George Habash

In 1961, Habash married Hilda, with whom he had two daughters: Mesa and Lama. Mesa is a doctor, while Lama is an engineer.

He died of a heart attack, on 26 January 2008, at the age of 81.

The President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, announced three days of public mourning to mark Habash’s death.

George Habash was born on 2 August 1926, in Lydda, a city in the British Mandate of Palestine that later became part of Tel Aviv.

Habash was raised by an Eastern Orthodox Palestinian family of grain merchants. During childhood, he sang in the church choir in Lydda.

Upon completing his studies, Habash enrolled as a medical student at the American University of Beirut and pursued medicine. At this point of time he had no interest in politics.

In 1948, the capture of Lydda by the Israeli Defence Force resulted in Habash’s family being exiled from their home—a seminal event in the development of Habash’s political thought.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Habash attended lectures by Constanin Zureiq —a prominent Syrian Arab intellectual —whose opinions helped shape Habash’s political stance.

In 1951, after graduating from medical school and topping in his class, he started a clinic with Wadie Haddad—a Palestinian leader—in Amman. He also worked in refugee camps in Jordan.

In 1951, Habash established the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM) to forward the belief that the Israeli state should be opposed, including by violent means.

He was the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The front’s main aim was complete eradication of Israel as a racist state through military struggle.