Prominent Palestinian official Faisal Al Husseini, whose name is linked to Jerusalem due to the history of his family and his responsibility for the Jerusalem File in the Palestinian Authority, died in Kuwait on Thursday at the age of 62.
Following is Husseini’s profile:
The Palestinian politician was born in Baghdad in 1940, son of Abdul Qader Al Husseini, the legendary leader who died during the battle for Jerusalem in April 1948, and nephew of Hajj Amin Husseini, then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
His grandfather, Musa Kasim Pasha Al Husseini, was also a Palestinian nationalist during British mandate.
His involvement with the PLO went back to 1964, after his sciences studies, when he worked for the organization’s office in Jerusalem. Founder and head of the famed Arab Studies Society (1979) based in east Jerusalem, he was also a pioneer in Palestinian-Israeli dialogue efforts.
Jailed by Israel for one year in 1967, he was placed under constant house arrest from 1982to 1987. He then served numerous administrative detention terms, one lasting ten months in 1987-1988. The last time he was detained, without trial, was in October 1990 when he was held in police custody for 16 days following the killing by Israeli forces of 18 Palestinians at Al Aqsa Mosque. His pugnacity made him one of the most famous "internal" Palestinian leaders, very active during the Intifada.
He was injured at the Al Aqsa compound on the second day of the Palestinian Intifada on September 29.
In sum, the late Husseini was arrested five times, spending 42 months in prison and an additional five years under house arrest.
Because he is an east Jerusalemite, he was rejected as a negotiator by the Israeli side in the negotiations process which started in Madrid in 1991. But he nonetheless became leader of the unofficial PLO-linked advisory committee of the Palestinian delegation to the peace conference.
Although he had no role in the secret negotiations between the PLO and Israel, he was present at the signing ceremony of the Declaration of Principles in Washington in September 1993, known as Oslo peace process, as one of the most prominent Palestinians. More recently he was actively and successfully involved in the process of reconciliation between the PLO leadership and Saudi Arabia.
While running the Orient House, he welcomed prominent foreign personalities visiting east Jerusalem. He did not run for the 1996 Palestinian legislative elections because he would have had to move his official home to the West Bank and, consequently, leave Jerusalem.
Faisal was seen as more pragmatic than his late father and had a low-key personality - Albawaba.com – Several Sources
