Jamil Othman Nasser ( ar, جميل عثمان ناصر) 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, leader and permanent figure.

Early years

Born in the city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

on January 30, 1945. He spent his early years in the city of

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

in the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

, where he received his elementary education. He graduated from school (

Coptic College Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

) in Jerusalem in 1965, and soon after left to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, where he studied Law and graduated from the

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 Law in 1970. During his university years in Beirut, he joined the Palestinian National Liberation Movement,

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 ...

, and upon his return to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in the early 1970s, became a leading figure among its leadership in the

occupied territories Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

Political and Social activism

Nasser helped establish many institutions in the

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 In ...

, upon the directions of the Palestinian leadership in exile, and was an active member of the various committees launched to coordinate between the various Palestinian factions (factions of the PLO). Nasser participated as a leading member of the "National Front" in the first free elections for the municipal councils of the cities of 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 ...

held under

Israeli occupation Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...

. He was elected as a municipal council member in the city of

in the 1976 elections, and was later elected by the council as vice president. He was the youngest member to be elected for a municipal council in the

at the age of 31. He succeeded the president in 1981 when the latter died, before being deposed by the occupation authorities in 1982 with a military order deposing the elected councils and appointing ones approved by the

authorities.

The 1980s

In 1982, he was elected as head of the Palestinian Bar ِAssociation. The Israeli response was quick, and Nasser's movement was restricted to the city boundaries of

. He was not allowed to leave the city boundaries and was supposed to report to the police station twice a day, for terms extending to six months each. His final release came in 1988, at the beginning of the

First Intifada, Intifada, of which he soon after assumed a leading role.

The 1990s and the PNA

In the early 1990s Nasser served as general secretary of the national institutions in the

( PLO and other national institutions), a position he held until the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, and the resulting founding of the Palestinian National Authority by the PLO. In 1994, he was appointed as the first Director General of the Ministry of Interior in the first government formed by the Palestinian National Authority, PNA. A position he held until January 1996, when late President Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority, appointed him as Governor of

, the first governor to be appointed by the Palestinian National Authority, PNA and the first governor of

since the

in 1967. Governor Nasser served as a governor until September 2008.

Death

Governor Nasser died on the night of November 22, 2008 due to a cardiac arrest. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nasser, Jamil Othman Fatah members 1945 births 2008 deaths People from Jerusalem Palestine Liberation Organization members Beirut Arab University alumni Governors of Jerusalem Governorate