Zahira Kamal has been at the vanguard of the women's movement and national liberation movement in Palestine since the 1970s. She was instrumental as a strategist and organizer during the First Intifada and was one of three women in the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid peace talks. She later became the first Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Palestinian National Authority. Today, she serves as the General Secretary of the Palestinian Democratic Union Party – FIDA, the only woman to head up a major political party in Palestine.