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Chief negotiator and respected “public face” of the Palestinian cause Saeb Erekat died Tuesday at age 65 of complications from COVID-19.
Erekat was a staunch defender of a two-state solution and defender of the Palestinian cause, unafraid to blame Israel for the failure of the two sides to reach an agreement or to condemn Israel’s illegal settlement policy in the occupied territories.
Since the 1991 Madrid conference, the international spokesperson has participated in almost every round of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.
He also served as a senior adviser to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, as well as current President Mahmoud Abbas.
Life under occupation
Israeli forces entered his hometown of Jericho when he was only 12 years old and he was arrested for the first time at 13. Living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, Saeb Erekat said he had to grow up quickly, according to Al Jazeera.
The 1967 Six Day War shaped not only the future of the Middle East, but also Erekat’s life choices. After obtaining his Ph.D. In conflict resolution, he began to fight for Palestinian statehood through negotiation.
He advocated a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, a vision that earned him a reputation as “extremist” among Israelis and as “traitor” among Palestinians.
Saeb Erekat became the main Palestinian negotiator in 1995 and submitted his final resignation in 2011. Al Jazeera had exposed confidential records detailing the concessions it was willing to offer to the Israeli government, including the annexation of illegal settlements.
Despite the scandal, he remained a respected figure in the fight for the Palestinian cause and was instrumental in gaining observer status for the State of Palestine at the UN in 2012.
He continued to support a two-state solution while admitting his disappointment at the evolution of the Palestinian-Israel conflict. However, the biggest disappointment came in August with the US-led standardization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. He accused party leaders of ending the two-state solution.
He said the accords marked “the birth of Arab Zionism” and described them as “a poisoned dagger stabbed into the back of the Palestinians.”
Complications of COVID-19
Tragically, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) did not live to see a Palestine free from Israeli occupation.
He was diagnosed with a new coronavirus on October 8 and was hospitalized in Jerusalem, but his condition rapidly deteriorated.
On October 19, medical staff put Erekat, who underwent a lung transplant in 2017, on a ventilator and into a medically induced coma. A few days later, on October 21, health professionals intubated him and placed him in a machine to oxygenate his blood.
Erekat’s chronic respiratory problems, unfortunately, increased his vulnerability to fatal complications from COVID-19.
The PLO’s Fatah party announced the death of Saeb Erekat on November 10. He leaves behind a wife, two sons, two twin daughters, and eight grandchildren.
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