Former Palestinian negotiator Shafi dies of cancer in Gaza Strip
Hardliner Haidar Abdel Shafi was a critic of Arafat and refused to make concessions to Israel.
By The Associated Press Tags: Middle East peace PalestiniansA former Palestinian negotiator, leading Palestinian nationalist and physician, Haidar Abdel Shafi, died Tuesday in the Gaza Strip. He was 88.
Shafi died at his home in Gaza City of stomach cancer, said his son Khaled.
The gadfly to the late Yasser Arafat was most known internationally for leading the Palestinian team with Jordan to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and to peace talks in Washington in the two years following.
Shafi resigned his negotiating post in 1993 over the Oslo peace agreements with Israel and was known as a die-hard critic of Arafat and his concessions to the Israelis in peace talks.
In April 1996, Shafi walked out of a meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council of which he was a member to protest Arafat's decision to amend the charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization to recognize Israel when the Jewish state did not give reciprocal recognition. He resigned from the council in 1998, saying it did not have enough teeth to effect real change.
Shafi was born in the Gaza Strip in 1919 and studied medicine at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. It was there that he began his political activity with Arab nationalists aiming to establish a Palestinian state. He returned to the Gaza Strip and, during fighting that lead to Israel's founding in 1948, helped facilitate medical care for tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled the hostilities. In the early 1950s he studied surgery at the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
Shafi began his political service to his people in the early 1960s and in 1964 was a member of the first all-Palestinian conference that established the PLO in Jerusalem. By 1966 he was the leading PLO figure in the Gaza Strip and was detained and deported by Israel when its forces occupied the coastal territory in 1967. In 1971 he returned to Gaza and a year later founded the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, a role that earned him great respect among Gazans.
Shafi's funeral was slated to take place Tuesday in Gaza City. He was survived by his wife, four children and eight grandchildren
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So tell me Dr Frosh, Just where is your great leader Sharon? Is he dead or is he alive? Or is he caught in state of suspended animation, neither here nor there but in the middle between life and death. God has a strange sense of humour dont you think. What a torment it must be, befitting of the true enemy of humanity himself.
of the Great Humanist Abdel-Shafi. Surely,eventual months as a paying guest of the vibrant pals are not so scary for such a pal-embracer? Put your pettiness aside Alofs,put your body where your mouth is,at the disposal of the Salt of the Earth,the pals.
In death people have respect. You Dr. Frosh - I should call you Dr. HATE - has no respect for the dead, and I doubt you have any respect for the living. I wonder what kind of oath you took when you graduated as a doctor of medicine. The oath of HATE and RACISM ?? I am sure many of your Israeli colleagues are shocked and disgusted with your behaviour.
Otherwise you would not have spouted such an ignorant and insulting remark, which - if anything - is more revealing about yourself than about Dr. Haidar.
"This enemy of humanity lived till 88 and died in his bed." Mr. Shafi was "enemy of humanity"? What humanity are you talking about and what has Mr. Shafi done to it to deserve your nasty and mean remarks? Sorry about your former colleague's death, but what does that have to do with the death of another human being? And don't you know, dear doctor, that God does not consult you or anyone else when recalling one of us? I don't know what type of a doctor you are, but I sure hope you're not a medical doctor! And if you were, then I hope you're a bit nicer than Dr. Mengele!
Whos is this enemey to humanity? why is he such? To my knowledge the REAL enemy of humanity is till suffering in his bed.... and there are many like him still around who kill childrem demolish homes, uproot olive trees, destroy famlands and steal land... So, WHO IS the enemy of humanity?
You were an elder Palestinian statesman with wisdom and vision. You stood above party politics and showed independence of mind and moral clarity. Together with people like Edward Said, Dr Mustafa al-Barghouti and other Palestinian personalities you were one of the founders of Mubadara, the Democratic Initiative, trying to offer the Palestinian people more than nationalism alone. As a human being you were always kind and welcoming to everyone. The hospitality of you and your wife was always heartwarming. We will greatly miss your take on things. Palestine has suffered a deep loss indeed. My condolences to your brother Mustafa, your wife, children and grandchildren.
A former colleague and friend of the Jewish people died two days ago of stomach cancer, at the young age of 61. This enemy of humanity lived till 88 and died in his bed. So much for making the ultimate sacrifice.
Haidar Abdel Shafi was a true Palestinian patriot whose unselfish dedication to his people made everyone that met him feel that he's in the presence of a great man. He was never afraid to speak the truth - even to the most feared Arafat. Political power meant nothing to him and he prefered to do things rather than talk about them. What a humble man! Condolences to his family and to all the Palestinian people. May he rest in peace.