Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Ghassan Ahmad Mahmoud Hamdan was born on June 20, 1964, to a Palestinian family from the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. He is married and has three sons and a daughter. He attended Sharif Sabouh Elementary School and Amr Ibn Al-Aas Preparatory School, and received his high school diploma in the science track from Qadri Touqan High School in 1982. He earned a bachelor's degree in dentistry from Moscow State Medical University in 1990. After returning to Palestine, he worked for Medical Relief in a mobile clinic until 1996. He was elected to the Higher Administrative Board of Medical Relief in 1998 and became the director of its office in the Nablus Governorate.
Hamdan participated early in his life in national events in Nablus, particularly those organized against the establishment of the Elon Moreh settlement. He joined the Palestinian Communist Party while a high school student and was active in volunteer work. Before starting university, he volunteered for a full year at a factory, encouraging workers to join labor unions. He was elected head of the administrative body of the General Union of Palestinian Students at his university and was later chosen to head the organizational body of the Palestinian Communist Party in the Soviet Union. He was elected to the General Conference of the General Union of Palestinian Students held in Baghdad in 1989, where he represented Palestinian students in the Soviet Union. Upon his return to Palestine, he was elected to the administrative body of the Palestinian Communist Party for the Nablus Governorate and was responsible for the high school and university student affairs within the party. He resigned from the Communist Party in protest against its stance on the Oslo Accords.
Hamdan continued to focus his efforts on medical services, conducting a series of first aid courses and, along with others, establishing several field hospitals during the Israeli invasion of Nablus in 2002. He worked to reach besieged homes and assumed responsibility for field coordination for the city's health emergency committee. He also coordinated with international medical delegations visiting the city during that period. Hamdan was shot in the foot by Israeli occupation forces while performing his medical duties inside the Balata refugee camp.
Hamdan co-founded the Palestinian National Initiative in 2003 and became one of its leaders. He managed Dr. Mustafa Barghouti's presidential campaign in 2005. He ran in the 2006 legislative elections but was unsuccessful.
Hamdan has been a member of the Events and Institutions Committee in Nablus Governorate, which includes civil society organizations and parties, since 2007. He is its media spokesperson. He has headed the Financial and Administrative Control Committee in the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions since 2015. He is the founder and president of the Palestinian Association for Chronic Diseases and Child Care, based in Nablus, since 2011, which oversees the Healthy Kitchen that provides daily meals to 300 poor and health-needy families. He is also the regional coordinator for the People's Health Movement, which includes representatives from all countries of the world.
Hamdan believes that the Palestinian people will ultimately prevail, but current circumstances and realities are not promising. He argues that the official Palestinian position is inadequate in the face of the occupation's actions, and that the Palestinian situation is experiencing political distortion, particularly in light of regional and international transformations. Hamdan believes that Oslo dragged the Palestinian people to the brink of disaster and entrenched the occupation and settlement activity. He also considers the division a dark chapter in the Palestinian cause, for which the current Palestinian political leadership, encompassing all political and partisan forces, bears responsibility. He maintains that resistance in all its forms is a legitimate right of the Palestinians, guaranteed by international law, and that popular resistance is the strongest option in the Palestinian context. He believes that all Palestinians need to achieve political partnership and avoid monopolizing political decision-making. He argues that the problem lies in perpetuating the organizational and partisan monopoly on political decision-making. He emphasizes the necessity of forming the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that represent all Palestinians, including Islamic movements, based on a consensus-based approach, a national political program, and free elections.
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