Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Hassan Ali Muhammad Abu Jarad was born in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, on May 13, 1955. He is married with five daughters and four sons. He completed his primary education at Beit Lahia School and his secondary education at Al-Faluja School, where he obtained his high school diploma in 1973. He earned a BA in Education and English from Alexandria University in 1978, a MA from Ball State University in Indiana, USA, and a PhD from the same university in 1981. He worked as a lecturer at the Islamic University in 1978 and again between 1986 and 1991. He was one of the founders of Al-Azhar University in 1991, a member of the university council between 1991 and 2020, and a lecturer there, dean of the Faculty of Arts, then dean of planning and quality, then dean of libraries. He was also one of the founders and president of Gaza University.
Abu Jarad was a member of the Fatah movement and participated in the negotiations regarding the displaced Palestinians between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the occupying state. He is one of the founders of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and an active member of the union movement, having established the Educational Enrichment Association in Beit Lahia during the First Intifada. He was also one of the founders and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Resources Development (PICARD), and vice president of the World University Services Organization/Palestine branch, and a member of the Beit Lahia Municipal Council.
Abu Jarad believes that the Oslo Accords were stillborn, and that what remained of them is no longer valid. He attributes the reason for signing them to the experiences of the Palestinian leadership in Arab countries, and considers it an attempt to unite the people and protect them from division. He views the division as the worst thing that has happened in the history of the Palestinian people, and is behind the decline of the Palestinian cause. He calls on both sides of the division to work to restore unity between them.
According to Abu Jarad, the homeland needs everyone, whether Hamas or Fatah, and therefore unity is necessary under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He believes that his generation failed to make the PLO an incubator for all, but he believes in the ability of the next generation to transform the PLO into an incubator for all aspects of the Palestinian spectrum.
Abu Jarad believes that Israel is a fragile entity and that Palestinians do not need weapons to confront it except to defend themselves. They need to maintain their roots and adherence to the land, develop science and technology, open up to the world, build the economy, and preserve the dignity of the Palestinian people. Abu Jarad supports peaceful scientific resistance and supports the option of a single state, the opening of all borders, the right of movement, and the return of all refugees to this indivisible state, which is the home of all prophets and the gateway to heaven, and a state that welcomes everyone.
He believes that the system governing the Palestinians is the social system, and that there is no unified political system. The system in place in the West Bank is different from the one in place in Gaza. He believes that Palestine is eternal, and that what the Palestinian people are experiencing is only a passing phase in the history of the people. This country has undergone many occupations, all of which have passed, while Palestine remains.
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