Hanna Mikhail
Born
Hanna Ibrahim Mikhail

1935
Ramallah, Mandatory Palestine
Disappeared1 July 1976 (aged 41)
Lebanon
StatusMissing for 44 years, 6 months and 7 days
NationalityPalestinian
Other namesAbu Omar
Alma mater
OccupationAcademic
Notable work
Academic background
ThesisPolitics and Revelation: Mawardi and After
Doctoral advisorNadav Safran
Academic work
Institutions
SpouseJehan Helou

Hanna Mikhail, nome de guerre Abu Omar, (Arabic: حنا ميخائيل, romanized: Ḥannā Mīḫāʾīl; 1935–unknown) was a Palestinian scholar and a Fatah member who disappeared in 1976.[1]

Early life and education

Mikhail was born in Ramallah, Mandatory Palestine, in 1935.[2] He hailed from a Christian family[2] whose members were part of the Quaker community in Ramallah.[3] Hanan Ashrawi is Hanna's cousin.[4]

Mikhail graduated from the Friends School in Ramallah.[5][6] Then he went to the US for university education when he got a scholarship.[6] There he obtained a degree in chemistry from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University.[7] His thesis was entitled Politics and Revelation: Mawardi and After, and Mikhail's supervisor was the Israeli Orientalist Nadav Safran.[5] It was published by the Edinburgh University Press in 1995.[8] The preface of the book was written by Edward Said.[5] Its Arabic edition was also published.[7]

Career and activities

Following his graduation Mikhail joined the Princeton University as a lecturer.[2] Then he taught at the University of Washington.[7]

Mikhail left his teaching position in the summer of 1969 and settled in Jordan where he became a member of the Fatah movement.[6] He was part of the left wing of the group.[2] Mikhail was active in the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) international relations and information departments.[6][7] He acted as a spokesperson of the Fatah and accompanied foreign journalists visiting the refugee camps, the military bases and camps.[9] He helped the production of an Italian film on the Palestinian resistance movement of which the script was written by Romano Ledda in collaboration with Wael Zwaiter.[9] Mikhail also arranged various conferences, festivals, and collaborative committees and was active in the management of the International Solidarity Camp based in Amman to improve the relations between Western Europeans and the Palestinian revolutionaries.[6]

Mikhail and other PLO members left Jordan in 1971 after the events known as Black September and resided in Beirut. There Mikhail served at the PLO's Palestinian Research Centre and the Planning Centre.[7] He was made a member of the editorial board of Shu'un Filastiniyya.[6] He was also information adviser to the PLO leader Yasser Arafat.[10]

Mikhail's scholarly work was destroyed during the invasion of Beirut by the Israeli forces in 1982.[5]

Personal life

Mikhail's first wife was an American woman, and they divorced in 1966.[5] He married Jehan Helou in Beirut in 1972.[5] She was also part of the PLO.[5] It was Edward Said's father-in-law, Emile Cortas, who officiated their wedding ceremony.[5]

One of Mikhail's close friends was Edward Said.[11][12] Another one was the French writer Jean Genet.[5]

Disappearance

Mikhail was sent by Yasser Arafat to a refuge camp in Tripoli to investigate ongoing turmoil in July 1976.[2][5] The area was under the control of the Phalange forces.[2] He was accompanied by nine PLO members and two sailors.[7] The group attempted to go to the camp by sea from Beirut.[12] However, the fiberglass boat carrying them went missing.[10] After this incident no news about him has been received.[2]

The case was examined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, but it did not reach a conclusion.[10] It is thought that he was arrested by the Phalange members and murdered by or surrendered to the Syrians.[2] The Christian Science Monitor reported in September 1976 that Mikhail and his companions were secretly imprisoned by either Syrian or the Phalange forces.[10]

Legacy

The PLO gave Mikhail the title of martyr.[4] In Jean Genet's Un captif amoureux (1986; French: Prisoner of Love) the main character is Abu Omar referring to Hanna Mikhail.[3][13] A seminar entitled Intellectuals and Revolution: On the 40th Anniversary of the Disappearance of Hanna Mikhail (Abu Omar) was organized by the Birzeit University in cooperation with the Institute for Palestine Studies in Birzeit on 22 November 2016.[14][15]

References

  1. ↑ Ahmad Jamil Azem (Spring 2018). "The Intellectual and the Revolution: Hanna Mikhail (Abu Omar) and His Comrades". Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyya. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Qassam Muaddi (29 December 2021). "The role of Palestinian Christians in shaping Palestine". The New Arab. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 Edward Said (2003). "On Jean Genet's Late Works". In J. Ellen Gainor (ed.). Imperialism and Theatre. London; New York: Routledge. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-134-84430-2.
  4. 1 2 Hanan Ashrawi (1996). This Side of Peace: A Personal Account. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-684-82342-3.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hanna Mikhail (1995). Politics and Revelation: Māwardī and After. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 7, 9. ISBN 978-0-7486-0519-4.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jehan Helou; Elias Khoury (2012). "Two Portraits in Resistance: Abu 'Umar and Mahjub 'Umar". Journal of Palestine Studies. 41 (4): 67–72. doi:10.1525/jps.2012.xli.4.65.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A Short Profile". abu-omar-hanna.info. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Politics and revelation: Mawardi and after". WorldCat.org. OCLC 1025590058. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 Hugo Darroman (2021). "Towards a decentered history of Palestinian revolutionary cinema? Case study of the film Tall El Zaatar in the audiovisual archives of the Italian Communist Party". Regards. Revue des Arts du spectacle. 26: 115.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Palestinian leaders now secret prisoners?". The Danville News. Athens. Christian Science Monitor. 22 September 1976. p. 3. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  11. ↑ M.D. Walhout (2020). Arab Intellectuals and American Power: Edward Said, Charles Malik, and the US in the Middle East. London; New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-7556-3415-6.
  12. 1 2 Esmat Elhalaby (13 May 2021). "The World of Edward Said". Boston Review. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Shaul Setter (2021). Collectivity in Struggle: Godard, Genet, and the Palestinian Revolt of the 1970s. Lanham, MD; Boulder, CO: Lexington Books. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-4985-7203-3.
  14. ↑ "Seminar". Institute for Palestinian Studies. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Forum Focuses on Life of Abu Omar, Shining Light on Revolutionary Palestinian Intellectuals". Birzeit University. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
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