Will Hussein Al-Sheikh Be the Next Terrorist in a Suit to Head the PLO?

The Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is set to meet on April 23 and 24. The main agenda item of the meeting will be to establish, for the first time, the position of Deputy President of the PLO, who also functions as the Deputy President of the non-existent “State of Palestine.” The move is the latest step in a series of decisions adopted by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas since 2018 to ensure that his Fatah party continues to rule the PA without a hint of a democratic process. Should 89-year-old Abbas be incapable of fulfilling his function as head of the PLO, his deputy would simply step into his shoes.

While it is still unclear whether the Council and Abbas will merely create the position without filling it, there is considerable speculation that Abbas will seize the irregular gathering of the 180 members of the Council to already appoint the Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Hussein Al-Sheikh, to the position.

Indeed, for years, Abbas has been grooming Al-Sheikh as a potential successor, putting him at the forefront of discussions with Israel and even using him to set the stage for the cancellation of the PA general elections¹ that were meant to take place in May 2021. Al-Sheikh was also among just a few select Palestinian leaders who joined Abbas (and many of his family) from the cash-strapped PA in a delegation to the World Cup held in Qatar.²

Since Al-Sheikh will potentially inherit such a substantial position, which could automatically thrust him into the top Palestinian leadership position, knowing who he is, what he has done, and some of his opinions are important.

Al-Sheikh was born in Ramallah in 1960. He joined Fatah during his teen years, and according to his official PLO webpage,³ was imprisoned by Israel as a “political prisoner” – a Palestinian euphemism for convicted terrorist – “for 11 years, between 1978 and 1989.” While the exact details of his conviction are unavailable, as the former Director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria, I can attest that the length of his sentence would tend to suggest that he was convicted for substantial terrorist activities.

After being released from prison, Al-Sheikh continued his membership in Fatah, filling different positions.

Al-Sheikh’s Involvement in the Murder of Tzipi and Gad Shemesh and Yitzchak Cohen

On March 21, 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in downtown Jerusalem. In the attack, he murdered three people – Tzipi and Gad Shemesh (who were returning home after a pregnancy exam) and Yitzchak Cohen – and dozens were injured.

The attack was planned by two Fatah terrorists – Abd El-Karim Aweis and Nasser Shawish. Among the other details, Aweis explained in his confession (under interrogation and in court) how the attack was carried out. According to Aweis, he and Shawish obtained the explosives for the suicide belt from the then-head of the PA General Intelligence Service, Tawfik Tirawi.

Aweis added that on the morning of the attack, he, Shawish, and the suicide bomber went to the offices of Al-Sheikh, who was then the General Secretary of Fatah in Judea and Samaria. While the suicide belt was already prepared, Al-Sheikh, who had previously served as a Colonel in the PA’s Preventive Security, handed the suicide bomber money and two hand grenades.⁴

Similar to Tirawi and hundreds of other Fatah terrorists, Al-Sheikh was never arrested and never stood trial for his involvement and contribution to the murders. Instead, Al-Sheikh was instrumental in reaching the 2007 “Wanted Terrorists Deal.” As part of the deal, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised the Fatah leadership that Israel would stop hunting hundreds of Fatah terrorists, including mass murderers, who were responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israelis, so long as the terrorists laid down their arms and refrained from further participation in terror.

While most of the terrorists included in the deal breached its provisions, less than a handful were then arrested and prosecuted.

Al-Sheikh Supports the PLO-PA’s “Pay-for-Slay” Policy

When Israel responded to the PLO-PA’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy⁵ by passing the Freeze Law, Al-Sheikh, then the PA Minister of Civil Affairs, was quick to respond, threatening that if Israel implemented the law, the decision would have “political, security, and financial consequences, and our people’s leadership will implement a series of decisions and steps in response to this.” Al-Sheikh added the now infamous Palestinian euphemism for a call to terror, saying that “All of the options will be open in order to deal with this decision.”⁶

When the banks operating under the PA decided to close the accounts of 35,000 terrorists,⁷ Al-Sheikh responded by saying, “The decision to close the prisoners’ accounts in the banks harms the dignity of every Palestinian, is unacceptable, and constitutes submission to the occupation’s will.”⁸ He added the need for “creating a Palestinian national consensus to defend our prisoners and their rights and protect their dignity. They are our magnificent glory and our national pride.”

