Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat installed a new Palestinian Cabinet Wednesday, which includes one of the University of Wisconsin’s graduates.
Abdul Rahman Hamad was sworn in as Housing Minister under the new Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, who took office after Mahmoud Abbas resigned in September.
Hamad graduated with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UW in 1975. He then spent the next 20 years teaching the subject in Baghdad and later at Beirzet University in Ramallah.
He has been very active in promoting peace in the region by participating in the Palestinian delegation’s peace negotiations in Madrid and Washington in the early ’90s.
Hamad also worked to improve education and opportunity for Palestinians, serving as chairman of the trustee board for faculty of science and technology, chairman of the Palestinian Academic Association, vice chairman of the board of Arab Corporation for Technical Development and vice chairman of the board in the Palestinian Housing Council.
As a member of Arafat’s Fatah party, Hamad was the former natural-resources minister and current chair of the Palestinian Energy Authority.
The new power in the Palestinian government vows to seek a cease-fire and aims to resume peace talks on the U.S.-backed “roadmap” to peace, which has been faltering since June.
“We call on both sides to stop targeting civilians and work to bring about a mutual ceasefire with clear and agreed-upon terms … We are not terrorists and we never will be … Our struggle was never against women, children and civilians but against occupation, confiscation of land and assassinations … Let’s help each other stop this cycle of hell,” Qurie said in a statement concerning the new Cabinet’s goals.
Israel has been calling on Palestinians to change power from the hands of Arafat. Although Arafat still retains security power, Israelis are warily accepting the new look of the Palestinian government.
“If the new Palestinian government is serious about pursuing peace and takes action to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, they will find Israel to be a real partner,” Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said in a press statement.
