General Tawfik Mohammed Hussein al-Tirawi ( ar, توفيق الطيراوي) is a
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
official who led the
investigation into the death of former President
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 ...
. He served as the head of
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, Intelligence in 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 ...
from 1994 to 2008.
Tirawi, the head of Fatah's Commission for Intellectual Mobilization and Studies, was elected to the Central Committee at the sixth Fatah convention in 2009.
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Early life
Tawfik Tirawi was born in Tira on 15 November 1948. His family fled to Rantis
Rantis ( ar, رنتيس) is a Palestinian town in the West Bank, located in the northwestern Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, 33 kilometers northwest of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of 2 ...
in 1948. He completed his primary schooling 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 ...
before going to Iskaka
Iskaka ( ar, إسكاكا) is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, 27 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a populati ...
village in Salfit and then to Jabr refugee camp in Jericho where he attended junior high and high school. He received a diploma from Ibrahimeya college in Jerusalem. He graduated from Beirut Arab University
Beirut Arab University (BAU) ( ar, جـامعة بيروت العربية) is a Lebanese private university located in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded by the Lebanese Waqf El-Bir wal Ihsan Society in 1960. The University attained the Internation ...
with a degree in Arabic literature. He earned another degree in philosophy and psychology. He earned a master's degree in educational administration from 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 studen ...
in 2008. His thesis was 'The Reality of Crises and Proposed Alternatives to Manage it From the Standpoint of Security and Civil Institutions' Leaders in Palestine'. He is preparing a doctoral thesis for the University of Tanta on 'The Role of the University Leadership in Promoting National Belonging'.
Political activism
He joined Fatah in 1967 while attending Beirut Arab University. He headed the Lebanese branch of the General Union of Palestinian Students
The General Union of Palestine Students ( ar, الإتحاد العام لطلبة فلسطين) (GUPS) is an organization run by Palestinian students since the early 1920s. It is generally considered one of the first Palestinian institutions start ...
from 1969 to 1971 and in 1970 he was head of the secret Student Office of the Secretariat of Fatah. In 1978 he became a member of the executive body of the General Union of Palestinian Students and a member of the Palestinian National Council. The Syrian security services arrested him on 23 July 1985. He was tortured for four days by the intelligence services and then kept in solitary confinement for months. He was imprisoned in various locations in Syria until his release on 2 November 1989.[
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Intelligence
He helped create the Palestinian General Intelligence Service on 7 June 1994. Years later, he stayed with Arafat when his compound came under Israeli siege. President 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 ...
appointed Tirawi his security adviser as well as head of the Palestinian General Intelligence on 28 August 2007. He served as intelligence head until 21 November 2008 and security adviser until he was elected to the Central Committee of Fatah on 8 December 2009. He served as general of the Popular Organizations commissioner of Fatah from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, he became the general intellectual mobilization and studies commissioner.[
He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Al-Istiqlal University in Jericho.][
]
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tirawi, Tawfik
1948 births
Fatah military commanders
Living people
Ibrahimieh College alumni
Central Committee of Fatah members
An-Najah National University alumni