Nihad Abu Ghosh: Born in 1959 in Jerusalem, is a prominent leftist Palestinian politician, journalist, and political analyst known for his expertise on Israeli affairs, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Raised in the heart of occupied East Jerusalem amid escalating tensions, Abu Ghosh studied economics and administrative sciences before immersing himself in activism and journalism. In his youth, he became engaged with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a Marxist-Leninist faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This affiliation led to his arrest by Jordanian authorities in 1979; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for resistance activities. Released in 1989 after a decade of incarceration, he documented his experiences through prison letters that later formed part of his personal archive, highlighting the cultural and political resilience of Palestinian prisoners.
Post-release, Abu Ghosh transitioned into a prolific career in media and academia. He worked as a university lecturer and contributed as a writer and journalist for Jordanian, Palestinian, and Lebanese newspapers, focusing on Israeli policies and the broader Arab-Israeli dynamics. He rose to leadership roles, including Secretary-General of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, central information officer for the DFLP in the West Bank, a member of the Palestinian National Council, and director of the PLO's diaspora affairs department.