Arab Thought Forum

For another organisation, see Arab Thought Forum (Amman).

The Arab Thought Forum (Arabic: ملتقى الفكر العربي; also known as Al-Multaqa[1]) was a Palestinian civil society organization active in the fields of politics, development, and the arts.[2][3][4][5]

Background

Arab Thought Forum was founded in Jerusalem in 1977 and was closely affiliated with the National Guidance Committee; it was also generally considered supportive of the PLO.[2]

The Forum aimed to "resist relations of dependence imposed by Israel on the Palestinian economy."[3] It also sponsored one of the first literature festivals in the West Bank.[2] In later years, its areas of focus have been described as including "the future of Jerusalem, democratization and nation building, and development."[2]

Leading figures in the original formation of the Forum included Mahdi Abd al Hadi and Ibrahim Dakkak.[2] Haydar Abd Al Shafi was another prominent member.[6]

References

1. "Arab Thought Forum holds conference at Birzeit University". Birzeit University. June 22, 1999.
2. Mattar, Philip. Encyclopedia of the Palestinians : Encyclopedia of the Palestinians (Revised Edition), Infobase Learning, 2005, 53.
3. "Ibrahim Dakkak - Politicians (1929 - 2016)". Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
4. "Ismail Shammut - Artists (1930 - 2006)". Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
5. Welchman, Lynn (2021), "Context", Al-Haq, A Global History of the First Palestinian Human Rights Organization, vol. 2 (1 ed.), University of California Press, pp. 13–27, ISBN 978-0-520-37975-6, retrieved 2023-12-10
6. "Haydar Abd al-Shafi - Politicians (1919 - 2007)". Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest. Retrieved 2023-12-10.