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Ahmed Qurei |
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Ahmed Qurei |
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Arutz 7 |
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Ahmed Qurei |
Ahmed Qurei a.k.a. Abu Ala (also spelled Karia) is a protege of Palestinian Arab leader Yasser Arafat, a long-term member of the PLO inner circle.
Qurei was born in Jerusalem in 1937, in a wealthy merchant family in the neighborhood of Abu Dis, where he now lives with his wife and 5 children. He joined the Fatah wing of the Palestine Liberation Organisation at the end of the 1960s and rose to prominence within the PLO in the mid-1970s, when he took over economic operations in Lebanon. According a BBC article, "By 1980, the PLO's business enterprises generated an income of about $40m a year and, with 6,500 full-time employees, ranked as one of the largest employers in Lebanon."
When the PLO was expelled from Lebanon in 1983, Abu Ala went to Tunis with Arafat. He gradually rose within the PLO, partly because he survivied while others did not. He was elected a member of the Fatah central committee in 1989. He returned to Gaza with Arafat in 1994 and was an important participant in the Oslo Peace Process during the 1990s, concentrating on economic planning.
While generally viewed as a moderate during the Oslo days, later statements indicate hard-line views on many of the issues. He has gone on record demanding that Western Jerusalem and other Jewish areas must be included in negotiations. He continues to assert the Palestinian Arab 'right of return' to Israel. He has participated in demonstrations with violent intentions toward Israel and Jews. In general, he was Arafat's man and took positions consistent with Arafat's.
In January 1996, when Palestinians voted for their first parliament, Qurei was elected speaker of the 88-member Palestinian Legislative Council, a position he held until 2003. Upon the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas as Prime Minister on September 7, 2003 Yasser Arafat appointed Ahmed Qurei as the replacement.
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