Personal Info
- Country of residence: Portugal
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Younis Ahmed Hassan Al-Jarou was born in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City on March 1, 1940. He is married and has one daughter and three sons. He studied primary school at Al-Falah National Islamic School and secondary school at Palestine Secondary School, from which he obtained his high school diploma in 1958. He earned a bachelor's degree in law from Cairo University in 1962. He worked as a legal advisor in the Egyptian administration until 1967, and opened a law office in Gaza.
He joined the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1962, and was its leader in Gaza City in 1965. He joined the Popular Front immediately after its establishment in 1967, and was its leader in Gaza City until 1994. He was a member of the National Guidance Committee, a member of the Unified National Leadership during the First Intifada, and the Popular Front's representative for national relations in the Gaza Strip. He remained in the ranks of the Front until 2012.
Al-Jarou was active in institutional work; he was a member of the board of directors of the Bar Association in 1977, then deputy head of the Bar Association in 1982, a member of the board of directors of the Blood Bank, a member of the board of directors of the Al-Dameer Foundation for Human Rights, then its president until 1995, and he headed the administration of the National Association for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled between (1992-2019), and he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Al-Azhar University in 2002, and he heads the board of directors of the Abdel Shafi Health and Community Association (formerly the Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip).
Al-Jarou believes that the Palestinian Authority was forced to enter the Oslo path under difficult circumstances, especially after its departure from Beirut and the siege it faced. However, it was clear from the beginning that the Oslo Accords would not succeed because every clause in them is interpreted in favor of the stronger party, and the occupation is the strongest in terms of equipment and power. Therefore, the agreement came in their favor and will not achieve peace. Al-Jarou believes that the division is one of the most dangerous things that the Palestinian people have been exposed to, and it threatens the future of the Palestinian cause. Both Hamas and Fatah bear responsibility for it. In his opinion, Hamas made a mistake in its decision to control the Gaza Strip, because the occupation will not allow Hamas to grow, stabilize, and form a society capable of development. The occupation currently refuses to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority and is destabilizing security in Gaza so that Hamas remains weak and dependent on aid.
He calls for achieving a political partnership between the various Palestinian movements and parties, as no people in the world, according to Al-Jarou, can build a state without the participation of all factions to ensure the formation of a democratic national system. He believes that any people in the world has the right to resist the occupier in all available forms of resistance, and choosing the appropriate form of resistance varies according to time and place. Peaceful resistance is the best at this historical stage of the Palestinian cause, due to the vast difference between the occupation and the Palestinians, and because the occupation exploits every opportunity to oppress the Palestinian people, and also because of the support of Western societies for the occupation's narrative while the Palestinian people's resistance is accused of terrorism. He believes that the many attacks by the occupation make the Palestinian people defend themselves even with the simplest weapons, and the conflict with the occupation will continue as long as the Palestinian people refuse to surrender and give up their right.
Al-Jarou believes that the Arab world currently lacks an independent decision-making power capable of confronting the imperialism of the occupation. The occupation exploits and fuels the divisions within Arab societies to help dismantle these societies and divert their attention from the Palestinian cause. He believes that if Arab nationalism were to return, it would pose a threat to the balance of power in the world and to imperialist governments.
Al-Jarou suffered in his life; he was arrested by the occupation in 1968 for a year, arrested in 1970 for three years, and arrested again administratively during the First Intifada. The occupation prevented him from traveling between (1973-1992).
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