A Short Profile

Hanna Mikhail guerre name (Abu Omar) is a Palestinian intellectual born in Ramallah- Palestine. He had his BS in Chemistry from Haverford College and his PH.D in Political Science from Harvard University. He taught at Princeton University and University of Washington Seattle - USA.

In 1969 Hanna left the world of academia to join the Palestinian Resistance Movement in Jordan, where he assisted in establishing the international relations and Information Departments.
In 1971 he moved to Beirut where he worked at the Palestinian Research Centre and the Planning Centre. He also occupied different positions in the PLO and Fateh Movement. The French writer Jean Genet mentions Abu Omar frequently in his book Un Captif Amoureux (Prisoner of love), as they became good friends during Genet’s stay with the resistance movement in Jordan and Genet’s frequent visits to Beirut.

In 1972 he married Jehan Helou who was also in the Palestinian Resistance Movement.
In 1973 Abu Omar became a Jury member of the Second Russell Tribunal on Latin America.
Hanna’s PhD thesis ