Samir Ghawshah also spelled Samir Ghosha ( ar, سمير غوشة, 1937–August 3, 2009), 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 militia leader. He was the head of the Secretary-General of the

Palestinian Popular Struggle Front The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF, occasionally abbr. PSF), (Arabic: جبهة النضال الشعبي الفلسطيني, ''Jabhet Al-Nedal Al-Sha'abi Al-Falestini''), is a Palestinian political party. Samir Ghawshah was elected sec ...

(PPSF) and member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee.Samir Ghousha, PPSF secretary-general and co-founder, dead at 72
''

Ma'an News Agency Ma'an News Agency (MNA; ar, وكالة معا الإخبارية) is a large wire service created in 2005 in the Palestinian territories. It is part of the Ma'an Network, a non-governmental organization media network created in 2002 in the Palest ...

''. 2009-08-05. Ghawsha also served in 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,

as Minister of Labor and later on Minister of Jerusalem.

Life

Ghawshah was born 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 1937 and received his elementary and secondary education there. He obtained a BA in dentistry from the

University of Damascus The University of Damascus ( ar, جَامِعَةُ دِمَشْقَ, ''Jāmi‘atu Dimashq'') is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus and has campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 through ...

in Syria. He joined the pan-Arabism movement when he was young. After the Palestinian exodus, he co-founded the PPSF and was elected its secretary-general in 1971. Frequently in opposition to

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 ...

's policies (being a part of the

Rejectionist Front The Rejectionist Front (Arabic: جبهة الرفض) or Front of the Palestinian Forces Rejecting Solutions of Surrender (جبهة القوى الفلسطينية الرافضة للحلول الإستسلامية) was a political coalition formed ...

), it also received backing from a number of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

governments, especially Syria and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. In 1991, Ghousha was elected a member of the PLO's Executive Committee, where he represented the party. The PPSF broke apart when

talks Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

between

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 Palestinians began in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 1991, with Ghawshah heading the more moderate faction and returning to the favor of Arafat. Ghawshah's PPSF accepted the Oslo Agreement and he served as Minister of Labor in the resulting

(PNA) from 1994, but resigned in 1998 in protest of "corruption and the lack of a joint Palestinian strategy." He published his resignation in a letter, complaining of irregularities in the PNA's system of governance, and of apparent examples of corruption He continued to serve as Minister without Portfolio, but from 1999 had no ministerial post. He was present at the Camp David negotiations of 2000 as an adviser to Arafat, and briefly returned as Minister for Jerusalem, formally known as the

Orient House Orient House ( ar, بيت الشرق ''bayt ʾal-šarq'', he, האוריינט האוס) is a building located in East Jerusalem that served as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1980s and 1990s. Built in 189 ...

Director, in the PNA between late October 2002 and April 2003.

Death

Ghawsha died in an Amman hospital on 3 August 2009 at the age of 72 due to complications from cancer. His will was to be buried in Jerusalem but

refused it. Instead he was buried in Martyr's Square in

al-Bireh Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira ( ar, البيرة; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of th ...

. The funeral procession began at the Governmental Hospital in Ramallah, and his body was transported on an official military vehicle with Palestinian Presidential Guards securing the convoy. The mourners, who included

Yasser Abed Rabbo Yasser Abed Rabbo ( ar, ياسر عبد ربه) also known by his '' kunya'', Abu Bashar ( ar, ابو بشار) (born 17 September 1945) is a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee ...

and Mahmoud Abbas' representative Ahmad Abdel Rahman, traveled past Ghawshah's family home, then to the Mukataa in Ramallah for an official ceremony. PPSF colleague

Ahmed Majdalani Ahmed Majdalani ( ar, أحمد مجدلاني) (born 1956) is a Palestinian politician, university professor and researcher. A former Palestinian government minister, he currently serves as Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Fro ...

succeeded Ghawshah as secretary-general on August 8.PPSF elects new Secretary General replacing deceased former leader
. ''

''. 2009-08-12. Retrieved on 2012-01-23.

References

External links

PPSF Homepage
Biography of Samir Ghawshah. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghawshah, Samir 1937 births 2009 deaths Palestinian militants Palestinian dentists Palestine Liberation Organization members Politicians from Jerusalem Palestinian Popular Struggle Front politicians Government ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Palestinian Arab nationalists Labor ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization 20th-century dentists