About Afif Safieh

* Afif Safieh was born in Jerusalem in 1950.
* Studied in Jerusalem at the "College des Freres" (Christian Brothers school - De Lasalle).

*His father, Emile Safieh, was member of the Jordanian Parliament representing Jerusalem and a founding member of the Palestinian National Council in 1964. His grandmother Zakie Batato, his mother Odette Safieh, then his sister Diana Safieh were successively Presidents of the St Vincent de Paul Charitable Society.
* In 1972, he obtained his 'Licence' with 'Grande Distinction' in Political Science and International Relations from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. His dissertation was: Revolutionary Strategy and the Conquest of Power - A Comparative Study of the Bolshevic and Moaist Strategies (in French).
* In 1974, he finished his 'Cycle Superieur (3eme cycle) en Sciences Politiques' from the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, Paris.
* He was President of the Belgian section of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1969 until 1971, then President of the French branch in 1974-1975.
* From 1976 until 1978, he was Deputy Director of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Observer Mission to the United Nations, Geneva.
* From 1978 until 1981, he was staff member in President Arafat's office in Beirut, in charge of European Affairs and UN Institutions.
* From 1981 until 1985, he was a researcher at the Centre for European Studies in the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
* Between 1985 and 1987, he was a visiting scholar at the Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University.
* From 1987 until 1990, he was PLO representative to the Netherlands.
* He was involved in November-December 1988 in the Stockholm negotiations that led to the official and direct American-Palestinian dialogue.
* He was nominated, Palestinian General Delegate to the United Kingdom in September 1990.
* In January 1995, he was invited to become a member of the International Board of Trustees of Bethlehem University, the Vatican-sponsored University in Palestine.
* Nominated Palestinian General Delegate to the Holy See, he presented his letter of credentials to His Holiness Pope John ll on November 6, 1995.
* In October 2005, he assumed his duty as Head of the PLO Mission in Washington.
* From may 2008 till may 2009 he was Palestinian Ambassador to the Russian Federation.
* June 2009: was nominated Roving Ambassador for Special Missions based in London,
* In the 6th Fateh Conference in 2009 and the 7th Fateh Conference in 2016, he was elected Member of the Revolutionary Council, which is the parliament of Fateh and since then has been Deputy Commissioner for for International Relations.
* September 2014 he was awarded by The Bethlehem University the degree of Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa.
* Compilations of his articles have appeared in two books:
- 'Self determination', published by Al-Fajr printing press, Jerusalem, 1986 (jointly with his wife Christ'l Leclercq).
-and more recently ‘The Peace Process: from Breakthrough to Breakdown’,  Saqi books,  London 2010.
* He is married and has two daughters: Diana and Randa