The Palestinian Authority (“PA”) Prime Minister designate, Mahmoud Abbas, will submit the following Cabinet to the Palestinian Legislative Council (“PLC”) for a vote of confidence today (Tuesday, April 29, 2003) at noon.

1. Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) (Fatah) – Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior

2. Yasser Abed Rabbo (Independent) – Minister of Cabinet Affairs

3. Nabeel Shaath (Fatah) – Minister of External Affairs

4. Salam Fayyad (Independent) – Minister of Finance

5. Nabeel Kassis (Independent) – Minister of Planning

6. Rafiq Al-Natsheh (Fatah) – Minister of Agriculture

7. Hamdan Ashour (Fatah) – Minister of Housing and Public Works

8. Abdul Karim Abu Salah (Independent) – Minister of Justice

9. Ghassan Khatib (Palestinian People’s Party) - Minister of Labor

10. Naim Abu Hommos (Fatah) – Minister of Education and Higher Education

11. Jamal Shobaki (Fatah) – Minister of Local Government

12. Mohammed Dahlan (Fatah) – Minister of State for Security Affairs

13. Ziad Abu Amr (Independent) – Minister of Culture

14. Nabil Amr (Fatah) – Minister of Information

15. Azzam Shawwa (Fatah) – Minister of Energy

16. Kamal Al-Shirafi (Independent) – Minister of Health

17. Saeb Erekat (Fatah) – Minister of Negotiation Affairs

18. Mitri Abu Aita (Fatah) – Minister of Tourism

19. Maher Masri (Fatah) – Minister of Economy and Trade

20. Hisham Abdalraziq (Fatah) – Minister of Prisoner Affairs

21. Intisar Al-Wazir (Um Jihad) (Fatah) – Minister of Social Affairs

22. Sa’edi Al-Krounz (Fatah) – Minister of Transportation

23. Abdul Fattah Hamayel (Fatah) – Minister of State (Without Portfolio)

24. Azzam Ahmed (Fatah) – Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology

25. To Be Appointed – Minister of Religious Affairs

Cabinet Secretary: Hakam Balawi (Fatah)

1. MAHMOUD ABBAS (ABU MAZEN) (FATAH) – PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR

Born in Safad, Palestine in 1935, Mahmoud Abbas, and his family fled Palestine in 1948, becoming refugees in Syria. He lived in exile until 1994, when he came to the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of the Palestinian negotiation team. He has three children and seven grandchildren with an eighth on the way.

Mahmoud Abbas is also known as Abu Mazen (Father of Mazen), in accordance with Arab tradition in which parents are referred to as Abu (“Father of”) or Um (“Mother of”) the first-born son.

Political Career

Mahmoud Abbas is a founding member of Fatah,[1] the largest political party in the Palestine Liberation Organization (“PLO”) and in the PLC. Mr. Abbas has been a member of the Fatah Central Committee since 1964 and a member of the Palestinian National Council (“PNC” – the Palestinian government in exile) since 1968. Since 1980, Mr. Abbas has been a member of the PLO Executive Committee. He has held the post of PLO Secretary-General since 1996. Mr. Abbas is the head of the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department, a post that he has held since 1994.

Previously, he served as the head of the Palestinian Election Committee (1996 to 2002) and the PLO National and International Relations Department (1984 to 2000).

In 1974, he was responsible for opening channels of communications with Israeli peace groups and was the primary force behind the PNC’s decision to work with these groups.

Mr. Abbas is the signatory of the 1993 Declaration of Principles that launched the Oslo Peace Process. In 1995, he signed the Oslo Agreements, also known as the Interim Agreements.

Education

Mr. Abbas holds a Ph.D. in History (Oriental College, Moscow) and a B.A. in Law (Damascus University). He is the author of several books in Arabic including, The Other Side, The Fall of the Netanyahu Government and The Road to Oslo. He enjoys Arabic poetry, classical Arabic music and the study of history.

2. YASSER ABED RABBO (INDEPENDENT) – MINISTER OF CABINET AFFAIRS

Born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1945, Yasser Abed Rabbo is a refugee. He is married with two children.

Political Career

Mr. Abed Rabbo previously served as the Minister of Culture and Information, a post he held since 1994. Since 1998, he has headed the PA Committee for Education, Culture and Science.

