Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Ahmed Ali Muhammad Qurei (Abu Ala’) (March 26, 1937 – February
22, 2023) was a Palestinian politician, born in Abu Dis-Jerusalem in 1937. A
prominent figure in Palestinian political action. He devoted himself completely
to the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) in 1968, after fourteen
years spent in the banking business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1993, he
assumed the leadership of the Palestinian delegation to the Oslo Accord talks,
thus becoming known as the "Oslo architect."
his life and political work
He founded the Samed Foundation (Factories of the Sons of the
Martyrs of Palestine) in Beirut in the early seventies and held the position of
its general manager until it finally stopped working in (2007/2008). He assumed
the position of Director General of the Department of Economic Affairs and
Planning in the Palestine Liberation Organization, where he worked through this
department to support and establish many Palestinian projects and institutions
in the homeland such as: the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, many
economic and production institutions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the
Palestinian Housing Council, and lending institutions and others. He also held
the position of Governor of Palestine at the Islamic Development Bank from 1987
until 1996. He was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah
movement in August 1989, a member of the Central Council of the Palestine
Liberation Organization, and a member of the Palestinian National Council. He
supervised the preparation of the general program for the development of the
Palestinian national economy for the years 1994-2000, and worked with a number
of Palestinian economists in 1994 to establish and set the special system and
organize relations with the World Bank. He worked as Managing Director and
Director General of the Palestinian Development and Reconstruction Council
(PECDAR). He was appointed Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of
Industry in the first Palestinian government in the period (1994-1996).
role in the peace process
He played a key role in the peace process in the Middle East,
where he held the position of general coordinator of the Palestinian
delegations to the multilateral negotiations, and headed the Palestinian
delegation during the Palestinian-Israeli talks in Oslo / Norway, which ended
with the Declaration of Principles agreement signed by the initials on the
Palestinian side and Shimon Peres on the Israeli side in The twentieth of
August 1993. He also headed the Palestinian delegation in the negotiations with
the Israeli side that led to the signing of the Paris Economic Agreement in
Paris on the twenty-ninth of April 1994). He headed the Palestinian team in the
negotiations that led to the signing of the Interim Phase Agreement (Oslo II)
in 1995, and headed the Palestinian side in the Steering Committee for the
implementation of this agreement. He headed the Palestinian delegation to the
final solution talks with the Israelis during the Stockholm negotiations and
participated in the Camp David negotiations in 2000. He headed the Palestinian
negotiation team in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in Taba in 2001, and
also headed the Palestinian negotiation team in the final status negotiations
that began after the Annapolis peace conference in Middle East in 2007.
presided over positions
He was elected a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
after the Palestinian general elections in 1996, when he obtained 18,839 votes
in the Jerusalem Governorate district, representing the Fatah movement. He was
elected Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996 and held this
position until 2003.
He assumed the position of Palestinian Prime Minister from
October 2003 until March 2006, during which he headed three Palestinian
governments (the seventh government, the eighth government, and the ninth
government). He also assumed the task of the General Commissioner of the
Mobilization and Organization Commission in the Fatah movement until the end of
2009. In September 2009, he was elected a member of the Executive Committee of
the Palestine Liberation Organization by the Palestine National Council, and
was appointed head of the Jerusalem Affairs Department in the Palestine
Liberation Organization in October. October 2009 until his death. In August
2011, he was elected Secretary of the Advisory Council of the Palestinian
National Liberation Movement.
accusations of corruption
Financial corruption and the cement scandal
In 2006, the cement scandal emerged, which is one of the major
corruption cases witnessed by the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement.
The Public Monitoring Authority issued a report confirming the disappearance of
huge funds, amounting at that time to approximately $315 million. On February
5, 2006, Attorney General Ahmed Al-Mughni revealed that the number of financial
corruption files that reached the Public Prosecution Office exceeded 50 cases,
and that more than 700 million dollars were wasted in serious corruption cases.
However, we cannot count this amount as the size The real corruption, as the
Public Prosecutor himself expected that there would be billions of dollars
embezzled.The cases that the singer announced the investigation included
embezzlement, abuse of credit, fraud, and forgery in official papers for people
of high standing.By looking at the text of the investigation document that he
carried out The Palestinian Legislative Council through its specialized
committees (the Budget and Financial Affairs Committee, the Oversight and Human
Rights Committee, and the Legal Committee), in addition to the establishment of
a mini-committee charged with the presidency of the Legislative Council
consisting of Dr. Hassan Khreisheh, Dr. Saadi Al-Kurnz, and Mr. Jamal Al-Shati.
The committee investigated and held meetings with many leaders in the Fatah
movement, led by Ahmed Qurei, “Abu Al-Alaa,” the Prime Minister at the time.The
investigation included others, including:
Maher Al-Masry, Minister of National Economy.
Jamil Al-Tarifi, Minister of Civil Affairs.
Abdel Hafeez Nofal, Director General of Trade at the Ministry of
National Economy.
Qandil Al-Tarifi Company for Ready Mix Concrete, represented by
Jumaa Qandil Al-Tarifi.
Al-Tarifi Company for Ready Mix Concrete, represented by Jamal
Al-Tarifi.
Intisar Baraka General Trading Company, represented by Youssef
Baraka.
Youssef Baraka General Trading Company, represented by Youssef
Baraka.
Muhammad Rashid “Khaled Salam” is the economic advisor to the
President, and the head of the Palestinian Commercial Services Company.
Hatem Youssef, Director General of Customs at the Ministry of
Finance.
In the end, after the committee obtained the documents, it
became clear that the Israeli company LTD, which is owned by Ze’ev Belinsky,
tried to import cement from Misr Beni Suef Company, but after the intervention
of security agencies and anti-normalization committees in Egypt, this deal was
halted, which prompted Belinsky to circumvent and import cement through
Palestinian intermediaries and companies. . Here, some Palestinian companies
began issuing import permits for Egyptian cement from the Ministry of National
Economy, and the total number of these permits issued amounted to approximately
420,000 tons[36].
At the request of Mr. Jamal Al-Tarifi, Minister of Civil
Affairs, a letter was sent to the Beni Suef Cement Factory stating that the
amount of cement to be imported is for the benefit of the Palestinian National
Authority. However, it turned out that the quantities of cement that entered
the Palestinian market amounted to (33 thousand tons), according to the sources
of the Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Finance, which is a
small part of the total number of permits issued, estimated at (420 thousand
tons). And it was proven that the Ministry of National Economy, which granted
the import permits, did not verify and did not follow up on the entry of cement
into the territory of the National Authority, and continued to issue new import
permits to the same companies. Through the investigation, it was revealed:
Cement import licenses issued by the Ministry of National
Economy do not carry a specific date for their validity, which gives scope for
manipulation.
The Ministry of National Economy does not have statistics to
know the market need for cement, according to which it issues import licenses.
The quantities fixed in the import permissions are written in
numbers and not written in letters, and this could allow tampering with the
permitted quantities.
repercussions of this deal
Depriving the Palestinian economy of import taxes, as ownership
of the cement was transferred to the Israeli company, and customs taxes were
collected by the Israeli customs.
Discrediting the Palestinian economy by cooperating with Israeli
companies and working to open the door to economic normalization with Israel.
The most dangerous of all is the contribution to the
construction of the separation wall and the settlements, as this cement was
used in the construction of the wall and the settlements.
His writings
He published several books, including on negotiations, which
were published in Arabic and English:
Oslo (1) (The Complete Palestinian Novel) 1993.
and Oslo (2) 1995-2000.
And the third book, “From the Road Map to Annapolis.”
And the book "Multilateral Negotiations".
Democracy and the Palestinian parliamentary experience.
The government experience under the Palestinian political
system.
Samid, The Productive Experience of the Palestinian Revolution.
and "The Economy of Resistance and the Economic National
Identity".
And the series of books “The Hanging Peace”, of which three
parts have been published so far. He also founded Samed Al-Iqtisadi magazine, and
he was in charge of its editor-in-chief until his death.
He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Al-Quds
University, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Research and
Economic Policy (MAS), the Peres Center for Peace, a member of the Board of
Advisors of the American Glitzman Foundation, and a founding member of the
Resala Forum for Thought and Dialogue.
Achievements and Awards
Awards and honors
He won many international awards in recognition of his efforts
for peace, including: the Royal Norwegian Medal in 1994, the Seeds of Peace
Award in 1996, the American Glitzman Foundation Award in 1999, and the Italian
Campidogolio Annual Prize in 2004.
On March 16, 2022, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas awarded
him the Medal of Honor of the highest degree.
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