Nabil Amr (; born 1947) is a former information minister (2003) in the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...

, and previous ambassador to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He was an outspoken, fierce, longtime critic of

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

, including regarding Arafat's wrecking the peace talks and his failure to make a counter-offer at the

2000 Camp David Summit The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 an ...

. Amr spearheaded calls for anti-corruption democratic reforms to the Palestinian Authority that Yasir Arafat was reluctant to make. Amr complained often about corruption and cronyism in Arafat's administration. In September 2002, after Amr called for reform of the Palestinian Authority, Arafat had the chief of his

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

fire a number of warning shots at Amr's home. In July 2004 Amr was shot twice in his right leg, through the window of his house in

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 ...

by allegedly pro-Arafat gunmen, enraging his clan, which denounced the PA for failing to find the attackers. His shooting took place minutes after he returned to his home from a television interview on a popular political talk show, in which he criticised Arafat’s performance as president. Amr said the attack on him was intended to stifle him from calling for reforms in the Palestinian Authority. Arafat claimed that the assassins were Israeli undercover agents from Mista'arvim unit. Due to injuries from the shooting, Amr's right leg was amputated from the knee down. He later lived in his hometown of Dura, southwest of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

Early life and education

Nabil Amr was born on 6 September 1947 in the city of Dura, near Hebron. He studied at

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

and received a bachelor's degree in law. He also received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the International Academy of Informatics.

Career

Nabil Amr worked as an official in Palestinian organizations in Syria between 1969 and 1971. Between 1973 and 1988 he was the general manager of the

Voice of Palestine The Voice of Palestine () is the official Radio broadcasting, radio broadcaster of the Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, Palestine. It is a subsidiary of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, under the control of the Palestinian Author ...

radio stations, which were affiliated with the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

. He was appointed the organization's representative in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1988, and later served as ambassador there until 1993. Danny Rubinstein, מי ירה בנביל עמר?, on the

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

dated. 29.8.2004 In 1995, he founded the newspaper

Al-Hayat al-Jadida ''Al-Hayat al-Jadida'' () is an official daily newspaper of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The paper was first published in Gaza City in November 1994. It replaced '' Falastin Al Thawra'' as the official media organ of the PNA. Refe ...

. In the 1996 elections, he was elected to the

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 ...

, receiving 23,269 votes in the Hebron Governorate district on behalf of the Fatah movement. He was given the portfolio of Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in

's third government in 1998, and later resigned due to his criticism of the Palestinian government and corruption in the government machinery. In 2003, in the government of

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

, he was appointed Minister of Information. Among his roles, Nabil was a member of the negotiating committee in 2005, an advisor to Yasser Arafat and then to Abu Mazen, and the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Egypt until 2009. As part of his role as an advisor to Abu Mazen, he promoted the

Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement The Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement was signed between Fatah and Hamas in the city of Mecca on 8 February 2007, agreeing to stop the internal military confrontations in the Gaza Strip and form a government of national unity. Representatives from th ...

to establish a Palestinian unity government. Nabil Amar has written numerous political and intellectual articles, and has authored two books.

Bibliography

* ''أيام الحب والحصار'' (Days of Love and Siege) - deals with the establishment of Palestinian Radio during the

siege of Beirut During the 1982 Lebanon War, the city of Beirut was besieged by Israel following the breakdown of the ceasefire that had been imposed by the United Nations amidst the Lebanese Civil War. Beginning in mid-June, the two-month-long siege resulted in ...

in 1982. * ''ألف يوم في موسكو'' (A Thousand Days in Moscow) - deals with the Soviet Union's Middle East policy, the collapse of the superpower, and the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

References

External links

*
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Living people 1947 births 20th-century Palestinian diplomats 21st-century Palestinian politicians Fatah members Information ministers Palestinian amputees Palestinian expatriates in Syria People from Dura, Hebron People from Ramallah Shooting survivors Ambassadors of Palestine to Egypt Ambassadors of Palestine to Russia {{Palestine-bio-stub