"I'm older than President Arafat" laughs Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi during a meeting with him in early 2004.  We met at a meeting I assisted organizing for an international delegation on the Palestinian Red Crescent Society headquarter. Dr. Abdel Shafi's speech and critical political views at the event spawned an enviable following, with most attendees lining up to have a picture taken with him. That was the last time I saw Dr. Abdel Shafi. On September 25th, 2007 he passed away in Gaza City after hard fought battle with colon cancer.  He was 88.

 

A Vital Force

Born in then Gaza in 1919, Dr. Haider Abel Shafi studied medicine at the American University in Beirut. He spent his life struggling for the Palestinian cause politically and on the humanitarian level, helping to establish the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in
1960s and later founding the Palestinian Red Crescent society in 1972.

Resigning his post with the PLO after the Madrid conference upon hearing that then Palestinian president Yasser Arafat reached a secret agreement with the Israeli government, (later identified as the Oslo agreement of 1993), which he considered detrimental to the Palestinian people. In time his reservations would be proven right, yet Abel Shafi continued to speak on behalf of Palestinian rights and self-determination up until his death.

A Rebel With a Cause

A rebel to the core, bolstered by principle rather than popularity, Abdel Shafi often sided against the Palestinian mainstream.  Fiercely independent, sporting a sharp wit tempered through soft-spoken mannerism; he personified the stately gentleman of quiet contemplation and control. As a well known commercial in the United States says,
whether people agreed with him or not, when Abel Shafi spoke, people listened.

Oslo continued to be a bur under his saddle.  The contradictory evidence of Israel's 200% escalation in illegal settlements with its public stance of compromise and generosity reeked of insincerity to Abdel Shafi.  History would prove his reservation well-founded. Peace, if betrayed, he warned could never be restored. ]

In an interview with Al Hayat Daily correspondent Fathi Sabah, a contemporary of Dr. Abdel Shafi, I asked Sabah what Abdel Shafi managed to achieve in comparison to president Abbas. "President Abbas has achieved nothing," Sabah states decisively.

"He nominated himself in the elections in 2005, but he is taking full responsibility to fight corruption, and make internal reforms. Yet Dr. Haider has a desire to work hard on his own to achieve tremendous successes for the Palestinians. But because he lacks the decision making authority of Abbas, he has been unable to achieve all he wanted," Sabah states with lament.

"Beginning with the 1936 uprising (against the British occupation), through the partition of Palestine in 1947, Al Nakba in 1948, the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973 in addition to two intifadas he's witnessed tremendous losses and been an integral participant in the history of the Palestinian cause, (for self-determination)."

Abdel Shafi retained a lead position with The Palestinian Legislative Council in 1962 and later with the PLC through 1996.  He resigned his post two years later citing pathogenic and unrestrained corruption, considering such debilitating to progress towards statehood and Palestinian unity.

In 2002, the doctor assisted in establishing the Palestinian National Initiative, a civic organizations advocating transparency, democracy, national unity and a corruption free Palestinian government. This initiative is now led by Dr. Mustapha Al Barghouti.

Dr. Abdel Shafi always believed the cause of the Palestinian people revolved around the land.  Stating that "What is at stake is the survival of the Palestinian people on what is left of our olive groves and orchards, our terraced hills and peaceful valleys—our ancestral homes, our villages and our cities."

A fond Farwell at Al Omary—Gaza's oldest mosque:

Hoisted on the shoulders of Palestinian pallbearers, Dr. Abdel Shafi's body traverses the mourning streets of Gaza, his coffin draped in a Palestinian flag.  With his death, a glimpse of unity emerges; fighting factions fractured by politics unite in homage to a great man.  Fatah issues a eulogy, stating, "He represented a nation of struggle."  
Hamas issues its own epithet, "He is one of the greatest figures in the Palestinian history".

In death Dr. Abdel Shafi managed to unite fighting factions and pave the road toward unity.  His essence endures, burned lovingly into the hearts of a shattered yet resolute people.

His presence will and is sorely missed.