Mr. Abed Rabbo has served on the PLO Executive Committee since 1971 and has served as the head of the PLO Department of Information and Culture since 1974. In 1968, Mr. Abed Rabbo was a founding member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a leftist group within the PLO. After 23 years in the DFLP, Mr. Abed Rabbo broke away from the group in 1991 to head the Palestinian Democratic Union, FIDA, a group that came to closer agreement with the peace policies of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

Mr. Abed Rabbo is a senior member of the Palestinian negotiation team, attending all major negotiations, including those conducted at Camp David (2000) and Taba (2001). In 1988, he led the first Palestinian delegation in negotiations with the US administration.

Education

Mr. Abed Rabbo holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science (American University in Cairo).

He enjoys reading literature.

3. NABEEL SHAATH (FATAH) – MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Born in Safad, Palestine in 1938, Dr. Shaath lived in exile and returned to the Gaza Strip in June 1994. He is married with four children.

Political Career

Dr. Shaath previously served as the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, a position he held since 1994. He was elected to the PLC in 1996 representing Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.

A long-time figure in Palestinian politics, Dr. Shaath served as the Director of the PLO Planning Center in Beirut. In 1974, he headed the PLO’s first delegation to the United Nations. Since 1989, has been a member of the Fatah Central Committee.

Dr. Shaath was a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation and later was involved in negotiations with Israel that led to the signing of the Oslo Agreements. From 1993 to 1995, he served as the head of the Palestinian negotiation team, and participated in later negotiations with Israel, including those conducted at Camp David (2000) and Taba (2001). He has also represented Occupied Palestine at the World Economic Forum.

Career

As a public planning and administration consultant, Dr. Shaath worked extensively throughout the Arab world, establishing both the Engineering and Management Institute and the Center for Administrative Development, which offers management training in 14 offices throughout the Arab world.

Dr. Shaath taught economics and business at the American University of Cairo and the American University of Beirut. From 1970 to 1975, he was the Dean of the School of Business Administration at the American University in Beirut.

His interest in education prompted him to found the Dar al-Fata al-Arabi, the only institution in the Arab world dedicated to publishing books for children and young readers.

Education

Shaath holds a Ph.D. in Law (University of Pennsylvania), a Ph.D. in Economics and Finance (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), an MBA in Finance and Banking (University of Pennsylvania) and a B.A. in Business Administration (University of Alexandria, Egypt).

Dr. Shaath is an avid piano player and enjoys reading poetry.

4. SALAM FAYYAD (INDEPENDENT) – MINISTER OF FINANCE

Born in Nablus, Palestine in 1952, Dr. Fayyad is married with three children.

Political Career

Since June 2002, Dr. Fayyad has served as the Minister of Finance. His commitment to transparency and proper accounting practices led to extensive audits of PA accounts. In 2003, he submitted the first publicly disclosed PA budget that was approved by the PLC (http://www.mof.gov.ps). In his position as Minister of Finance, Dr. Fayyad serves as the Chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund and the Insurance and Pension General Corporation.

Career

In 1987, Dr. Fayyad began his career with the IMF as the assistant to the Executive Director in Washington, D.C. He later served as an advisor to the Executive Director from 1992 to 1995. In 1996, Dr. Fayyad was the IMF representative to Occupied Palestine, a post he held until 2001. Dr. Fayyad served as the Regional Manager of the Arab Bank in Occupied Palestine from 2001 to 2002. Prompted by a sense of civic responsibility to reform the PA financial system, in 2002 Dr. Fayyad resigned from his post at the Arab Bank in order to serve as the Minister of Finance.

Dr. Fayyad has taught at the University of Texas at Austin and at Yarmuk University and was a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Education

Dr. Fayyad holds a Ph.D. in Economics (University of Texas at Austin), an MBA (St. Edward’s University) and a B.Sc. (American University of Beirut).

Dr. Fayyad has authored a number of research papers on the Palestinian economy. He is known for his no-nonsense attitude regarding transparency and fiscal responsibility.

5. NABEEL KASSIS (INDEPENDENT) – MINISTER OF PLANNING

Born in 1945, a native of Ramallah, Dr. Kassis is married with two children.

Political Career

Dr. Kassis previously served as the Minister of Tourism in 2002. In 1998 he was appointed a Minister of State (without portfolio) in charge of the Bethlehem 2000 Project.

