Nabil Ali Muhammad (Abu Rashid) Shaath ( ar, نبيل شعث, , also spelled Sha'ath; born August 1938 in

Safad Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an eleva ...

) is a senior

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 ...

official.

Career

In politics

Msc 2004-Sunday Morning-1100-1300-IMG 0056

He has held the following titles: *Palestinian chief negotiator *Palestinian International Co-operation Minister *Planning Minister 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,

*Acting Prime Minister of the PNA Shaath served as the

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,

's first ever

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

from April 2003 to February 2005. Shaath was a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information in the

Palestinian Authority Government of February 2005 The Palestinian Authority Government of February 2005 was a government of the Palestinian National Authority (PA) which existed from 24 February 2005 to March 2006. It was headed by Ahmed Qurei and composed of 24 ministers. The cabinet was dominated ...

. On 15 December 2005, he became

Acting Prime Minister An acting prime minister is a cabinet member (often in Westminster system countries) who is serving in the role of prime minister, whilst the individual who normally holds the position is unable to do so. The role is often performed by the deput ...

of the Palestinian Authority after Ahmad Qurei resigned. He lost that position nine days later when Qurei returned to office.

Bush anecdote

Shaath made news on 7 October 2005 by commenting for a BBC documentary that in a 2003 meeting with

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

George W. Bush, Bush told him and other Palestinian officials that Bush was "driven with a mission from God." According to Shaath, the quotation was this: ''"God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did.'' ''"And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it."'' Shaath later qualified his comments, saying that he and other world leaders at a

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

summit two years ago "understood that he was illustrating n his commentshis strong faith and his belief that this is what God wanted." Both the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

and Palestinian leader

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 Nati ...

, who was also present at the meeting, denies that Bush ever made such a statement.

University of Pennsylvania

Shaath received his masters degree in Finance from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

and his P.h.D. in Economics from the

University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences (also known as SAS) is the academic institution encompassing the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Formerly known as the Faculty of A ...

. Shaath taught at the University from 1961 to 1965.

Film appearances

Shaath appeared in the 2009 documentary '' Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace'' which deals with the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The film is being released by Channel Productions in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.http://www.daily-fashion.com/cinema.html

References

External links

Bush God comments 'not literal'
– BBC News * http://www.backdoorchannels.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaath, Nabil 1938 births Living people Fatah members Palestinian refugees People from Safed Members of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council Foreign ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Government ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Central Committee of Fatah members Members of the 1996 Palestinian Legislative Council