Suleiman_Al_Najjab

Suleiman Al Najjab

Suleiman Al Najjab

Palestinian activist and politician (1934–2001)

Suleiman Al Najjab, also known as Abu Firas, (1934–2001) was a Palestinian activist and communist politician. He was the secretary general of the Palestine Communist Party and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee and Palestinian National Council.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life

Al Najjab was born in a village, Jibya, Mandatory Palestine, in 1934.[1] He hailed from a Christian family.[2]

Career and activities

Al Najjab was a member of the Jordanian Communist Party and was elected as its deputy secretary general.[1] The party was banned in 1957, and he was arrested by the Jordanian authorities in April 1957.[3] He was imprisoned for eight years.[1] He joined the Palestinian resistance movement in 1967 forming armed forces in the West Bank.[3] He was active in the establishment of the Palestine National Front (PNF) in 1973.[3] Next year he was arrested by the Israelis and was expelled to Jordan in February 1975 after being detained for nine months without any charge or trial.[4] The Israelis accused him of being the leader of the Palestinian Communist Organization and also, of the PNF.[5] Al Najjab's deportation to Jordan led to the decrease in militant activities of the PNF in the West Bank.[5]

Al Najjab restarted the activities of the PCP in Jordan and was elected as its secretary general.[3] The PCP became part of the PLO, and Al Najjab began to serve as a member of the PLO executive committee in April 1987.[6][7] Al Najjab was one of the leaders who were supported by the Palestinians in the US according to a survey in 1988.[8] The PCP was renamed as the Palestinian People's Party in 1991, and he was elected a member of its central committee and politburo.[1] The same year he was re-elected to the PLO executive committee in the meeting held in Algiers, Algeria, on 23-28 September 1991.[9] Al Najjab also served at the Palestinian National Council.[9]

Following the Oslo agreement and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Al Najjab settled in the West Bank.[3] He and other nine PLO executive committee members rejected the second Oslo accord on 4 October 1995.[1] He was among the PLO delegates in Geneva diplomatic initiative which started the US-PLO dialogue.[9]

Al Najjab was also elected as a member of the PLO executive member in the meeting held in Gaza, State of Palestine, on 25 April 1996.[9] He acted as one of the advisers to Yasser Arafat, leader of the PA, during the Camp David Summit held in July 2000.[3]

Death

Al Najjab died of cancer in the US on 12 August 2001. He was buried in Ramallah on 18 August.[1]

References

  1. [1]
    "Najjab, Suleiman Rashid (Abu Firas) (1934-2001)". Passia. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  2. [2]
    Helga Baumgarten (2004). "The Politicization of Muslim-Christian Relations in the Palestinian National Movement". In John Bunzl (ed.). Islam, Judaism, and the Political Role of Religions in the Middle East. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-8130-3138-5.
  3. [3]
    Michael R. Fischbach (2005). "Al Najjab, Sulayman". In Philip Mattar (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. New York: Facts on File Inc. p. 328. ISBN 9780816069866.
  4. [4]
    Ann M. Lesch (1979). "Israeli Deportation of Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 1967-1978: (Part II)". Journal of Palestine Studies. 8 (3): 111. doi:10.2307/2536226. JSTOR 2536226.
  5. [5]
    Weldon C. Matthews (1998). "The Rise and Demise of the Left in West Bank Politics: The Case of the Palestine National Front". Arab Studies Quarterly. 20 (4): 17. JSTOR 41858265.
  6. [6]
    Maher Charif. "The Palestinian Communist Movement 1948-present". Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question.
  7. [7]
    Roland Dannreuther (1998). The Soviet Union and the PLO. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 152. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-26216-8. ISBN 978-1-349-26216-8.
  8. [8]
    Fouad Moughrabi; Pat El-Nazer (1989). "What Do Palestinian Americans Think? Results of a Public Opinion Survey". Journal of Palestine Studies. 18 (4): 96. doi:10.2307/2537500. JSTOR 2537500.
  9. [9]
    Nigel Craig Parsons (1998). The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: The Politics of Transition From Liberation Movement to National Authority (PhD thesis). University of Manchester. pp. 205, 208, 319–320. ISBN 978-0-438-65984-1. ProQuest 2137555696.
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