Afif Safieh

Afif Safieh (born May 4, 1950 in Jerusalem ) is a Palestinian Roman Catholic political scientist , diplomat and foreign representative of the Palestinian territories .

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Safieh attended the Jerusalem College Des Freres . In 1972 he obtained a diploma in Political Science and International Relations from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium . He was President of the Palestinian Student Union in Belgium from 1969 to 1971 and in France from 1974 to 1975 . Between 1976 and 1978 he was the authorized director of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and headed its observer mission to the United Nations in Geneva . He later became a staff member in President Arafat's office in Beirut , where he was responsible for maintaining European affairs and the UN institutions.

Between 1981 and 1985 he was a researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was then a visiting student at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University . During this time he got in touch with employees of the Christian Peace Conference who had declared their solidarity with the Palestinian national movement. In July 1985, he took part in the VI. All-Christian peace meeting in Prague . From 1987 to 1990 Safieh was the PLO representative in the Netherlands and was also involved in the negotiations that led to the start of the direct American-Palestinian dialogue in Stockholm in November / December . From September 1990 to 2005, he was Supreme Plenipotentiary of the Palestinian Authority in Great Britain .

In January 1995 he was hired to liaise with the Bethlehem University International Trust Commission , a Vatican- sponsored Palestinian educational institution. In 1995, after being appointed Chief Plenipotentiary to the Holy See , he presented Pope John Paul II with his credentials . A collection of essays by Safieh appeared in two book publications: "Self-Determination", published in 1986 by Al-Fajr Verlag, and "Ein Volk zuviel?", Published in 1987 in The Hague.

On October 26, 2005, Safieh made his inaugural visit as a PLO representative in the United States in Washington, DC . Safieh has been the PLO ambassador to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) since 2008 . In addition to his diplomatic duties, Safieh participates in journalistic activities in the print media and on radio and television channels. The Israeli writer and peace activist Uri Avnery called him a "Palestinian Mandela " because of his intelligent and relevant solutions .

Afif Safieh is married and has two daughters.

Publications

• Self-determination, 1986 Al-Fajr Printing Press
• One People Too Many? 1987 Hague

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=3051
2. ↑ http://www.lebenshaus-alb.de/magazin/004612.html
3. ↑ Palestinian Ambassador Afif Safieh arrives in Washington, DC on Oct. 26. Retrieved April 8, 2014 .