Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general Saeb Erekat dead
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat speaks during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt. File/AP
Gulf Today Report
Veteran peace negotiator and Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general Saeb Erekat died on Tuesday, weeks after being infected by the coronavirus. He was 65.
Prominent international spokesman for the Palestinians and the American-educated Erekat was involved in nearly every round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians going back to the landmark Madrid conference in 1991.
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Erekat died on Tuesday after contracting COVID-19, his family said. He was one of the most passionate and experienced advocates of the Palestinian cause.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (right) consults with his aide Saeb Erekat, during a press conference. File/AP
Fluent in English as well as his native Arabic, he was a high-profile spokesman for Palestinian leaders such as Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, while never a serious candidate to succeed them.
His Fatah party announced his death in a statement. A relative and a Palestinian official confirmed he passed away, speaking on condition of anonymity out of privacy concerns.
Erekat was born on April 28, 1955 in occupied Jerusalem. As a child in Jericho, he witnessed Palestinians fleeing to nearby Jordan during the 1967 war in which Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Over the years, he was a constant media presence. He tirelessly argued for a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, defended the Palestinian leadership and blamed Israel - particularly hard-line leader Benjamin Netanyahu - for the failure to reach an agreement.
US Secretary John Kerry (left) listens to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at a press conference. File/AP
As a loyal aide to Palestinian leaders — first Yasser Arafat and then Mahmoud Abbas — Erekat clung to this strategy until his death, even as hopes for Palestinian statehood sank to new lows.
He died after being hospitalised for weeks in Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center.
"With hearts full of sorrow and pain, and with patience, Erekat’s clan everywhere mourns to the Palestinian Arab people and to the Arab and Muslim nation Saeb Erekat,” his extended family clan posted on Facebook.
