Said Kamal (1938–2017) was a Palestinian politician who served as the representative of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

(PLO) to Egypt. He held other posts in the PLO and was a member of the

Palestinian National Council The Palestinian National Council (PNC) ( ar, المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني, "'Almajlis Alwataniu Alfilastiniu"') is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and elects the PLO Executive Committee, which ...

Early life and education

Kamal was born in

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 ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, on 23 September 1938. He graduated from An Najah College in Nablus in 1956. Then he attended the University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 1958, but he could not manage to complete his studies in economics and political science due to the military coup which ended the monarchy. He settled in Egypt where he received a degree in economics and political science at Alexandria University in 1966. He joined the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) and was the chairman of its branch at Alexandria University between 1959 and 1962. Then he was elected as a member of the executive committee of the GUPS which he held until 1969.

Career

Kamal was one of the founding members of the PLO. He acted as the head of its Popular Tanzim Department in Cairo until 1970. He served in the PLO's political department between 1970 and 1988. He was its vice-chairman from 1974. He was made the representative of the PLO to Egypt in 1988, being the first Palestinian official to hold the post. His tenure ended in 1994. Then he served as assistant secretary general of the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

in charge of the Palestine affairs between 1994 and 2005. He also served as a member of the Palestinian National Council.

Death

Kamal died in Cairo on 25 March 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamal, Said 20th-century Palestinian diplomats 1938 births 2017 deaths Arab people in Mandatory Palestine Palestinian emigrants to Egypt Alexandria University alumni Members of the Palestinian National Council Arab League people People from Nablus