Al-Sheikh “Bows” Before the Family of Terrorist Murderers

In Palestinian society, the family of Latifa Abu-Hamid enjoys a special status. The infamy is not the result of the outstanding contribution of the family to Palestinian society but rather a result of the fact that six of the children of the family actively participated in the murder of Jews. The latest son to join the group of murderers was indicted and convicted for the 2018 murder of Israeli soldier Ronen Lyubarsky. When Israel responded to the murder by demolishing the terrorist’s house, it was Al-Sheikh who conveyed Abbas’s commitment to rebuild the house. Visiting the site, Al-Sheikh added,⁹ “We bow to this family, its history of struggle, and their heroism.”

When one of the more infamous of the terrorist sons, Nasser Abu-Hamid, responsible for the murder of seven people,¹⁰ died in prison from cancer, Al-Sheikh was quick to join the libel that Israel mistreats Palestinian prisoners. Referring to Abu-Hamid as a “heroic prisoner,”¹¹ Al-Sheikh promoted the terrorist to the rank of “Major-General.”¹² Al-Sheikh added, “What interests us now is that we sent a direct request to hand over his body to his family, his friends, and his people, so that they will honor him as is fitting for a Martyr and fitting for his family, the fighting family, which all words are dumbstruck before the greatness of this family and this mother.”¹³

Al-Sheikh as the Choice of the Biden Administration

After the deterioration of U.S.-PA relations during President Donald Trump’s first term, in 2021 then-PA Prime Minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, tapped Al-Sheikh to lead the discussions with the newly elected Biden administration to undermine Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem and reopen the U.S. consulate. Later, Al-Sheikh appeared to have won the hearts of the State Department under then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and of the now disgraced US AID. Demonstrating the new bond, Al-Sheikh was even invited to meetings in Washington,¹⁴ a move that required Blinken to actively invoke a waiver of U.S. law that prohibits members of the PLO from entering the United States.

Al-Sheikh Calls to Unite with Hamas

Just a few months before the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, on the backdrop of a wave of Palestinian terror, Al-Sheikh reiterated his call for the PA and Hamas to bridge their gaps.

In an interview on Palestinian television, Al-Sheikh called on all the Palestinian national “factions” – another Palestinian euphemism that refers to the different Palestinian groups, including the genocidal terrorists in Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – to create a broad front against what he called “the Israeli aggression.” He added his hope that the dialogue between the PA and Hamas will succeed since “You need to fight this enemy [Israel] on all fronts, in all arenas, without exception. You need to fight it on the ground and in the international organizations and authorities.”¹⁵

Even after the October 7 massacre, Al-Sheikh continued to refer to Hamas as “brothers.” When Israel eliminated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024, Al-Sheikh made sure to publicize on his X account that he had contacted another Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, to convey his condolences. In the post,¹⁶ Al-Sheikh claimed that the “martyrdom” of Haniyeh “constituted a great loss for the Palestinian people.”

What Support Does Al-Sheikh Enjoy on the Palestinian Street?

Despite having all the potential qualifications to become a Palestinian leader – as a terrorist who spent time in an Israeli prison, and as the son of a family of refugees from British Mandate Palestine – Al-Sheikh does not enjoy broad Palestinian popularity or support. When Abbas appointed him to the position of Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee, only 26% of the voters supported the move.¹⁷ In surveys conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the run-up to the PA elections that were meant to take place in 2021 before Abbas cancelled them, Al-Sheikh’s name was not even mentioned as a potential leader.¹⁸

Conclusion

While Abbas and the Palestinian leadership will try to present Al-Sheikh (if appointed to the new position) as a moderate, pragmatic [add in all similar superlatives as you see fit] new face of the PLO, the truth of the matter is that he is just another terrorist wearing a suit cut from the same cloth as his predecessors. He, similar to them, glorifies terrorists and is insistent on the rights of the terrorists to receive substantial cash payments as a reward for their participation in terror. He, similar to them, refers to Israel as the “enemy.” He, similar to them, has a record of participation in terror that allows him to refer to the genocidal terrorists from Hamas as “brothers.” He, like them, is quite content being wined and dined by the international community, in particular former members of the Biden administration, and being appointed to the highest Palestinian position, even if the Palestinians do not want him.

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