Yasser Abed Rabbo ( ar, ياسر عبد ربه) also known by his ''
kunya'', Abu Bashar ( ar, ابو بشار) (born 17 September 1945) is 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 a member of the
Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO)
Executive Committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
.
Biography
Early life and career
Born in
Jaffa in 1945, Abed Rabbo became a
Palestinian refugee as a result of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War. He later attended the
American University in Cairo where he graduated with an MA in economics and political science.
["Palestinian National Authority: The PA Ministerial Cabinet List: April 2003 – October 2003"]
. Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. Archived on 27 September 2007.
Leftist activism and the PLO
Yasser Abed Rabbo started his political career in the
Arab Nationalist Movement
The Arab Nationalist Movement ( ar, حركة القوميين العرب, ''Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab''), also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Ara ...
(ANM), a
pan-Arabist
Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...
organization. When the Palestinian branch of the ANM evolved in 1967 into the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...
(PFLP), he became one of its leaders. In 1968, a leftist faction of the PFLP led by
Nayef Hawatmeh split from the movement and formed the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ar, الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين, ''al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn'') is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organi ...
(DFLP). Abed Rabbo became a member of the DFLP's
politburo and was the organization's second most influential figure, after Hawatmeh. He became the most senior member of the DFLP to serve on the
Palestine Liberation Organization's executive councils.
["Abd Rabbo, Yasir"]
pp. 6–7. Michael R. Fischbach, ''Encyclopedia of the Palestinians''. Infobase Publishing, 2005
Between 1977 and 1994, Abed Rabbo served as the head of the PLO's Information Department. During the 1980s, Abed Rabbo became closely allied with PLO chairman
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 ...
and supported his attempts to negotiate a
two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotia ...
. Arafat appointed him the PLO's representative in the 1988–1990 talks with the United States in
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
. By then, relations between Abed Rabbo and Hawatmeh deteriorated. The two disagreed about Abed Rabbo's participation in Arafat's diplomacy regarding the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the extent of the DFLP's political activities in Jordan, where Hawatmeh was based. Violent clashes between their supporters and Abed formed a separate faction of the DFLP in 1991, although he continued to use the DFLP's name.
[ In 1991, he was a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation.]
In 1993, Abed Rabbo renamed his faction the Palestinian Democratic Union
The Palestinian Democratic Union ( ar, الاتحاد الديمقراطي الفلسطيني ''Al-Ittihad al-Dimuqrati al-Filastini''), generally known as FIDA ( ar, فدا) is a small Palestinian political party active in the Palestine Liberati ...
(known by the acronym "FIDA"),[''Introduction'']
Palestinian Democratic Union. Archived on 31 July 2007 leaving the Marxist–Leninist
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...
platform of the DFLP. Abed Rabbo became FIDA's representative on the PLO Executive Committee
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC) ( ar, اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and ac ...
. Rabbo cautiously supported the 1993 Oslo Accords) between the PLO and Israel.
Post-Oslo career
In 1994, he entered the Israeli-occupied 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 ...
to assume his position in the newly formed 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, . Representing FIDA, he served as the Culture and Arts Minister in Arafat's cabinet between 1994 and 2004. He headed the Palestinian negotiating team in final status peace talks with the Israelis between September 1999 and May 2000, and later took part in the Camp David II Summit in July 2000. Abed Rabbo participated in the 2001 Taba Summit
The Taba Summit (also known as ''Taba Talks'', ''Taba Conference'' or short ''Taba'') were talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, held from 21 to 27 January 2001 at Taba, in the Sinai. The talks took place during a political tran ...
.
Abed Rabbo served as Minister in several Palestinian Authority cabinets from May 1994 until October 2004. In 2002, he resigned from FIDA after internal disputes. Women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activist Zahira Kamal had been chosen in an internal election to replace him as minister in the government of 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, (PNA), but Abed Rabbo refused to step down, and instead left the party. He was able to remain in the cabinet as an independent, with Arafat's backing, but was replaced in FIDA by Saleh Ra'fat
Saleh Ra'fat is a member of the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and ...
, its current Secretary-General.
He also presented several unofficial peace initiatives, widely believed to have had Arafat's blessing, such as the 2003 Geneva Accord. The latter, which he negotiated with Yossi Beilin
Yosef "Yossi" Beilin ( he, יוסף "יוסי" ביילין, born 12 June 1948) is an Israeli politician who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government. Much of his political career was in the Labour Pa ...
, was condemned by both the Israelis and Palestinians, the latter of whom particularly condemned Abed Rabbo's alleged relinquishment of the Palestinian refugees
Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...
' right of return.[ These initiatives, coupled with his public condemnations of suicide bombing attacks during the Second Intifada, strengthened Abed Rabbo's image as a pro-peace moderate, and he is often presented as a Palestinian "]dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
".
After the death of Arafat in 2004, Abed Rabbo was removed from the post of minister in the PNA government by Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas. Pending new elections, he remains on the PLO Executive Committee. As the second most senior member of PLO Executive Committee, Abed Rabbo has been critical of Abbas's governance.
On 30 June 2015, Abed Rabbo was dismissed as Secretary-General of the Executive Committee by Abbas. According to Arab sources, Abbas accused Abed Rabbo of conspiring with Mohammed Dahlan
Mohammad Yusuf Dahlan ( ar, محمد دحلان) born on September 29, 1961 in Khan Yunis Refugee Camp, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip also known by the kunya Abu Fadi () is a Palestinian politician, the former leader of Fatah in Gaza. Dahlan was ...
to oust Abbas in a coup. Anonymous Palestinian officials claimed the two had long been at odds over budget allocations and that Abbas viewed Abed Rabbo as a threat to his presidency with financial support from the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
(UAE). According to Nathan Thrall
Nathan Thrall is an American author, essayist, and journalist based in Jerusalem. Thrall is the author of ''The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine'' (Metropolitan/Henry Holt, 2017; Picador, 2018) and a contri ...
of the International Crisis Group, Abbas was less worried about a coup by Abed Rabbo, but was threatened by Abed Rabbo's perceived alliance with Abbas's rivals Dahlan and former prime minister Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad ( ar, سلام فياض, ; born 1951 or 12 April 1952) is a Jordanian-Palestinian politician and former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority and Finance Minister.
He was Finance Minister from June 2002 to November 2005 and ...
. Abed Rabbo denied links with Dahlan, dismissing rumors of a conspiracy as "hallucinations". He also insists that he was not dismissed from the Executive Committee body. Abed Rabbo was replaced by senior Abbas aide Saeb Erakat
Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat ( ar, صائب محمد صالح عريقات ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt''; also ''ʻRēqāt, Erikat, Erakat, Arekat''; 28 April 195510 November 2020) was a Palestinian politician and diplomat who was the secretary genera ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abed Rabbo, Yasser
1944 births
Living people
People from Jaffa
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine politicians
Palestine Liberation Organization members
Government ministers of the Palestinian National Authority
Third Way (Palestinian Authority) politicians
Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization