Famous Palestinian Leaders

Yasser Arafat was a Palestinian political leader. One of the most important figures of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began in the mid-20th century, Yasser Arafat remains a controversial figure as he is regarded as a hero by the Palestinian people while the Israelis view him as a terrorist. 

Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, is remembered as a symbol of Arab nationalist resistance to Palestinian Zionism. His rebellions made the British drop the idea of making Palestine a Jewish state. During World War II, he rallied to stop Jewish immigrants from entering Palestine from Nazi-occupied countries.

Marwan Barghouti is a Palestinian political figure who was arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces on charges of murder. Considered the leader of the First Palestinian Intifada and the Second Intifada, Marwan Barghouti still plays an influential role in the political matters of Fatah from within the prison.

Hanan Ashrawi is a Palestinian leader, legislator, activist, and scholar. She was the official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation at the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991 and was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council as a representative of Jerusalem in 1996. She is also the founder of the Independent Commission for Human Rights and the author of several books. 

Palestinian political leader and co-founder of the party Fatah, Khalil al-Wazir became a top leader of Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization. He fled his native Palestine during the war that formed Israel. A military strategist, too, he later participated in the First Intifada and was later killed by Israeli commandos.

Aḥmad Shuqayrī was a Lebanese Palestinian political leader who served as the first Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization from May 1964 to December 1967. Aḥmad Shuqayrī was used as a scapegoat by his opponents as one of his purported statements was used as part of the government's rationalization of their initiation of the Six-Day War.

Umm Nidal, also known as the mother of martyrs, was a Palestinian hero of sorts, as 3 of her 6 sons were Hamas terrorists who died in their fight against Israelis. Also known as the Khansa of Palestine, she gained fame after appearing in a clip advising one of her sons.

Janet Mikhail scripted history as the first female mayor of Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. She also taught in a girls’ school for 2 decades. Although many believe she was associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine movement, she won the election as an independent candidate.

Initially a lecturer, Jamila Abdallah Taha al-Shanti later led the Hamas’s women's organization. The widow of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, also known as the Lion of Palestine, Jamila is vocal about women’s rights and is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. She also holds a PhD in English language.

 A pioneering figure of the women’s movement in Palestine, Samiha Khalil started the charitable organization al-Inaash al-Usra society from her garage. She has also been detained multiple times for her association with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. She also contributed to the development of a museum in Ramallah.

While he initially studied law in Haifa, poet Abu Salma fled to Aacre when the Israelis conquered the city. He struck up a friendship with poet Ibrahim Tuqan and later won many awards such as the Lotus International Reward for Literature for his works such as My Brush Is from Palestine.