Personal Info
- Country of residence: Portugal
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Jamil Tawfiq Rabah Al-Khalidi was born in the Deir al-Balah Palestinian refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 1963, to a Palestinian refugee family whose origins trace back to the depopulated village of Kertia in the occupied Gaza district. He is married and has one son and three daughters. He completed his primary education at two schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Deir al-Balah camp, and his secondary education at Al-Manfalouti Secondary School for Boys in Deir al-Balah, graduating from the latter in 1981 with a high school diploma in the science track. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at An-Najah National University in 1991. He worked as a field researcher at the Private Sector Development Center in Nablus between 1991 and 1993, and as an employee at Cairo Amman Bank in 1994 and the Arab Bank in 1995. He worked as an economic researcher at the Palestinian Planning Center, affiliated with the Office of the President of the Palestinian Authority, between 1996 and 2004. He became a member of the General Authority for Expatriate Affairs, affiliated with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, in 1999. He worked at the Palestinian Trade Center (PalTrade) in the Gaza Strip between 2002 and 2003, and was then appointed coordinator for the Deir al-Balah electoral district at the Central Elections Commission in 2004, later becoming the office director. Regional Central Election Commission - Gaza Strip, 2008.
Al-Khalidi published a number of books, including: The Palestinian Investment Law: A Comparative Study (1997), Palestinian Foreign Trade 1995-1998 (2000), Indicators in the Israeli Economy during the year 1998 (1998), and Poverty in the Palestinian Territories (2000).
Al-Khalidi believes that the Palestinian cause is just, and that historical Palestine is the right of the Palestinians. He believes that it would have been better not to compromise on the principle of removing the occupation from the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, before signing any agreement with the occupation that would lead the Palestinians into labyrinths far removed from the core of the issue. He believes that the basis of the division is the agreements that were signed with the occupying state, and that the division was effectively entrenched after the 2006 elections. If there had been a genuine political will, it would not have continued. He calls for the development of a unified political program that brings together all Palestinian parties to confront the occupation and speak to the world with one voice. He believes that the people living under occupation have the right to practice all types and forms of resistance that guarantee them the removal of injustice and occupation from the land and the people, which is guaranteed by divine laws and international laws, especially since the occupation is not interested in ending the conflict, but rather in keeping it raging in order to usurp all Palestinian rights.
Al-Khalidi suffered under the occupation; he was arrested in 1990 for 10 days, and prevented from traveling to the West Bank to complete his university studies. His graduation from An-Najah University was delayed for several years due to the occupation closing universities during the First Intifada. The occupation demolished his family’s house adjacent to the “Kfar Darom” settlement in 2001, and he has not been allowed to travel through the Beit Hanoun crossing since 2015.
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