Personal Info
- Country of residence: Portugal
Information
Mohammed Hosni Hassan Arafa was born in Gaza City on December 30, 1967, to a Palestinian refugee family originally from the depopulated village of Yibna in the Ramla district. He is married and has six children. He completed his primary education at Al-Shati Elementary School for Boys and New Gaza Preparatory School, and his secondary education at Al-Karmel Secondary School, from which he obtained his high school diploma in the science stream in 1985. He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from An-Najah National University in 1992, a master's degree in the same field from the same university in 1995, and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Kassel in Germany in 1999. He worked as a teaching assistant at An-Najah National University, then as a lecturer at the Islamic University. He participated in the founding of the Consultants Center for Management, Engineering, and Infrastructure, where he worked as a construction engineer.
Arafa was involved in union and institutional activities; he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Authority for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a founding member and member of the Board of Directors of the Palestinian-German Association of Academics between (2006-2018), and was Vice President and Secretary of the Association in several election cycles, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Materials and Soil Laboratory of the Engineers Syndicate, Vice President of the Zakat Committee in the Sheikh Radwan area since 2008, and was elected as the head of the Engineers Syndicate in the Gaza Strip governorates in February 2022.
Arafa prepared a number of research papers and studies, and participated in a research project in collaboration with the University of Lyon, France, which focused on the use of recycled concrete to benefit from it in disposing of the quantities of concrete left behind by the Zionist bombing during the wars on the Gaza Strip. The Faculty of Engineering at the Islamic University in Gaza won the Academic Excellence Award as a result of this research.
Arafah embraces Islamic thought and believes in public freedoms. He considers the Oslo Accords a grave mistake against the Palestinian cause, arguing that the occupation reneged on the agreement while the Palestinian leadership remained committed to it. This, he believes, contributed to the state of division that Palestinians have been experiencing for years. He believes that national relations in the Gaza Strip are much better than before, and that political forces have managed to reach common ground. However, he maintains that the overall national situation requires prioritizing the higher national interest over narrow partisan interests, and strengthening and involving the factions in administration and senior positions.
Arafat encourages all forms of resistance because, in his view, Israel is an occupying power, and resisting it is legitimate under international law. He believes it is essential to assess the surrounding circumstances to determine the most effective form of resistance. He remains optimistic about the future of the Palestinian cause despite the difficult conditions it faces, pointing to recent events such as the incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, the assassination of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and the subsequent harassment of her funeral procession. He argues that these events collectively demonstrate the fragility and eventual demise of the occupation army, and that victory over the occupying state is possible.
Arafat believes that Palestine has been occupied from the river to the sea and must be liberated in its entirety, but there are possibilities and realities that must be considered until the entire homeland is liberated. He believes that a state on the 1967 borders is a possible option, but the occupation is not interested in it. As for the right of return, it is an individual and collective right, according to what is stipulated in international law, and the refugees must return to their homes from which they were displaced and be compensated for all their stolen rights.
Arafah suffered because of the occupation; the occupation’s procedures disrupted his university education, so he was two years late in his bachelor’s degree because the occupation closed the university and prevented students from the Gaza Strip from reaching their universities in the West Bank.
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