Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Naseem Salim Musa Anfus was born on August 12, 1954, in the town of Aboud in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate. He is married and has two sons and two daughters. He studied primary school at Aboud School and secondary school at Prince Hassan School in Birzeit, from which he obtained his high school diploma in the literary stream in 1973. He earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Mosul in Iraq in 1979. He worked as an English teacher at the Ahliya College in Ramallah between 1979 and 1989, then as principal of the Latin School in the town of Taybeh in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate between 1994 and 1996, and then as principal of the Latin School in the town of Aboud between 1996 and 1999. He worked as a financial and administrative director at the Ministry of Civil Affairs from 1999 until his retirement in 2014.
Anfous became involved in Palestinian national activism during his secondary school years, joining the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and participating in its national activities. He was active in student activism during his university studies within the General Union of Palestinian Students. He was a member of the volunteer work committees in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate during the 1970s and 80s, and a leader in the labor movement. He co-founded the Private Schools Union with a group of labor activists and served on its administrative board for two terms (1982-1986). He was also an activist in the First Intifada (1987-1993). In 2021, he ran for the Palestinian Legislative Council on the "Jerusalem is Our Destiny" list, affiliated with Hamas, for the Christian seat.
Anfous believes the future of the Palestinian cause is very frightening, and that Palestinians are living through a critical and sensitive juncture. If things deteriorate, the future is terrifying, but if Palestinians can reorganize and realign their priorities, there is hope for a better future. The current situation is a product of the Oslo Accords, which set the national cause back and brought the Palestinian people to their current predicament. Even under the British Mandate, the Palestinian situation was not this dire. He believes that political partnership should have been achieved long ago, but the middle class that assumed power began pursuing its own interests, which undermined the national charter and paralyzed national action. He calls for the actual implementation of political partnership based on restoring the Palestinian cause and the national program to their correct path. He indicates that reviving the PLO is possible, provided it is based on the principle of national partnership, ending Oslo and security coordination, and establishing the foundations for a genuine struggle. This does not preclude cooperation with the international community, but only on the basis of achieving national rights.
He believes that resistance in all its forms and methods, including armed resistance, is crucial for liberating occupied land. As long as the occupation persists, this resistance will continue. Relying solely on peaceful struggle will only stagnate the Palestinian cause and, on the contrary, lead to significant losses. The division itself is extremely destructive to the Palestinian cause, and its continuation serves the interests of the occupation, both in terms of geographical separation and undermining the national program of Palestinian factions and parties, which has generated widespread frustration among Palestinians. He maintains that any political system that lacks justice and serves only a specific group is destined to fail. We do not have a just system, and the absence of the Legislative Council for fifteen years is sufficient proof of this.
Anfos suffered under the occupation; he was arrested for the first time in 1973, and the Zionist court issued a decision against him to imprison him for nine months and two years with a suspended sentence. The occupation prevented him from traveling between (1978-1979). Then his arrests continued, especially during the First Intifada, as he was arrested in 1987 and 1988. He was subjected to harsh interrogation, and the occupation raided his house several times, searched it, and tampered with its contents. He was summoned more than once by the occupation intelligence, and he lost his teaching job at the National College due to his repeated arrests.
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