Tributes to former lead negotiator in Middle East peace talks
Pioneer and peacemaker honed his skills in Bradford
Saeb Erekat, former head negotiator for Palestine in peace talks with Israel and PhD student at the University of Bradford in the 1980s, has died.
Dr Erekat passed away on November 9 after earlier contracting Covid-19. He was 65.
He attended the University during the 1980s, when he studied for a PhD. He assumed the post of President of the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department since its inception in 2003 and was chief Palestinian negotiator, involved in all peace talks between Israel and Palestine since the early 1990s. He helped negotiate the Oslo Accords in 1993, which resulted in limited self governance for the Palestinian Authority for the first time since Israel occupied the territories in 1967.
Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies Tom Woodhouse, a founding member of the department, said: “The University and particularly his friends in Peace Studies wish to offer sympathy and condolences to Saeb’s family. Saeb Erekat was a PhD student in the Peace Studies at Bradford in the early 1980s, and was awarded his PhD here in 1985.
“Saeb last visited Bradford when he attended the 40th anniversary conference marking the foundation of the Peace Studies department in 2014. He was a passionate and vocal champion of peace studies.
“He was genuine in his conviction that the ideas he came across in Bradford around peace negotiations and conflict resolution gave him the foundations for his later work as a peacemaker between Israel and Palestine. He was a pioneer as a peacemaker in combining traditions and methods in Western peace research with those in Islamic scholarship to sustain the values and practices of peacebuilding. He will inspire all of those who wish to continue the vital work of making peace in this most challenging of conflicts.”
Emeritus Professor Paul Rogers, who supervised Dr Erekat’s PhD, said: “He was a very good research student and worked incredibly hard for the Palestinian cause. Saeb was a generous host at his home in Abu Dis and also a good friend. My wife and I will both remember him with affection and respect.”
Prathivadi Anand, Professor-Public Policy & Sustainability in the Faculty of Mgmt, Law & Social Sciences, said: "All staff and students of Peace Studied and International Development offer their condolences. Dr Erekat will be remembered for applying knowledge to make an impact in his case on a very complex and long-standing issue of peace negotiations in Palestine."