Azzam al-Ahmad


Azzam al-Ahmad . He received a BA in Economics from Baghdad University. Head of the General Union of Palestinian Students in Iraq from 1971-4; deputy head of GUPS Executive Committee from 1974–80; Palestine Liberation Organization ambassador to Iraq from 1979-94. He was a Fatah-RC member from 1989 and is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council representing the Jenin Governorate as a Fatah candidate.

Early life and family

Al-Ahmad was born in the village of Rummanah, located in north of Jenin. In 1968, His father, Najeeb al-Ahmad was deported across the Jordan River by the Israeli Army after its occupation of the West Bank. In exile in Amman after 1967, Najeeb and his family of nine children found fertile grounds for their cause and political activities. Soon after deportation, Najeeb became a prominent member of the Jordanian parliament. Azzam al-Ahmad graduated from high school and joined the Syrian universities but later moved to Baghdad with the coming of the Ba'ath party to power in Iraq in 1969 as a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.