Background
Adwan was born in 1952 in the town of Beit Hanoun, in the far north of the Gaza Strip, where he still resides, to a well educated family.
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Atef Adwan
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Education
He earned a higher diploma in political science in Lebanon, probably in the early 1970s, a bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of Economics and Political Sciences in Cairo in 1978, followed by a graduate diploma from the Center for Arab Research and Studies at the Arab University, and master’s and a Doctor of Philosophy from British universities between 1983 and 1987.
Career
He became an associate professor in 1996 and a professor in political science in 2001 at the Islamic University of Gaza in Gaza City. Adwan has been arrested several times by the Israeli government for alleged terrorist activities and the PLO-led Palestinian Authority for political activism through the years. In 1992 he was deported to Marj First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Zuhour in Southern Lebanon where he wrote a book entitled "Marj First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Zuhour Diary." In almost every recent Israeli invasion of Beit Hanoun, Atef"s house was subject to search by Israeli Defence Army.
Adwan has been a spokesman for a moderating voice within Hamas, having said among other things that the terms outlined by Israel at the Taba Summit was something Hamas would seriously think about.
Claiming that while Sharia would be the main source of Palestinian law, "you can"t have a stream that goes against the world” (The Economist, February 2, 2006). He has opposed financial support from Iran on the grounds that it would make the Palestinian Authority a client of Iranian policy (The Jerusalem Post, February 22, 2006).
Granted an entry visa by Sweden in 2006, Adwan visited a number of European countries under the provision of the Schengen Agreement, often at the displeasure of the host countries. While in Sweden, he met with Moishe Arye Friedman, a noted anti-Zionist rabbi.
He has travelled to Syria where he met with Syrian and Iraqi officials to address the issue and recently the Palestinian Legislative Council tried to pass a bill to bring a number of Palestinian refugees in Iraq back to Gaza, a step that Israel will certainly oppose.
He is well known in his town for being an honest and a generous person. He quickly intervenes if racial or family issues rise.
Politics
Adwan had a falling-out with President Abbas and the Fatah movement towards the end of last year that threatened his position as a minister in the Palestinian National Authority. He called the Fatah revolutionary parliament "old geeks" and accused the president of obeying America and Israel and not taking the interests of his people at heart.
Membership
Hamas.
