Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Muhannad Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Al-Rabi was born on June 18, 1973, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, to a Palestinian family whose roots trace back to the town of Kafr Qasim in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948. He is married and has a son and a daughter. He attended Al-Khalidiya Elementary School and Ibn Al-Haytham Preparatory School, and received his high school diploma in the scientific stream in 1990 from Qadri Touqan School. He was awarded a bachelor's degree in Interior Design from Yarmouk University in Jordan in 1995, a postgraduate diploma in Islamic Archaeology from Al-Quds University – Abu Dis in 1997, and a master's degree in Political Planning and Development from An-Najah National University in 2018. After graduating, Al-Rabi worked in various positions in both the public and private sectors, including design, advertising, commerce, photography, and education. He also served as the director of customer service centers at the Palestine Telecommunications Group for several years. In 2009, he and his brother founded Diyarna Contracting Company, and he currently serves as the general manager of Diyarna Real Estate Development Group.
Al-Rabi began his activism during the First Intifada within the ranks of Fatah. He became the head of the student youth movement in the Old City of Nablus in 1989. He was shot in the knee by Israeli occupation forces with a dumdum bullet during a confrontation in the Old City in 1989, and sustained other injuries from rubber bullets on several occasions. While studying at Yarmouk University, al-Rabi was involved in activities supporting the First Intifada, but he decided to cease his organizational work in 1993 and present himself as an independent figure.
Al-Rabi was deeply involved in voluntary social work, organizing numerous community activities to support various segments of society, including people with disabilities and creative individuals. He became a member of the Independent Personalities Group in 2011 and participated in the Cairo Dialogues as part of the group's delegation. In 2015, he co-founded the Palestinian Youth Gathering, which he also heads. He has held the honorary presidency of the Makers of Tomorrow Charitable Association in Nablus since 2014 and joined the National Movement to End the Division in 2017.
Al-Rabi was active in writing articles in some Palestinian and Arab newspapers in the literary and economic fields, and he presented working papers in many workshops and seminars. He has a book in print entitled “Nablus and its colorful tiles” in which he talks about the architectural art in the municipal tile industry in Nablus.
Rabbi contributed to the establishment and support of several cultural centers. He is a founding member of the Land Center for Studies and Research, a member of the advisory board of the Yafa Cultural Center, and a member of the administrative board of the Real Estate Developers Association, the Businessmen’s Forum, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Rabbi believes the Palestinian issue will remain largely unchanged in the coming years, with the occupation using the world's preoccupation with other matters to gain more time to achieve its goals. He believes the Oslo Accords are over, and that the current division is one of the most difficult periods the Palestinians have faced. He argues that the only solution lies in serious popular pressure pushing for a genuine political partnership, the inclusion of all factions in the PLO institutions on a consensual basis, and strengthening the Palestinian people's ability to confront the occupation.
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