- Osama Hamdan
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Osama Hamdan in Beirut, 2009
Osama Hamdan (Arabic: أسامة حمدان, Åʋsámɑë Hɑmdán; 1965- ) is the top representative of Hamas in Lebanon and is a member of the organization's politburo. He is a member of the Arab National Congress and of the Arab Islamic Conference of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Institute in Lebanon.[1]
Contents
Early life
Hamdan was born in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian refugee family that fled the village of al-Batani al-Sharqi during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He attended high school in Kuwait, graduating in 1982. He then enrolled at the Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry in 1986. While he was at the university, Hamdan became an activist with the Islamic Student Movement. He returned to Kuwait after graduating and worked in the industrial sector until the Gulf War in 1990.[1]
Hamas representative
After leaving Kuwait, Hamdan worked at the Hamas office in Tehran as assistant to then Hamas representative Imad Alami from 1992-93. He became Hamas' official representative in Iran in 1994, serving in that post until 1998.[1] While undertaking this post, Hamdan claimed that the "flourishing relations" between Iran and Hamas were at the expense of the once-good relationship between Iran and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). However, he stated "There is an absence of any proof or evidence of Iranian financial support to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions who have established contacts with Iran. It is merely rumours and speculation."[2]
In 1998, Hamdan was appointed as Hamas representative in Lebanon, a post he still holds. In 2004, he served as Hamas' spokesman in Cairo during a dialogue between Palestinian factions. He has also participated in talks between Hamas and European officials.[1] Hamdan has advocated Palestinian unity talks and in an interview with Al-Arabiya on May 20, 2009, he said "I understand that each of us [Hamas and Fatah ] must set conditions to reach an agreement. National dialogue must be based on national interests of the Palestinian people..."[3]
In an interview which aired on Al-Jadid/New TV on May 4, 2011 (as translated by MEMRI), Hamdan stated that "politically, the two-state solution is over" and that "we are entering the phase of the liberation of Palestine... the notion of Return: the return of the refugees to their homeland, and the return of the Israelis to the countries from which they came."[4][5]
References
- ^ a b c d Palestinian Personalities - H Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs.
- ^ Chehab, 2007, p.142.
- ^ Hamdan says progress made on talks due to compromise Hamas urges coexistence under Palestinian rule Al-Arabiya. 2009-05-20.
- ^ Osama Hamdan, Head of the Hamas Foreign Liaisons: Armed Confrontation Will Continue to Be "the Backbone of the Resistance", the Israelis Must Return to Their Countries of Origin, Clip No. 2949 (transcript), MEMRITV.org, May 4, 2011.
- ^ Osama Hamdan, Head of the Hamas Foreign Liaisons: Armed Confrontation Will Continue to Be "the Backbone of the Resistance", the Israelis Must Return to Their Countries of Origin Al-Jadid/New TV (Lebanon), Clip No. 2949 (video), MEMRITV.org, May 4, 2011.
Further reading
- Chehab, Zaki (2007). Inside Hamas: the untold story of militants, martyrs and spies. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1845113896, 9781845113896. http://books.google.com/books?id=rWEg6Tfai_oC&pg=RA1-PA142&dq=osama+hamdan+hamas#PRA1-PA142,M1.
External links
- Osama Hamdan on Charlie Rose
- Column archive at The Guardian
- Osama Hamdan collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
Categories:- 1965 births
- Living people
- Hamas members
- Palestinian diplomats
- Muslim Brotherhood leaders
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