Bahjat Abu Gharbieh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1916 (1916) |
| Died | 2012 (aged 95–96) |
| Party | Ba'ath |
Bahjat Abu Gharbiah (Arabic:بهجت ابو غربية; 1916–2012) was aPalestinian politician. He is the co-founder of the branch of theBa'ath Party inRamallah, one of the most active branches in theWest Bank.[1] He was in many armed resistance and diplomatic positions inPalestine.
Bahjat was born inKhan Yunis in 1916, from a family originally fromHebron.[2] He participated in the armed resistance duringthe revolt of 1939 and theNakba of 1948. He was also a leader of theHoly Liberation Army and in thebattle of Al-Qastal in 1948.[3] He founded a branch of the Baath Party in Ramallah and was a member of the main leadership of the party from 1949 to 1959. He was appointed as the inaugural members of the executive committee of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in August 1964, where he led the opposition party to the leader,Ahmad Shukeiri. He was also a member of thePalestinian National Council (PNC), and formed thePeople's Resistance Committee, together withSubhi Ghushah and Ishak Duzdar inJerusalem in May 1967.[citation needed]
Bahjat was re-elected as a member of thePLO Executive Committee in 1971 to 1972. He ran in the PNC presidency election in 1977, but lost to Khaled Fahum.[4] He gave a speech at a right to return rally in Amman in December 2001.[5] He died on January 26, 2012.[citation needed]
Bahjat published a war memoir in Arabic published by the Institute of Palestine Studies in 1993, entitled -In the Midst of the Struggle for the Arab Palestinian Cause: The Memoirs of Freedom-Fighter Bahjat Abu Gharbieh, 1916-1949,[6] which explains his role in the resistance of the Palestinian people especially during the Great Revolt (1936-1939) against the British and the1948 War.[citation needed]
The second volume of his memoirs published by the Arab Institute for Research and Publication in 2005 covers his story during the period between theNakbah and theIntifada (1949-2000).[citation needed]
