Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Bassam Ahmed Al-Shakaa (born in 1930 - July 22, 2019) [3] is one of the notables of the city of Nablus in Palestine . The former mayor of Nablus from 1976-1982, he is a well-known Palestinian national figure who is highly respected in the Palestinian street. He has an Arab nationalist orientation and is considered the leader of the Baathists in Palestine. In 1959, he resigned from the Arab Socialist Baath Party and resisted the separation between Syria and Egypt . He was imprisoned and deported to Egypt in 1962 , where he remained a political refugee there until an amnesty was issued by King Hussein bin Talal for all political refugees and Jordanian officers. He returned to Jordan and to his city of Nablus in 1959. 1965 . [4]
Shakaa was elected mayor of Nablus in 1976 at the head of a national list in the last Palestinian municipal elections before the establishment of the Palestinian Authority . He and other representatives of popular institutions and parties that were active in the occupied territories formed the National Steering Committee that led the Palestinian struggle against settlement and occupation practices, but did not present itself. An alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization , which was headed by Yasser Arafat , and its institutions and offices abroad.
On June 2 , 1980 , Al-Shakaa was subjected to an assassination attempt behind what was known as the secret Zionist terrorist organization , and the explosion of a bomb placed in his car led to the amputation of his legs. The assassination attempt on him and two mayors in the West Bank sparked an uprising that lasted a few months and included various Palestinian cities. [5]
Shakaa, who was seen as a principled figure, took independent positions and opposed the policy of the late President Yasser Arafat , whom he did not succeed in subjugating. In the concessions that took place during the Oslo Accords , which he strongly opposed, he remained committed to his principles, his Arabism, and his nationalism, which cost him many sacrifices. For five years, he remained besieged in his house, with the occupation soldiers surrounding his house and preventing his visitors from communicating with him, in addition to the harassment that he and his family members were facing from the soldiers, and he remained steadfast and resistant. Defending his right and the right of his people, he did not weaken, compromise, or compromise. In an interview with CNN, Al- Shakaa said:
“If they could cut off my feet, they will not be able to cut off my struggle. The Zionists wanted me to die, but God gave me life so that I could complete my mission in defending a free Arab Palestine, all of Palestine, and the right of every Arab to defend Palestine because it is the issue of the Arab people and the Arab nation, and it is an Arab national issue.”
Death [ edit ]
Bassam Shakaa died on July 22, 2019 in a hospital in the city of Nablus at the age of 89, and was buried in the Western Nablus Cemetery. [6] [7]
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Achievements and Awards
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