Anwar Nusseibeh Anwar Nusseibeh (1913–1986) was a Palestinian nationalist

Palestinian nationalism

Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people. It has roots in Pan-Arabism and other movements rejecting colonialism and calling for national independence. More recently, Palestinian Nationalism is expressed through the Israeli–Palestinian conflict...

 who believed in maintaining Arab consensus, on the grounds that Arab unity was more important than the individual differences. He also believed in immersing oneself and fully participating in whatever system holds power, in order to advance the cause of Palestinian nationalism—hence his participation in Jordanian politics 1948–67. He encouraged his son, Sari Nusseibeh

Sari Nusseibeh

Sari Nusseibeh , and raised in Jerusalem, is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem...

, to interact with Jews and Israelis after the Six Day War in 1967.

Biography

Mr Nusseibeh was born in Jerusalem and studied Law at Cambridge University. He became a judge in the British administration of Palestine. During the 1948 war, Mr Nusseibeh had his leg amputated after being shot from Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus , جبل المشهد , جبل الصوانة) is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem. In the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Mount Scopus became a UN protected Jewish exclave within Jordanian-occupied territory until the Six-Day War in 1967...

 Police Camp, as he led a ragtag band of Arab Haifa volunteers who had come down in the belief it was their mission to 'save the Holy Sepulchre and and the Mosque of Omar from Zionist desecration'. After a brief period out of Jerusalem, he returned to Jerusalem, at the time annexed by Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. He stood for election to Parliament and won by an overwhelming majority. In 1965, he became the Jordanian Ambassador to the Court of St. James. During his time as an ambassador in London, Nusseibeh established a warm relationship with members of the British Royal Family. He held several major posts in the Jordanian Government before Israel took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. But he became one of the first Palestinians involved in contacts with Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 after it captured the Arab sector of the city.

During his life, he filled the following positions;

• Land Officer of Jerusalem, 1936.
• Cabinet Secretary of the All-Palestine Government
  All-Palestine Government
  The All-Palestine Government was established by the Arab League on 22 September 1948, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Shortly thereafter, an Arab-Palestinian Congress named King Abdullah I of Transjordan, "King of Arab Palestine"...
  
  , formed by Amin al-Husseini in Gaza
  Gaza
  Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
  
  , September–October 1948.
• Elected in 1950 as a Palestinian representative to the lower house (Chamber of Deputies) of the Jordanian Parliament.
• Appointed in September 1952, as the Jordanian Cabinet (Minister of Development and Reconstruction, later Minister of Defence and Minister of Education).
• Appointed in 1963, as the Upper House (Senate), and Ambassador to the United Kingdom
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  , by King Hussein.
• Appointed as the Governor of Jerusalem, 1965.
• Appointed as the Jordanian minister of defense during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Mr. Nusseibeh was also a guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

Mr. Nusseibeh died on 24 November 1986 at his home in Jerusalem at the age of 74. Buried at the gates of the Noble Sanctuary within the confines of Haram as-Sharif Al-Aqsa Mosque

Al-Aqsa Mosque

Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...

. His funeral was attended by thousands of people.

See also

• Nusseibeh