Arjan El Fassed is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, and former human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 activist and development aid

Development aid

Development aid or development cooperation is aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social and political development of developing countries.It is distinguished...

 worker. As a member of GreenLeft

GreenLeft

GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party...

 (GroenLinks) he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of development aid and foreign affairs

Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs is an American magazine and website on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published since 1922 by the Council on Foreign Relations six times annually...

.

Biography

El Fassed studied political science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at Leiden University

Leiden University

Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...

 and worked as a lobbyist

Lobbying

Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

 and advisor for several humanitarian

Humanitarianism

In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...

 organizations, among others the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights

Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights

The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment was "dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy." Also known as LAW , this legal society is an affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists , The World Organization Against Torture and the...

 (LAW), the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), Oxfam Novib

Oxfam Novib

Oxfam Novib is the Dutch affiliate of the international Oxfam organization. It is an association dedicated to establishing a fair world with no poverty in it. The organization is based in The Hague.Oxfam Novib was founded under the name Novib in 1956...

 as well as Oxfam International

He is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada (ei), a website dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...

 from a Palestinian point of view.

Since June 2010 he has been a member of the Dutch House of Representatives.

Personal life

Arjan El Fassed has a Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 father and a Dutch mother. In the second half of the 90's he lived for about three years in Nablus

Nablus

Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

 on the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

. Bassam Shakaa

Bassam Shakaa

Bassam Shakaa was elected mayor of Nablus in 1976.Bassam Shakaa is a member of one of the wealthiest and most distinguished families in Nablus. He joined Jordan's Ba'ath party in the early 1950s and as a consequence was wanted by Jordanian authorities, forcing him to flee to Syria...

, former mayor of this Palestinian city and victim of an Israeli bomb assault, is his uncle.

External links

House of Representatives biography