Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Mohammed Musa Mahmoud Abu Atwan was born on October 23, 1958, in the city of Dura in the Hebron Governorate. He is married and has six children. He studied primary school in Dura, completed his secondary education in Jordan in 1977, and obtained a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Cuba in 1983. He worked on a number of construction projects in engineering offices in Jordan, then worked in the media of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and then as a commissioner in the Department of Political and National Guidance in the Hebron Governorate until his retirement.
Abu Atwan was influenced by the militant atmosphere within his family and by the activities of the Fatah movement at an early stage of his life. He officially joined it during his university studies in Cuba, and became a member of its regional committee. He was also a member of the administrative body of the General Union of Palestinian Students in 1981, and was chosen as mayor of Dura in 1997 and remained in his position until 2004.
Abu Atwan suffered from the occupation’s measures, as his father was arrested and deported, the family home was demolished twice, his brother was martyred in 1974, and he was arrested in 1975 for several months and summoned several times.
Abu Atwan affirms his optimism about the establishment of a Palestinian state at the end of the conflict with the occupation, and believes that despite all the obstacles the Palestinian people face and the difficult reality they live in under Zionist arrogance, the Palestinians have not abandoned the cities inside and are steadfast in the West Bank and Gaza.
Abu Atwan believes that the Oslo Accords were a crime committed against the Palestinian people, and that there are major flaws in them. Many of its clauses must be reconsidered, and there are mistakes made by the Palestinian Authority that must be corrected. However, the difficult circumstances that Palestinians lived through before Oslo, which led them to sign it, must be taken into consideration. It is also necessary to note that the agreement brought the Palestinian issue back to the forefront and allowed for construction within the occupied territory. Palestinians now have passports and freedom of education. He added that it is important to build on the agreement in order to reach the establishment of a state on the June 4th borders as a preliminary step until the return to all of Palestine is achieved.
The ongoing dispute between Fatah and Hamas is considered to be about power-sharing, not about armed struggle or other national roles. Therefore, Palestinians must unite and agree to complement each other in resistance and other endeavors to serve Palestine and its just cause. The leadership of all factions must reassess their strategies for future action in light of the many changing regional and international factors. It is believed that everything the Palestinian people can do to end the occupation is a legitimate right. It cannot be said that popular resistance is more important than armed struggle, or vice versa; resistance takes many forms, including work, farming, education, steadfastness, and patience.
He believes that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the Palestinian entity that includes all Palestinian organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but their presence is under their national, not organizational, status. The members of the Legislative Council from Hamas are members of the National Council. He called for preserving the PLO and including all Palestinian factions in it and bringing them under its banner.
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