As a proponent of transparency and reform Dr. Kassis was, in 1997, appointed member of the Special Committee for the Investigation of the Auditor’s Report. Currently, he is the coordinator of the Ministerial Committee for Reform, a committee charged with overseeing reforms of the Palestinian Authority.

Dr. Kassis was a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation in 1991 and a deputy head of the negotiation delegation at the Washington talks in 1992 to 1993. He later became the Director-General of the Technical and Advisory Committee to the Palestinian negotiation team, established to do preparatory work for the transition to Palestinian self-government. He was a member of the Palestinian delegation on final status negotiations in 1999. He is a member of the Steering and Monitoring Committee of the Negotiations Affairs Department.

Career

A trained theoretical nuclear physicist, Dr. Kassis taught physics in Germany, Italy, France, England, Lebanon and Jordan before joining Birzeit University in 1980.

As lecturer, Chairman of the Physics Department and Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kassis was heavily involved in keeping the university running at a time when the Israeli occupation made a practice of closing down Palestinian universities for prolonged periods.

He is the founder of the Palestine Institute for Economic Policy Research, a Palestinian think-tank focusing on the Palestinian economy.

Education

Dr. Kassis holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics (American University in Beirut) and an M.Sc. in Nuclear Physics (University of Mainz, Germany). He is fluent in English and German.

He enjoys architecture, skiing and gardening.

6. RAFIQ AL-NATSHEH (FATAH) – MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

Born in Hebron, Palestine in 1934, Dr. al-Natsheh is married with four children.

Political Career

A member of the Fatah Central Committee since 1980, Dr. al-Natsheh served as the first PLO representative to Saudi Arabia. In 1996, he was elected to the PLC representing the Hebron district. In 1998, he was appointed the Minster of Labor and in 2002 was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture.

Career

From 1956 to 1970, Dr. al-Natsheh worked in Qatar as the Director of the office of the Qatari Minister of Education.

Education

Dr. al-Natsheh holds a Ph.D. in Political Science (Moscow University) and an M.A. in Political Science (Cairo University).

Dr. al-Natsheh has authored several books on Palestinian history including Israel: A Settlement Project, Islamic Jerusalem, Sultan Abdel-Hamid the Second and Palestine, and Islam and Palestine.

7. HAMDAN ASHOUR (FATAH) – MINISTER OF HOUSING AND PUBLIC WORKS

Born in Gaza City, Palestine in 1940, Mr. Ashour is married with two children.

Political Career

A long-time Fatah activist, Mr. Ashour has been a member of the Fatah party since its creation in 1959. In exile, Mr. Ashour was responsible for organizing Palestinian members of Fatah in Europe from 1960 to 1967. After the start of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip in 1967, he was responsible for organizing the Fatah members in Lebanon.

Since 1968, he has been a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council where he currently serves as the Secretary-General.

8. ABDUL KARIM ABU SALAH (INDEPENDENT) – MINISTER OF JUSTICE

Born in Khan Yunis, Palestine in 1955, Mr. Abu Salah is married with four children.

Political Career

Mr. Abu Salah takes up the post as Minister of Justice following his work as the Chairman of the Legal Committee and a member of the PLC Budget and Financial Affairs Committees. He is committed to improving the social conditions of Palestinians through the enactment of laws that aim to protect the weakest elements of Palestinian society.

Career

A lawyer by trade, Mr. Abu Salah has been active in the Palestinian Bar Association and the Palestinian Teachers’ Association.

Education

Mr. Abu Salah holds a B.A. in Law (Cairo University) and higher degree in International Relations (Cairo University).

9. GHASSAN KHATIB (PALESTINIAN PEOPLE’S PARTY) - MINISTER OF LABOR

Born in Nablus, Palestine in 1954, Mr. Khatib is married with three children.

Political Career

He was a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation in 1991 and was involved in the Washington negotiations from 1991 to 1993. He was appointed Minister of Labor in 2002. He is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian People’s Party.

Career

Mr. Khatib served as a lecturer at Birzeit University’s Cultural Studies Program from 1982 to 2002.

Mr. Khatib founded the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center, a non-governmental organization that conducts public opinion polls and provides media support to journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He served as its director from 1988 to 2002.

A long-time advocate of Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, Mr. Khatib is the Co-founder and Co-editor of BitterLemons.org, a Palestinian-Israeli internet-based political magazine. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Israel-Palestine Journal, a political journal offering Palestinian and Israeli perspectives.

