Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Ziad Ahmed Jabr Al-Rajoub was born in the town of Dura in the Hebron Governorate on November 7, 1960. He is married and has nine children. He received his primary and preparatory education in the schools of Dura, obtained his high school diploma while imprisoned by the occupation in 1983, and earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Al-Quds Open University in 2000, and a master's degree in contemporary Islamic studies from Al-Quds University/Abu Dis in 2014. He worked as an employee of the Palestinian Red Crescent in 1988, then was appointed as a military officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 17th Security Apparatus. He then transferred to the civilian sector, where he held several positions, including Director General in the Ministry of Awqaf in 1998, then Director General of Hajj, Assistant Undersecretary in the Ministry of Awqaf, Head of the Hajj and Umrah Authority, and then Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf.
Rajoub was influenced by the general national situation and his family's history of struggle. He joined the Fatah movement in his early youth, trained in weapons, and was arrested by the occupation in 1977. He was arrested again in 1978 for targeting a collaborator and was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. His arrest was renewed several times after that. While in the occupation prisons, he was a member of the Fatah Central Committee and was a representative of the striking prisoners in Junaid prison in 1987. In 1989, he served as the secretary of the Fatah movement in the southern West Bank. He was elected as a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council in 2019. He was appointed head of the Dura Municipal Council by a decision of the Ministry of Local Government in 2012.
Rajoub believes that the Palestinian cause is larger than the Palestinian factions, as it is a cause of the entire nation. He believes the occupation will inevitably end, and that Palestinians must reassess their struggle and the mechanisms for preserving their existence and liberating their land. He also believes that Jews are followers of a monotheistic religion and must reconsider their policies towards Arabs and Palestinians, reconcile with Palestinians and Arabs, and accept living in peace. Rajoub sees the Oslo Accords as a result of the defeat of the Arab and Islamic world at that time, where this position was imposed on the Palestinian side in the absence of any alternative to destruction and devastation. The Palestinian leadership assessed that it was in the best interest of the Palestinian people to sign this agreement, despite its difficulty for Palestinians and its deviation from the course of Arab and Islamic history. He believes that the stage of Palestinian division was orchestrated for the Palestinian people by external parties and by the Israeli enemy through the assassination of Palestinian leaders, the fragmentation of the Palestinian arena, and the sowing of discord and division among Palestinians. This division poses a great danger to the cause, and there is no prospect of reconciliation due to the unwillingness of the Hamas leadership and regional parties. Rajoub believes that international law legitimizes resistance against occupation, but the disagreement lies in the methods of resistance. Especially regarding the Palestinians’ use of weapons or not, he sees the need to involve all political orientations in the PLO and its institutions, calling for the unity of the Palestinian people in order to preserve the cause.
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