Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat ( ar, صائب محمد صالح عريقات ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt''; also ''ʻRēqāt, Erikat, Erakat, Arekat''; 28 April 195510 November 2020) was a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
politician and diplomat who was the secretary general of the executive committee of the
PLO from 2015 until his death in 2020. He served as chief of the PLO Steering and Monitoring Committee until 12 February 2011. He participated in early negotiations with
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and remained chief negotiator from 1995 until May 2003, when he resigned in protest from the
Palestinian government
The Palestinian government is the government of the Palestinian Authority or State of Palestine. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (EC) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and acts ...
. He reconciled with the party and was reappointed to the post in September 2003.
Personal life and education
Erekat was born in
Abu Dis
Abu Dis or Abu Deis ( ar, أبو ديس) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, in the Jerusalem Governorate of the State of Palestine, bordering Jerusalem. Since the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Abu Dis land has been mostly part of " Area B", unde ...
.
['Politics in Palestine', Palestinian National Authority: The PA Ministerial Cabinet List Emergency Cabinet, October 2003 – November 2003](_blank)
, Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre
The Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre (JMCC) is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian non-governmental organization based in East Jerusalem, which provides information about events in Gaza Strip, Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusal ...
. He was a member of the Palestinian branch of the Erekat family, itself a branch of the
Howeitat
The Howeitat or Huwaitat ( ar, الحويطات ''al-Ḥuwayṭāt'', Northwest Arabian Arabic, Northwest Arabian dialect: ''ál-Ḥwēṭāt'') are a large Banu Judham, Judhami tribe, that inhabits areas of present-day southern Jordan, the Sinai P ...
tribal confederation. Erekat was one of seven children, with his brothers and sisters living outside of Israel or the
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
. He was 12 years old when the
Israelis occupied the West Bank, and was detained by them a year later for writing anti-occupation graffiti, posting fliers and throwing stones.
In 1972, Erekat moved to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California, to attend college.
He spent two years at
City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...
, a two-year
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
.
He then transferred to
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
.
There, Erekat received a
BA in international relations (in 1977) and an
MA in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
(in 1979).
He completed his PhD in
peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts), with a view towards understanding those pro ...
at the
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...
in England (in 1983).
Erekat was married to Neameh, and was the father of twin daughters Dalal and Salam; and two sons, Ali and Muhammad.
Career
After gaining his doctorate in England, Erekat moved to the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
town of
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
to lecture in political science at
An-Najah National University
An-Najah National University ( ar, جامعة النجاح الوطنية) is a Palestinian non-governmental public university governed by a board of trustees. It is located in Nablus, in the northern West Bank. The university has 22,000 stude ...
and also served for 12 years on the editorial board of the locally widely circulated Palestinian newspaper, ''
Al-Quds''.
Politics
In 1991, Erekat was deputy head of the Palestinian delegation to the
Madrid Conference
The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the ...
and the subsequent follow-up talks in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
between 1992 and 1993. In 1994, he was appointed the Minister for Local Government for the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, and also the Chairman of the Palestinian negotiation delegation.
In 1995, Erekat served as Chief Negotiator for the Palestinians during the Oslo period. He was then elected to the
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, e ...
in 1996, representing
Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
.
As a politician, Erekat was considered to be a
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
loyalist, including the
Camp David meetings in 2000 and the negotiations at
Taba in 2001. Erekat was also, along with Arafat and
Faisal Husseini
Faisal Abdel Qader Al-Husseini ( ar, فيصل عبدالقادر الحسيني) (July 17, 1940 – May 31, 2001) was a Palestinian politician.
Al-Husseini was born in Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq, son of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, commander of local ...
, one of the three high-ranking Palestinians who asked
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
S ...
not to visit the
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque (, ), also known as Jami' Al-Aqsa () or as the Qibli Mosque ( ar, المصلى القبلي, translit=al-Muṣallā al-Qiblī, label=none), and also is a congregational mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situate ...
in September 2000, an event which was followed by the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
. He also acted as Arafat's English interpreter. When
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
was nominated to serve as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Legislative Council in early 2003, Erekat was slated to be Minister of Negotiations in the new cabinet, but he soon resigned after he was excluded from a delegation to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. This was interpreted as part of an internal Palestinian power struggle between Abbas and Arafat.
