Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Adham Ibrahim Abu Salmiya was born in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on November 12, 1987, to a Palestinian refugee family originally from the depopulated village of al-Jura, occupied Gaza District. He is married with four sons and two daughters. He completed his primary education at the Deir al-Balah School run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and his secondary education at al-Manfaluti Secondary School, where he obtained his high school diploma in 2005. He earned a diploma in Office Management and Automation (Secretarial) from the University College of Applied Sciences in 2008, a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Al-Ummah University in 2012, and a master's degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from the Academy of Political and Management Studies at Al-Aqsa University in 2016. He then enrolled at Marmara University in Istanbul to obtain a doctorate in International Relations. He worked as a media spokesperson for the Supreme Emergency and Ambulance Authority at the Ministry of Health between 2009 and 2013 , and became Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Deir al-Balah Zakat Committee between 2015 and 2019, then Director of Marketing and Arab Relations at the Al-Khair Foundation in Istanbul .
Abu Salmiya has been active in political and humanitarian work. He was a member of the National Authority to Break the Siege on Gaza and its media spokesperson between 2013 and 2020. He was also a member of the committee to receive delegations coming to break the siege on Gaza for ten years. He participated in regional and international conferences held in Turkey, Yemen, Tunisia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Malaysia, through which he conveyed the suffering of the Gaza Strip under the siege. He is also hosted on various media outlets, including satellite channels, to discuss this suffering.
Abu Salmiya believes that the future of the Palestinian cause requires a lot of work to clarify its features. He calls for the mobilization of the Palestinian diaspora, the restoration of the Palestinian cause as a whole, and placing it firmly on the international agenda, not as a conflict zone, but as an occupied state seeking its freedom. This requires significant political, media, and security work, and it is a collective national responsibility. Abu Salmiya believes that this mobilization is the safety valve to protect the resistance project. In his opinion, the resistance needs a strong incubator, and there will be no incubator safer than the Palestinian popular incubator. After that, resolving the conflict and getting rid of the occupation becomes only a matter of time.
Abu Salmiya believes that the Oslo Accords were the end of a process that began in the 1970s and proved its failure at every stage that preceded and followed it. What is unfortunate, from his point of view, is the insistence of some Palestinians on it, despite their awareness of the fact that it is a disastrous process for the Palestinian cause. He believes that the Oslo Accords eased the burdens placed on the occupation and transferred them to the Palestinian Authority, and succeeded in creating an internal Palestinian conflict over the program of resisting the occupation. The result is what is happening today, with the PA project becoming increasingly attached to the occupation. He believes that the relationship between the resistance factions is good, and is developing through the joint operations room in Gaza and the field unit in the West Bank. However, the political relationship between Hamas and Fatah is still tense in light of the divergent political positions and different programs. According to Abu Salmiya, what is required nationally is to consolidate the field relationship between the resistance forces and to continue the escalation of resistance activity in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza, as this is what guarantees true national unity. Abu Salmiya believes that the PLO is no longer the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. He believes that the goal of emphasizing the representative status of the organization by some is to make it a veto on the birth of any body that includes the Palestinian people at home and abroad. He believes that the organization, in its current state, needs to be rebuilt from scratch and revived on national foundations, or another alternative that the Palestinian people can rally around.
Abu Salmiya supports armed resistance, especially since the occupation, with the rise of the extreme right, does not consider peaceful solutions. The extreme Zionist right will not achieve for the Palestinian people what the left has not achieved for decades. Therefore, rights are seized, not given away. Military resistance to the occupation is the only guarantee for the restoration of Palestinian national rights. He also believes in the right of Palestinians to fully recover the historic land of Palestine, with the return of refugees to the homes from which they were displaced. He believes that the Arab world is experiencing its most difficult circumstances, and that there is significant Arab decline and decline at all levels. The authoritarian Arab regimes believe that normalizing relations with the occupation provides them with international cover to remain in power. This official Arab situation, as it stands today, is incapable of supporting the Palestinian cause, nor does it have the desire to do so. The only solution, according to Abu Salmiya, lies in creating and strengthening the Palestinian popular base at home and abroad. The more Palestinians present themselves on the regional and international stage, the more they will find support from their immediate and distant surroundings. As for the people, they are overwhelmed, and the most important thing they need today is to raise their awareness of the Palestinian cause and protect them from the ongoing attacks of normalization.
Source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
: From
To