Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan Al-Hamshari
(1938 - January 10, 1973) was a Palestinian politician and diplomat. He was the
first ambassador of the Palestine Liberation Organization to France, and he was
one of the first fighters in the Fatah movement. He was assassinated by the
Israeli Mossad in the French capital, Paris.
his upbringing
Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan Al-Hamshari was
born in 1938, and he received his education in the schools of the city of
Tulkarm, where he studied at the Fadhiliya School in the city.
currency
Mahmoud al-Hamshari arrived in Paris
from Algeria, where he began his activity with Saeed al-Saba', director of the
Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Algeria, and from there he moved
to France as a representative of the Fatah movement. His good French language
helped him communicate with the French elites, their forces, and their
intellectuals. When Mahmoud spoke, he used to speak French with an accent.
Clear Palestinian and describes the words slowly so that he can choose the
appropriate word, he was thinking in Arabic even if he spoke French.
Al-Hamshari succeeded in
establishing broad relations with representatives of French public opinion and
wooing many elites in favor of the Palestinian cause, thus complementing the
role of his colleague Wael Zuaiter in Rome.
assassinate him
He was an easy target for the
Zionist Mossad by virtue of his political and diplomatic work, and his
diplomatic presence in France did not protect him from the grip of the Mossad.
According to Palestinian sources, the Mossad used a simple trick to trap him.
Before the assassination, a person called him impersonating an Italian
journalist, asking for an interview with him. The location of the meeting was
determined at the organization's office in Paris two days before his death.
Al-Hamshari escaped from the house, his agents infiltrated it, and placed a
remote-controlled explosive bomb under the wooden floor and at a point located
under the telephone table. At nine o'clock in the morning on December 8, 1972,
the phone rang, and Al-Hamshari picked up the phone, and the charge exploded,
seriously wounding him in the thigh. He was transferred to Cochin Hospital in
Paris, where he died of his injuries a month later (on January 10, 1973) of the
accident. His will was that he be buried in the city of Tulkarm in the event of
his death. However, the Israeli authorities refused to transfer his body to Tulkarm
for burial, so he was buried in the Bir cemetery. Lachaise in Paris.
Information was leaked about the
responsibility of mercenary Mike Harari for his assassination.
As in the case of Zaiter, the
Israeli press accused Hamshari of playing a role in the Munich operation.
immortalized
In his memory, a school bearing his
name was built in the city of Tulkarem in the West Bank, in addition to the
Mahmoud Al-Hamshari Hospital in the Lebanese Sidon region in 1974. The
Arab-French Solidarity Association also periodically awarded the Palestine
Prize (Mahmoud Al-Hamshari Award), which is a literary award in France
established in 1979.
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Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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