['Profile: Saeb Erakat'](_blank)
, BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, 4 September 2003. Erekat was later reappointed to his post and participated in the 2007
Annapolis Conference, where he took over from
Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointe ...
during an impasse and helped hammer out a joint declaration.
He resigned from his post as chief negotiator on 12 February 2011 citing the release of the
Palestine Papers
The Palestine Papers is a collection of confidential documents about the Israeli–Palestinian peace process news leak, leaked to Al Jazeera, which published them between 23 and 26 January 2011. Nearly 1,700 documents from the office of the mai ...
. In July 2013, however, he was still holding the function. In 2015, he became the secretary-general of the
. He later promoted a plan for the basis for new talks with international diplomats including
Jared Kushner
Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...
, President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's son-in-law and special adviser.
Legacy
Erekat was one of the more prominent Palestinian spokespeople in the Western media. He wrote extensively in the media about
Palestinian statehood
The history of the State of Palestine describes the creation and evolution of the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During the Mandatory period, numerous plans of partition of Palestine were proposed but without the agreem ...
, and was a vocal critic of the
Trump administration's peace plan.
During the Second Intifada, he loudly criticized Israeli actions and characterized the
IDF's 2002 assault in the Palestinian town of Jenin as a "massacre" and a "war crime", alleging that Israel has killed more than 500 Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp. After the incident was over, however, and the Palestinian death toll was actually recorded at between 53 and 56, mostly combatants, Erekat faced strong criticism in the United States.
Erekat at one time maintained good relations with his counterpart negotiators, in which Israeli justice minister
Tsipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
mentioned that her talks with Erekat were always honest, and there was mutual respect despite frequent disagreements.
In addition, Erekat took his American counterpart,
Martin Indyk
Martin Sean Indyk (born July 1, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign relations analyst with expertise in the Middle East. He was a distinguished fellow in International Diplomacy and later executive vice president at the Brookings Institution ...
, on a tour of
Hisham's Palace
Hisham's Palace ( ar, قصر هشام '), also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar ( ar, خربة المفجر), is an important early Islamic archaeological site in the Palestinian city of Jericho, in the West Bank. Built by the Umayyad dynasty in the f ...
near
Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
.
Health issues and death
On 8 May 2012, Erekat was hospitalized in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
after suffering a heart attack.
On 12 October 2017, he had a lung transplant at
Inova Fairfax Hospital
Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is the largest hospital campus in Northern Virginia and the flagship hospital of Inova Health System. Located in Woodburn in Fairfax County, Virginia, Inova Fairfax Hospital is one of the largest employers in the co ...
in
northern Virginia
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Erekat, who was suffering from
pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failu ...
, tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
on 9 October 2020. On 18 October, he was sent to the Israeli
Hadassah Ein Karem hospital in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in critical condition. On 21 October, his daughter said on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that he underwent a
bronchoscopy
Bronchoscopy is an endoscopic technique of visualizing the inside of the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. An instrument (bronchoscope) is inserted into the airways, usually through the nose or mouth, or occasionally through a trac ...
to examine the condition of his
respiratory system
The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies grea ...
. Erekat died of complications from COVID-19 on 10 November 2020, at the age of 65. He was interred in the cemetery in Jericho.
Works
''Imam Ali Bin Abi Taleb and Negotiations'' (2015)
See also
*
Arab–Israeli conflict
The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...
*
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...
*
Foreign relations of Israel
Foreign relations of Israel refers to diplomatic and trade relations between Israel and other countries around the world. Israel has diplomatic ties .
References
External links
Saeb Erekat debates Dan Meridor at the International Peace Institute, June 25, 2010 (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erekat, Saeb
1955 births
2020 deaths
People from Abu Dis
Palestinian Sunni Muslims
Fatah members
Palestinian diplomats
Members of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council
Members of the 1996 Palestinian Legislative Council
An-Najah National University faculty
City College of San Francisco alumni
State ministers of Palestine
Government ministers of the Palestinian National Authority
People from Jericho
San Francisco State University alumni
Alumni of the University of Bradford
Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel
Lung transplant recipients
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the State of Palestine
Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Central Committee of Fatah members
Erekat family