Mr. Khatib is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends Schools in Palestine. He formerly served as President of the Board of Directors of the Arab Development Center, an agricultural development organization, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Democracy and Worker’s Rights Center.

Mr. Khatib was a political prisoner in Israel from 1974 to1978 and has been detained several times thereafter.

Education

Mr. Khatib holds an M.A. in Development Studies (Manchester University) and a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration (Birzeit University). He is pursuing a doctorate in Middle East Politics (University of Durham).

10. NAIM ABU HOMMOS (FATAH) – MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION

Born in Birzeit, Palestine in 1955, Dr. Abu Hommos is a refugee from Lydda, Palestine (now Lod, Israel). Dr. Abu Hommos is married with five children.

Political Career

A long-time Palestinian activist, Dr. Abu Hommos joined the Fatah party at the age of 14, and later became a member of the Palestinian National Council. He has served as the Minister of Education since 2002. In 1994, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Education. Since 1989, Dr. Abu Hommos has served as the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Council for Higher Education.

Career

From 1982 to 1989, Dr. Abu Hommos served as the head of the Education and Psychology Departments at An-Najah University in Nablus. He later headed the General Exam Committee and the Textbook Development Committee. Dr. Abu Hommos is the author of eight books in the fields of education and politics.

Education

Dr. Abu Hommos holds a Ph.D. in Education (San Francisco State University), an M.A. in Special Education (San Francisco State University) and a B.A. in Education (University of Jordan).

He enjoys reading, archaeology and hiking.

11. JAMAL SHOBAKI (FATAH) – MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Mr. Shobaki was born in 1952 in Ithna, Palestine. He is a refugee from Bayt Jibrin, Palestine (now Beit Guvrin, Israel). He is married with three children.

Political Career

Mr. Shobaki’s political career began as an activist. A member of Fatah, he was imprisoned by Israel for ten years for his activism during the first Palestinian uprising against occupation. He is a member of the PLO Central Council, and a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council.

In 1996, he was elected to the PLC representing the Hebron District. He is head of the PLC Economic Committee, a member of the PLC Political Committee and a member of the PLC Political Prisoners Committee.

Education

Mr. Shobaki holds a B.A. in Geography (Beirut Arab University).

12. MOHAMMED DAHLAN (FATAH) – MINISTER OF STATE FOR SECURITY AFFAIRS

Born in 1961 in Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, Mr. Dahlan is a refugee from Hammama, Palestine (now Nitzanim, Israel). He is married with three children.

Political Career

Mr. Dahlan is a long-time member of the Fatah party, founding the Fatah Youth Association in 1981. He was imprisoned by Israel for five years for political activism. In 1988, he was expelled to Jordan by Israel. From exile, Mr. Dahlan helped organize the first Intifada (the non-violent Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation) that lasted from 1987 to 1994.

In 1994, Mr. Dahlan returned to the Occupied Palestinian Territories where he headed the Preventive Security Forces in the Gaza Strip, a post from which he resigned in 2002. A senior Palestinian negotiator, Mr. Dahlan participated in the Wye River negotiations (1999) and was a member of the Palestinian negotiation team at Camp David (2000) and Taba (2001).

Education

Mr. Dahlan studied business at the Islamic University of Gaza, but did not complete his studies as he was deported by Israel from Occupied Palestine.

He is fluent in Hebrew.

13. ZIAD ABU AMR (INDEPENDENT) – MINISTER OF CULTURE

Born in 1950 in Gaza City, Palestine, Dr. Abu Amr is married with four children.

Political Career

In 1996, Dr. Abu Amr was elected to the PLC as an independent representative of Gaza City. An advocate of reform and democratization in the PA, he currently is the Chairman of the PLC Political Committee.

Career

Dr. Abu Amr is a professor at Birzeit University, where he has been teaching political science since 1985. He is the author of several research papers including Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza, Civil Society and Democratization in Palestine, The Significance of Jerusalem: A Muslim’s Perspective and Emerging Trends in Palestinian Strategic Thinking and Practice.

He is the President of the Palestinian Council of Foreign Relations; a member of the Higher Education Council; Deputy Secretary-General of MIFTAH, a Palestinian civil rights organization, and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Political Science Organization.

