Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Jamil Muhammad Ismail Al-Majdalawi was born in the depopulated village of Simsim in the Gaza district in 1946. He is married. He studied primary school in Jabalia, secondary school at Yafa Secondary School in Gaza, where he obtained his high school diploma, and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Faculty of Commerce at Cairo University in 1968.
Majdalawi became involved in Palestinian national activism early in his life, joining the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1962 and participating in its activities. He joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) upon its founding, participating in its training camps in Jordan. He lived in several Arab countries, including Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon, and attended conferences of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) from 1970 onwards, becoming a member in 1988. He also served on the PLO Central Council, representing the PFLP. He rose through the ranks of the PFLP, eventually becoming a member of its Central Committee and Political Bureau, and head of its political bureau in Gaza. In the 2006 elections, he won a seat in the Palestinian Legislative Council on the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa list, and chaired the Refugee Committee in the PLC. He resigned from his positions within the PFLP during its Seventh National Conference in 2013.
Majdalawi is active on both the media and cultural levels. He appears in the media commenting on developments in the Palestinian cause, gives lectures, and participates in political and academic conferences. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Yasser Arafat Foundation (a cultural and academic institution).
Al-Majdalawi rejects the Oslo Accords and calls for the unity of the Palestinian left in all its forms within a leftist or progressive democratic framework. He also believes in national dialogue that leads to Palestinian consensus and an end to the division. He believes that the effective means to confront the occupation is resistance in all its forms. He calls for preserving the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people and its unifying framework, and demands the development of its institutions and adherence to Palestinian principles.
Majdalawi suffered during his struggle; he was arrested in Jordan in 1977 for his work with the Popular Front, and deportation orders were issued against him from Cairo to Baghdad.
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