Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Naif Samour Salim Abu Khalaf was born on January 6, 1949, to a Palestinian family from Hebron, in the southern West Bank. He is married and has two sons and two daughters. He attended Al-Jazair Elementary School in Hebron, Prince Muhammad Preparatory School, and Al-Hussein Bin Ali Secondary School, graduating in 1967 with a high school diploma in the science track. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and public administration from the University of Jordan in 1972 and a master's degree in political science from Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago) in the United States in 1977. He began teaching at An-Najah National University in the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1979, and later co-founded the Department of Political Science at the university. He received his doctorate in political science from the University of Bradford (School of Peace Studies) in the United Kingdom in 1986. He chaired the Department of Political Science at An-Najah University for several terms, beginning in 1991. He contributed to the development of the Master's program in Political Planning and Development at An-Najah National University and served as the program coordinator from 1999 to 2006. He worked as a part-time lecturer in the International Studies program at Birzeit University during the periods 1997-1998, as well as during the period between 2014-2018.
Abu Khalaf served on the Board of Trustees of the Palestinian Academic Society for International Affairs (PASSIA) from 1986 to 1989. He chaired the administrative board of the Al-Amiriya Cooperative Housing Association, an association dedicated to the employees of An-Najah National University, from 1996 to 2006. He also chaired the administrative board of the An-Najah National University Employees Union from 1992 to 1993. Abu Khalaf was appointed to the Advisory Council of the Anti-Corruption Commission by presidential decree. He became Minister of Local Government in the first unity government in June 2014 and continued in this role until July 2015. By virtue of his position as Minister of Local Government, he also served as Chairman of the Palestinian Higher Planning Council and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Municipal Development and Lending Fund.
Abu Khalaf contributed to organizing a number of academic conferences and participated in others inside and outside Palestine. He also participated in many seminars and lectures and published a number of research papers and studies, including:
- Authoring the book dedicated to the Palestinian Studies curriculum, which is the approved course for all students of An-Najah National University (joint work).
– Reform mechanisms to combat administrative, financial and economic corruption in Palestine, (Joint research) Al-Quds Open University Journal of Research and Studies, Issue 10, April 2007.
- A research paper entitled “Denmark’s Foreign Policy towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza”, Shams Center for Human Rights and Democratic Participation, Ramallah, September 2007.
– Oral History: Capacity Building for Source Collection, Workshop on Contemporary Education, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, November 2010.
- A research paper entitled “Türkiye’s accession to the European Union: Prospects and Challenges” presented at the European Union and Middle East Conference, An-Najah University, July 12, 2010.
Abu Khalaf believes that the Palestinian cause is going through its most difficult phase at the local, regional and international levels. He believes that Oslo was not a Palestinian choice but a forced path that carried a number of flaws and problems, including postponing the main issues such as Jerusalem and the refugees. He also believes that the division has harmed the Palestinians a lot and it must be overcome and unity strengthened by achieving a political partnership that must be based on mechanisms and tools that are consistent with the law and the constitution, far from quotas and power-sharing. He also believes that the Palestinian people have the right to work to end the occupation by all means and forms approved by international legitimacy, and to choose the means to resist the occupation in a way that is appropriate to the circumstances that the Palestinian cause is going through.
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