(1940-2001) A
Palestinian political figure, al-Husseini was active in
Fatah and the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as well as numerous other organizations, including the Arab Studies Society, the Higher Islamic Council, the Palestine Human Rights Information Center and the
Orient House. Al-Husseini was long engaged in resisting
Israeli occupation, which resulted in his receiving travel bans, house arrest, imprisonment and administrative detention by successive Israeli governments. He was willing to hold talks with Israelis when the official position of the PLO was still armed struggle, earning him praise from some quarters and criticism from others. Al-Husseini was the first prominent Palestinian to hold talks with a senior Israeli Likud party politician (Moshe Amirav) in September 1987, and was instrumental in launching the 1991
Madrid Conference. He served as the PLO representative to
Jerusalem/
Palestinian Authority Minister in charge of Jerusalem Affairs beginning in the mid-1990's until his death in 2001 from a heart attack. See "
Faisal Husseini Obituary," The Guardian, June 1, 2001.