The President Mourns Her.. The Death of the Prominent Palestinian Nationalist and Diplomat Leila Shahid

SadaNews - Leila Shahid, the prominent Palestinian nationalist and diplomat, passed away today, Wednesday, at the age of 76, in her home in southern France, after suffering from illness for several years.

Shahid was born in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in 1949, and studied anthropology and psychology at the American University of Beirut, where she became involved early in social and political activity within the Palestinian refugee camps until 1974. She later moved to Paris to pursue a PhD in anthropology, and in 1976 became the president of the Palestinian Student Union in France. She then entered the diplomatic field, becoming in 1989 the first Palestinian woman to be appointed as a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Ireland, before being transferred in 1990 as the organization’s representative in the Netherlands.

Between 1993 and 2005, she served as the Palestinian ambassador to France, and from 2006 to 2014, she was the Palestinian Commissioner to the European Union as well as Belgium and Luxembourg.

Throughout this journey, she provided a prominent model of women's Palestinian diplomacy, blending politics and culture, considering that culture is "the foundation of politics." She was also present in the Arab cultural sphere, forming close friendships with prominent thinkers and writers such as Edward Said, Elias Khoury, and Mahmoud Darwish.

Palestine remained present in her consciousness through her mother's stories, Sirin al-Husseini, about Jerusalem, and she documented this memory in her book "Memories from Jerusalem."

President Mahmoud Abbas mourned the late Shahid, stating: "The deceased dedicated her life to defending the issues of her homeland and her people, being a sincere voice for her country and an honorable image of Palestinian diplomacy, carrying out her assigned tasks with efficiency and competence, and contributing to enhancing the presence of the Palestinian cause on the European and international stage."

The President praised the virtues of the deceased, affirming that Leila Shahid embodied a model of diplomacy committed to the values of freedom, justice, and peace, remaining loyal to the message of her people until her last days, and leaving a national and humanitarian legacy that will remain eternal in the conscience of our people until we achieve our legitimate national rights.

He extended his heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathy to the family of the deceased and to the sons of the Palestinian people in the homeland and diaspora, asking God, the Almighty, to envelop her with His vast mercy and to dwell her in His spacious gardens.