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.
Life and work
Safieh visited 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 1969-1971 President of the Palestinian Student Union in Belgium from 1974 to 1975 in France. Between 1976 and 1978 he was the representative director of the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO), whose Observer Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. Later he became a staff member of President Arafat's official residence in Beirut, where he was involved with the care of European Affairs and the UN institutions.
Between 1981 and 1985 he worked as a researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain. After that, he was a visiting scholar at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. During this time he came in contact with employees of the Christian Peace Conference, which had declared their solidarity with the Palestinian national movement, and adopted in July 1985 at the VI. Allchristlichen Peace Convocation in part in Prague. From 1987 to 1990 Safieh PLO representative was in the Netherlands and was also involved in the negotiations that led to Stockholm to receive the direct American - Palestinian dialogue in November / December. From September 1990 to 2005, he was Supreme representative of the Palestinian Authority in the UK.
In January 1995 he was commissioned to establish the connection to the International Trust Commission of Bethlehem University, one supported by the Vatican Palestinian educational institution. After he was appointed Palestinian principal representative to the Holy See, he presented in 1995 Pope John Paul II presented his credentials. A collection of essays by Safieh appeared in two published books: "Self - determination", 1986 published by the Al- Fajr Publishing, as well as " A people too much? ", Published in 1987 in The Hague.
On 26 October 2005 Safieh graduated in Washington, DC his first official visit as PLO representative in the United States. Since 2008 Safieh PLO Ambassador to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Safieh participates alongside his diplomatic commitments to journalistic activities in the print media and radio and television channels. The Israeli writer and peace activist Uri Avnery called him because of his intelligent and principled solution proposals a " Palestinian Mandela ".
Afif Safieh is married and the father of his daughters Diana and Randa.
Publications
- Self -determination, in 1986 Al- Fajr Printing Press
- One Too Many People? 1987 Hague