Personal Info
- Country of residence: Jordan
Information
Abdullah Marouf Omar was born in Amman, Jordan on September 15, 1979, to a Palestinian refugee family originally from the occupied Ramla district. He is married and has three children. He completed his primary and secondary education in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. He earned a bachelor's degree in Sharia from the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at the University of Jordan in Amman in 2000, a master's degree in Jerusalem Studies from the University of Aberdeen in Britain in 2005, and a doctorate in the same field from the same university in 2008. He also received a certificate in Al-Aqsa Mosque studies, authenticated by the Dar al-Ifta in Jerusalem . He worked as an official for media, public relations and archaeological guidance at Bab al-Rahma in Al-Aqsa Mosque between (2000-2002), a correspondent specializing in Jerusalem for the Jordanian newspaper Al-Sabeel, a lecturer in the Department of Islamic History at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, a lecturer at the Islamic Community College in Jordan, a project manager at the Jerusalem International Foundation between (2008-2011), head of the publications committee in the popular campaign during the celebration of Jerusalem as the Capital of Arab Culture in 2009, a lecturer at Al-Balqa Applied University between (2010-2011), a lecturer in the Department of Islamic History at Taibah University in Medina between (2011-2014), and he works as a lecturer at Istanbul 29 May University in Istanbul , Turkey .
Ma’rouf was interested in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, its history, reality and future. He gave lectures and participated in seminars, scientific workshops and courses on this subject in more than one Arab and foreign country, such as: Lebanon, Britain, Algeria, Denmark, Yemen, Qatar, Turkey, Sudan, Italy, Canada and others. He contributed to launching the programs of a number of institutions and bodies interested in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, such as the Jerusalem Cultural Forum in Jordan, the Global Youth for Jerusalem Association, the Popular Campaign for the Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture celebration, and others.
Ma’rouf wrote a number of studies and published a number of books on the subject of Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem studies, including: An Introduction to the Study of Al-Aqsa Mosque (2009), Atlas of the Landmarks of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque (2010), Jerusalem in the Strategy of the Prophet (PBUH) (2014), and the same book was published in English (2019), and in Turkish (2023), Jerusalem and the First Qur’anic Prophecy (2016), An Introduction to Jerusalem Studies (2017), What the Muslims Lost with the Fall of Jerusalem (2018), and he participated in a chapter in the book (The World in a City) (2018), and a chapter in the book (Jerusalem: Ethnic Cleansing and Methods of Resistance) (2023).
Ma’rouf believes that the Oslo Accords are one of the strangest agreements in history because it has never happened historically that two parties recognize each other in such an unbalanced way, whereby one party recognizes a state in exchange for the other party recognizing an organization representing a people, not a state for this people. This is therefore considered a crime against the Palestinian people. He believes that Oslo gave the occupation ample room to control the city of Jerusalem in the way it sees fit by postponing negotiations about it indefinitely. Because of Oslo, the Jerusalemite is no longer legally and officially recognized: he is neither Palestinian, nor Jordanian, nor Israeli.
He believes the division stems from the existence of two completely contradictory projects that cannot be reconciled in their current form. He argues that this division has negatively impacted Jerusalem, as both sides have become preoccupied with their internal problems. He believes the inevitable outcome of this division is either the elimination of one project by the other or their absorption into one another. He maintains that genuine reconciliation or even a national partnership between these two opposing projects is unrealistic in the current situation. He believes the Palestinian Authority is an institution that does not represent the Palestinian people because it was neither elected nor mandated by them. Furthermore, he asserts that the Palestinian people are larger than the West Bank and Gaza. He believes Palestine is subjected to multiple forms of occupation, including ideological, military, and political, and therefore requires diversifying its methods of resistance according to the specific circumstances. Regarding Jerusalem, he believes that the steadfastness of its residents in remaining in the city despite the pressures is the strongest and most effective means of resisting the occupation.
It is considered that what happened and is happening in the Arab world is a natural state within the throes of change desired by the people. It is natural for people to revolt against injustice, and it is natural, in turn, for existing regimes to try to remain in power and deceive the people momentarily, then turn against them. It is also natural that the first wave of throes will produce more repressive regimes, but this is no more than a step that is supposed to be followed by other steps, as historical logic says that this situation should be followed by an expected second wave of popular revolutions and their demands for change.
Marouf suffered under the occupation, as he was forced under its pressure to leave Palestine in 2002, and this caused suffering for his family. The occupation also refused to issue a Jerusalem identity card to one of his sons, despite his birth in the city of Jerusalem. As a result, part of the family could enter Jerusalem, and another part was prevented from entering it. Marouf was also injured in the events of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in the courtyards of the mosque, in addition to the suffering of his wife’s family as a result of the arrest of her brother, Malik, for nineteen years, and the expulsion of her father, Dr. Najeh Bakirat, from the city of Jerusalem.
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