Ghassan Khatib

Ghassan Khatib (Arabic: غسان الخطيب‎) (1954- ) is a Palestinian politician. He was born in Nablus, in the West Bank, and is a member of the Palestinian People's Party. Khatib is married with three children. He was also a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation in 1991 and was involved in the Washington negotiations from 1991 to 1993. He was appointed the Palestinian National Authority Minister of Labor in 2002, then the Planning Minister in 2005-06. He is currently Director of the Government Media Centre.

Biography

Khatib was formerly the Director of the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC), a non-governmental organization that conducts public opinion polls and provides media support to journalists in the Palestinian territories. A long-time advocate of Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, he appeared in a peace making mission in the 2009 film 'Bruno'. Khatib co-founded and was director of bitterlemons.org, a Palestinian-Israeli internet-based political magazine. Khatib was also the President of the Board of Directors of the Arab Development Center, an agricultural development organization and a member of the Advisory Board of Palestinian Politics. He also served as co-founder of the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends Schools in Palestine. Khatib regularly lectures at the Cultural Studies Program of Bir Zeit University and holds a PhD in Middle East politics from Durham University.