Education

Dr. Abu Amr holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Politics (Georgetown University).

14. NABIL AMR (FATAH) – MINISTER OF INFORMATION

Born in Doura, Palestine in 1947, Mr. Amr is married with five children and four grandchildren.

Political Career

For almost four decades, Mr. Amr has been involved in Palestinian politics, serving as a media advisor to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. From 1988 to 1993, he served as the PLO’s Ambassador to the USSR and Russia.

The former Minister for Parliamentary Affairs resigned from his post in 2002. He was elected to the PLC in 1996, representing the district of Hebron.

He was a member of the Palestinian negotiation team and was a member of the Steering and Monitoring Committee of the Negotiations Affairs Department.

Career

Mr. Amr is the founder and General Manager of al-Hayat al-Jadida, a leading Palestinian newspaper. He is the Director of the PA’s Radio and Television Authority and is a member of the Palestinian Writer’s Union.

For ten years, he served as the Director of Voice of Palestine a Palestinian radio station.

Mr. Amr has authored three books: Testimonies from the Battlefield, chronicling the war in Beirut, 1000 Days in Moscow, chronicling the fall of the former Soviet Union and The Days of Siege and Love.

Education

Mr. Amr holds a degree in Law (Damascus University) and a diploma in Media and Radio Broadcasting (Cairo University).

His interests include reading, power walking and swimming.

15. AZZAM SHAWWA (FATAH) – MINISTER OF ENERGY

Born in Kuwait in 1963, Mr. Shawwa is married with three children.

Career

Mr. Shawwa is the Gaza Branch Coordinator of the Arab Bank. Previously, he worked at the Bank of Palestine in the Gaza Strip, where he was the youngest person to ever serve as the Head of the Bank. He is the Treasurer of the Palestine Investment Fund; the Secretary-General of the Palestine Banking Association; a member of the Palestine Food Industries Company and a member of the Palestine National House of Books.

He is extensively involved in community work, serving as the President of the Gaza Sporting Club; President of Atfaluna – Society for Deaf Children in Gaza and a member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish-Palestinian Training Institute.

Education

Mr. Shawwa holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics (University of Memphis).

Mr. Shawwa enjoys swimming and horseback riding and is an avid reader.

16. KAMAL AL-SHIRAFI (INDEPENDENT) – MINISTER OF HEALTH

Born in 1955 in the Jabalya Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip, Dr. al-Shirafi is a refugee from Hiribya, Palestine (now Ziqim and Karmiyya, Israel). He is married with four children.

Political Career

A former physician, Dr. al-Shirafi was elected to the PLC in 1996, representing North Gaza. He is a member of the Political Committee and the Monitoring Human Rights and Public Freedoms Committee of the PLC. Dr. al-Shirafi has been imprisoned by Israel on numerous occasions for political activism.

Career

Dr. al-Shirafi worked as a surgeon for ten years. He is a member of numerous charitable organizations, including the Al-Mizan Center, and is the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees of Al-Aqsa University. He was the Vice-President of the Palestinian Physicians’ Association for Human Rights.

Education

Dr. al-Shirafi holds a diploma in Teaching (Ramallah Teachers’ College). Dr. al-Shirafi holds a medical degree and is a certified surgeon (University of Bulgaria).

17. SAEB EREKAT (FATAH) – MINISTER OF NEGOTIATION AFFAIRS

Born in 1955 in East Jerusalem, Palestine, Dr. Erekat is married with four children.

Political Career

Previously Dr. Erekat served as the Minister of Local Government, a position he held since 1994. In 1993, he was appointed the Head of the Central Elections Commission that prepared for presidential and legislative elections. He resigned from this post in December 1995 to run for elections for Jericho. He was elected to the PLC in 1996.

In 1991, Dr. Erekat was the Vice-Chair of the Madrid Peace Delegation and was later the Vice-Chair at the Washington negotiations of 1992. In 1994, Dr. Erekat was appointed the Chairman of the Palestinian delegation for negotiations on elections and has since been a senior member of the Palestinian negotiation team. He has been extensively involved in all negotiations with Israel, including those conducted at Camp David (2000) and in Taba (2001). He is the Head of the Steering and Monitoring Committee of the Negotiations Affairs Department.

Career

Dr. Erekat is a professor of political science at An-Najah University in Nablus.

