Janet Mikhail (; born 1945) or Janet Michael, sometimes known as Janet Khouri (جانيت خوري) is a former mayor of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

in 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 ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. She was the first woman to hold this post. She was head teacher of the girls' school in Ramallah for 20 years, now retired. She is a

Palestinian Christian 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 ...

(

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

). She was chosen as mayor on 29 December 2005 by the newly elected 15-member city council. She ran as a political independent (although some sources have associated her with the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...

movement), and was the head of the "Ramallah for All" independent list, which won six seats in local elections held earlier in December. The

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

-associated "Homeland (Watan)" faction, headed by

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...

member Ghazi Hanania, also won six seats, while the

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

-affiliated faction of "Change and Reform" headed by Khaldoun Khader won three seats. The new council voted 9–6 to elect Mikhail as mayor, after the three "Change and Reform" council members allied themselves with her "Ramallah for All" faction.

References

External links

Interview with herKhaleej Times report

Report in French
1945 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Mayors of Ramallah Palestinian schoolteachers Palestinian Roman Catholics Women mayors of places in Palestina Palestinian women in politics {{Palestine-politician-stub

See also

References

External links