Personal Info
- Country of residence: Portugal
Information
Hatem Rabah Qafisha was born in Hebron in 1963. He is married and has two sons and six daughters. He completed his primary education in Hebron schools, obtained his high school diploma while imprisoned by the Israeli occupation, and enrolled at Tel Aviv Open University from within the prisons. He then enrolled at Al-Quds Open University in Hebron in 1998, and earned a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern history from the American Open University, a master's degree in political science from American World University in 2006, and a doctorate in political science from the same university in 2009.
In his early youth, he was influenced by the leader Adnan Masouda, and joined the Hamas movement. He participated in planning and implementing its activities and was active in the institutional field. He was a member of the administrative body of the Muslim Youth Association for several electoral terms, and its sports supervisor. He was a member of the Emergency Committee in Hebron, which was formed in the aftermath of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994. He was a member and coordinator of the Zakat and Charity Committee in the city of Hebron. He was a member of the Popular Committee to Support the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2002. He was one of the leaders of the Hamas movement in the occupation prisons. He won in the Legislative Council elections on behalf of the Change and Reform bloc affiliated with the Hamas movement in 2006.
He wrote articles in Palestinian newspapers, including a series of articles about his experience in Marj al-Zuhur published in the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, and he has a manuscript about the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre.
He believes that the Oslo Accords harmed the Palestinian cause, benefiting the occupation, which then ceased to recognize them. He considers the gains Oslo made for the Palestinians to be merely symbolic. He believes the Palestinian issue will not be resolved as long as the Palestinian people remain divided. He believes that ending the division requires halting foreign interference in Palestinian affairs. He calls for learning from the experiences of other nations in overcoming division, such as Rwanda and Lebanon. He believes the existence of the Palestinian Authority hinders liberation, that the end of the occupation is imminent, and that the occupying state is incapable of stability.
The corruption and injustice perpetrated by the occupation against the Palestinian people are the strongest evidence of its collapse, in addition to the division within the Israeli government. He believes that there is no political system in Palestine, but rather a system based on self-interest and corruption, not on state administration or liberation. He believes the PLO is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, but it is currently weak, and the Palestinian Authority is exploiting it as it sees fit. He believes in a Palestinian state within the June 4th borders—without recognizing the occupation's control over the rest of the Palestinian land—and in the return of refugees to it.
Qafisha suffered during his life; he was arrested by the occupation for many years, and was deported to Marj al-Zuhur in southern Lebanon in late 1992, and survived the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994.
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