Dr. Erekat served on the editorial board of Al-Quds newspaper, the Palestinian daily with the highest circulation. He also served as the Secretary-General of the Arab Studies Society.

Education

Dr. Erekat holds a Ph.D. in Peace Studies (Bradford University), and a B.A. and M.A. in International Relations (University of San Francisco).

Dr. Erekat is the author of eight books and numerous research papers on Middle East politics and conflict resolution.

He enjoys swimming and running.

18. MITRI ABU AITA (FATAH) - MINISTER OF TOURISM

Born in 1941 in Bethlehem, Mr. Abu Aita is married.

Political Career

Elected in 1996 to the PLC, Mr. Abu Aita served as the Deputy Speaker of the PLC from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, he served as the Minister of Tourism and was later appointed as the Minister of Transportation in June 2002.

Career

An active lawyer, Mr. Abu Aita served as the Chairman of the Jordan Bar Association from 1994 to 1998 and was involved in the hotel and tourist industry for more than 20 years.

Education

Mr. Abu Aita holds a B.A. in Law (Damascus University).

19. MAHER MASRI (FATAH) – MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND TRADE

Born in 1946 in Nablus, Palestine, Mr. Masri is married with two children.

Political Career

Mr. Masri was elected to the PLC in 1996 representing the city of Nablus. Since 1996, he has served as the Minister of Economy and Trade. A proponent of a free Palestinian market, Mr. Masri was responsible for negotiating the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol with Israel, an agreement designed to build the Palestinian economy on free market principles.

He was a member of the Palestinian delegation at the Camp David negotiations (2000).

In his position as Minister of Economy and Trade, Mr. Masri serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency; the Palestinian Industrial Estates and Free Zones Area and the Palestinian Banking Corporation. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Palestinian Investment Fund.

Career

From 1987 until 1996, Mr. Masri was the General Manager of the Vegetable Oil Company in Nablus. He served on the Board of Directors of several private sector enterprises and was the Chairman of the Board of the Palestinian Development Fund, a non-governmental organization that provides loans for industrial and agricultural projects in Palestine. He was an economist in Beirut and later worked in the private sector in Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Education

Mr. Masri holds an M.A. and a B.A. in Economics (American University of Beirut).

20. HISHAM ABDALRAZIQ (FATAH) – MINISTER OF PRISONER AFFAIRS

Born in 1953 in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Mr. Abdalraziq is a refugee from Zarnuqa, Palestine (now Zarnoqa and Rechovot, Israel). He is married with five children.

Political Career

A member of the Fatah party, Mr. Abdalraziq was elected to the PLC in 1996 representing the Jabalya District. He was imprisoned by Israel for 21 years for political activism and was released in 1994. Upon his release, he became a member of the Higher Committee of Fatah in Gaza and was later appointed Minister of Prisoner Affairs in 1998.

Education

Mr. Abdalraziq holds a B.A. in the Israeli Political System (Al-Quds University).

While in prison, Mr. Abdalraziq wrote two poetry collections and a novel.

21. INTISAR AL-WAZIR (UM JIHAD) (FATAH) – MINISTER OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS

Born in 1941 in Gaza City, Ms al-Wazir is a widow with five children.

Political Career

A long-time figure in Palestinian politics, Um Jihad joined the Fatah party in 1959, becoming the party’s first female member. She participated in the first conference for Palestinian women in 1965 and was instrumental in founding the General Union for Palestinian Women, an organization that focuses on the social, economic and legal status of Palestinian women.

Her interest in social affairs prompted her to found numerous centers for women, literacy training and rehabilitation including the Social Affairs Committee and the Martyrs’ Families Organization and the Committee for Prisoners and the Injured. Currently, Um Jihad is the director of a number of committees focusing on women, the elderly and care for the disabled.

Um Jihad has been a member of the PNC since 1974 and a member of the Fatah Central Committee since 1987. From 1980 to 1985, Um Jihad was the Secretary-General of the General Union of Palestinian Women. In 1983, she served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Fatah Revolutionary Council.

Um Jihad lived in exile for thirty years with her husband, Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), the co-founder of the Fatah party, and leader of the first Palestinian uprising. In 1988, he was assassinated by Israel in his home in Tunisia.

Um Jihad returned to the Gaza Strip in 1995 and was elected to the PLC in 1996. Since 1995, she has served as the Minister of Social Affairs.

