Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Issam Bakr Abdul Rahman was born in the village of Bruqin in the Salfit Governorate on August 1, 1967. He is married and has four children. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science from Birzeit University and a master's degree in Israeli studies from Al-Quds University.
Bakr was influenced by his father, who was a member of the Communist Party, so he began practicing national activism in his early life. He joined the Palestinian Communist Party in 1983, participated in its activities, and was active in the student movement during his university studies. He was the secretary of the Student Union bloc, which is the student arm of the People’s Party at Birzeit University.
He progressed in party work from a member of a party cell to head of a local committee, then a member of a district committee in Salfit, then deputy secretary of Salfit, then a member of the leadership body of the People’s Party in Ramallah Governorate, then deputy secretary of the party in Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and the party’s national relations officer, then a member of the party’s central committee, and the party’s representative in the National and Islamic Forces Committee in the West Bank since 2000, and coordinator of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh forces, and a member of the secretariat of the National Committee for Boycotting Israel and Imposing Sanctions on it and Withdrawing Investments from it (BDS).
The occupation forces first arrested Bakr in 1984 for several days, then arrested him administratively in 1987 for 3 months, followed by another arrest for 7 months. The occupation forces pursued him for a year and a half, and he was also subjected to a travel ban between the years (1990-1996).
Bakr presents himself as a Marxist-Leninist communist, adhering to the dialectical materialism upon which the party is founded. He is a secularist who believes in the separation of religion and state, and in the necessity of a civil system of life free from totalitarian or sectarian ideologies. Bakr writes articles for newspapers and websites, and is a frequent guest on television channels to comment on political affairs.
He believes that the Palestinian people, wherever they are, are one united people, and that with all its components, they are a living people who continue their struggle until independence. He believes that the contemporary Palestinian revolution has transformed refuge into an identity. He opposes the Oslo Accords and believes that they will not lead to the establishment of a state and will not achieve Palestinian goals. He believes that the occupation has exploited them to erase Palestinian identity and entity. He considers the political division to be catastrophic and destructive to the Palestinian cause, and a blow to the entire national project. He believes that interest groups have grown within the Hamas and Fatah movements, who have an interest in its continuation. He believes that the division is being consolidated and the separation between the West Bank and Gaza is being enshrined, to the point that it has become difficult to turn the page on the division at this stage.
Bakr supports all forms of resistance, including armed struggle guaranteed by international law, but the use of any means is subject to several factors, including national consensus and the existence of clear references for military action, with his inclination more towards open popular resistance in all its forms. He opposes dismantling the Authority and calls for redefining its structure and objectives and changing its function from an authority intended to be a security agent for the occupation, to an authority that supports the steadfastness of the people and farmers, specifically in Jerusalem and Area C. He believes that everyone should engage in the PLO on the basis of a clear struggle program, and that the institutions of the PLO should be activated and a new national strategy agreed upon with the participation of the Islamic factions, and that there should be agreement on elections for the National Council, and its reconstitution on the basis of a new national strategy, considering that the fundamental contradiction is with the occupation in the stage of national liberation.
Issam Bakr Abdul Rahman was born in the village of Bruqin in the Salfit Governorate on August 1, 1967. He is married and has four children. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science from Birzeit University and a master's degree in Israeli studies from Al-Quds University.
Bakr was influenced by his father, who was a member of the Communist Party, so he began practicing national activism in his early life. He joined the Palestinian Communist Party in 1983, participated in its activities, and was active in the student movement during his university studies. He was the secretary of the Student Union bloc, which is the student arm of the People’s Party at Birzeit University.
He progressed in party work from a member of a party cell to head of a local committee, then a member of a district committee in Salfit, then deputy secretary of Salfit, then a member of the leadership body of the People’s Party in Ramallah Governorate, then deputy secretary of the party in Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and the party’s national relations officer, then a member of the party’s central committee, and the party’s representative in the National and Islamic Forces Committee in the West Bank since 2000, and coordinator of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh forces, and a member of the secretariat of the National Committee for Boycotting Israel and Imposing Sanctions on it and Withdrawing Investments from it (BDS).
The occupation forces first arrested Bakr in 1984 for several days, then arrested him administratively in 1987 for 3 months, followed by another arrest for 7 months. The occupation forces pursued him for a year and a half, and he was also subjected to a travel ban between the years (1990-1996).
Bakr presents himself as a Marxist-Leninist communist, adhering to the dialectical materialism upon which the party is founded. He is a secularist who believes in the separation of religion and state, and in the necessity of a civil system of life free from totalitarian or sectarian ideologies. Bakr writes articles for newspapers and websites, and is a frequent guest on television channels to comment on political affairs.
He believes that the Palestinian people, wherever they are, are one united people, and that with all its components, they are a living people who continue their struggle until independence. He believes that the contemporary Palestinian revolution has transformed refuge into an identity. He opposes the Oslo Accords and believes that they will not lead to the establishment of a state and will not achieve Palestinian goals. He believes that the occupation has exploited them to erase Palestinian identity and entity. He considers the political division to be catastrophic and destructive to the Palestinian cause, and a blow to the entire national project. He believes that interest groups have grown within the Hamas and Fatah movements, who have an interest in its continuation. He believes that the division is being consolidated and the separation between the West Bank and Gaza is being enshrined, to the point that it has become difficult to turn the page on the division at this stage.
Bakr supports all forms of resistance, including armed struggle guaranteed by international law, but the use of any means is subject to several factors, including national consensus and the existence of clear references for military action, with his inclination more towards open popular resistance in all its forms. He opposes dismantling the Authority and calls for redefining its structure and objectives and changing its function from an authority intended to be a security agent for the occupation, to an authority that supports the steadfastness of the people and farmers, specifically in Jerusalem and Area C. He believes that everyone should engage in the PLO on the basis of a clear struggle program, and that the institutions of the PLO should be activated and a new national strategy agreed upon with the participation of the Islamic factions, and that there should be agreement on elections for the National Council, and its reconstitution on the basis of a new national strategy, considering that the fundamental contradiction is with the occupation in the stage of national liberation.
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