الصلب في سبيل حرية واستقلال وطنه وشعبه وأمته
/ref>SANA
الحزب الشيوعي الفلسطيني الثوري ينعى أمينه العام عربي موسى عواد
/ref>

Life

Awwad was born in Salfit. He graduated from the Arab College in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 1947. He became a member of the Central Committee of the

. As an Arabic Literature teacher in

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

he was active in student protests. In 1955 he was included in the Central Committee of the

. After the

in 1967, Awwad was designated as secretary of the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

section of the Jordanian Communist Party.
Journal of Palestine Studies
', Vol. 29. Institute for Palestine Studies and Kuwait University, 1999. p. 66 Awwad was the leader of the radical wing of the party. He emerged as of the key leaders of the Palestinian National Front, which organized mass struggles inside the occupied territories. Israeli authorities charged him with membership in the Communist Party. He spent over a decade in Jordanian and Israeli prisons and detention centres. Awwad was deported to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

on 10 December 1973 along with other PNF leaders. He was elected to the

at its tenth session in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in 1974, and included in the

. Awwad represented the PNF in the PLO Unified Information Centre. In 1979 he became a

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

member of the Jordanian Communist Party. In 1982 Awwad founded the Revolutionary Palestinian Communist Party and became its general secretary. The RPCP took part in the armed resistance against the Israeli invasion in Lebanon, Awwad's son Fahd Awwad was killed during the war. Awwad died in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, Jordan on 20 March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awwad, Arabi 1928 births 2015 deaths Arab people in Mandatory Palestine Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel Palestinian people imprisoned by Jordan People from Salfit People deported from Israel Palestine Communist Party politicians Jordanian Communist Party politicians National Liberation League in Palestine politicians Members of the Palestinian Central Council Members of the Palestinian National Council