Education

Um Jihad holds a B.A. in History (Damascus University).

22. SA’EDI AL-KROUNZ (FATAH) – MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION

Born in Al-Bureij Refugee Camp (Gaza Strip) in 1958, Dr. al-Krounz is a refugee from al-Faluja, Palestine (now Kiryat Gat, Israel). He currently resides in Nusayrat Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip. He is married with three children.

Political Career

Dr. al-Krounz served as the first Minister of Industry in 1994.

Career

Until 1996, Dr. al-Krounz was the Head of the Math and Statistics Department at the Islamic University in Gaza. He previously served as the Dean of the School of Social Science, the Dean of Student Affairs and the Head of the Math and Statistics Department at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. Dr. al-Krounz has written extensively on the subject of statistics.

Education

Dr. al-Krounz holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Statistics (Purdue University), an M.Sc. in Mathematics (University of Saskatchewan, Canada) and a B.Sc. in Mathematics (Mansura University, Egypt).

Dr. al-Krounz is supporter of economic, health and educational development. He supports open immigration policies for Palestinians in the Diaspora, advocating that Palestinians in the Diaspora be entitled to obtain Palestinian passports.

23. ABDUL FATTAH HAMAYEL (FATAH) – MINISTER OF STATE (WITHOUT PORTFOLIO)

Born in Kufr Malik, Palestine in 1950, Mr. Hamayel is married with five children.

Political Career

For 17 years, Mr. Hamayel was imprisoned by Israel for being a member of the Fatah party. (The Fatah party, like all Palestinian political parties, was considered “illegal” by Israel. Political activists were frequently imprisoned.) He was given seven life sentences for attempting to organize Palestinians and was released in 1985 as a part of a prisoner exchange. He was re-imprisoned by Israel in 1990 and was exiled to Jordan in 1992.

Mr. Hamayel returned to Palestine in 1994 where he served as the Secretary-General of the Fatah party in the Ramallah district. In 1996, he was elected to the PLC and served as a member of the Interior Committee and the Budget and Financial Affairs Committee.

Education

Mr. Hamayel attended Military College in Baghdad.

Mr. Hamayel has published Lullabies Behind Bars, a collection of Arabic poetry written while in prison. He is an avid gardener and enjoys farming.

24. AZZAM AHMED (FATAH) – MINISTER OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Born in Jenin, Palestine in 1947, Mr. Ahmed is married with three children.

Political Career

Elected in 1996 to the PLC representing Jenin, Mr. Ahmed has served as the Minister of Public Works and Housing since 1996. Previously, he served as the PLO representative to Iraq from 1979 until 1994.

Mr. Ahmed was head of the General Union of Palestinian Students in Iraq from 1971 and 1974. He became the Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1974 to 1980. In 1989, he was elected to the Fatah Revolutionary Council.

He is a member of the PNC.

Education

Mr. Ahmed holds a B.A. in Economics (Baghdad University).

25. TO BE APPOINTED - MINISTER OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS

CABINET SECRETARY– HAKAM BALAWI (FATAH)

Born in Al-Bala, Palestine in 1939, Mr. Balawi is married with four children and seven grandchildren.

Political Career

Elected in 1996 to the PLC representing Tulkarem, Mr. Balawi was Palestine’s Ambassador to Libya from 1973 to 1975 and the Ambassador to Tunisia from 1975 to 1994. He was also a representative to the Arab League for 12 years.

A Fatah activist, Mr. Balawi is a member of the Fatah Central Committee, the Fatah Central Council and the Fatah Revolutionary Council. He was the Deputy Head of the Central Information Committee of Fatah from 1968 to 1978.

From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Balawi served as the Commissioner-General of the National Security Agencies and Secretary of National Security Council. He is the Minister of the Interior representing Occupied Palestine in Council of Arab Interior Ministers.

He is a member of the PNC.

The Secretary of the Union of Palestinian Journalists and Writers, Mr. Balawi is the author of several plays and novels.

Education

He holds Diplomas in Administration, Journalism and Education.

[1] Fatah is the largest political party in the PLO. It also has the largest support of the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The party seeks: (1) the end of Israel’s military occupation of all territory occupied by Israel since 1967 in accordance with international law; (2) the establishment of a secular, democratic, independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital and (3) a just resolution to the 55-year refugee crisis in accordance with international law.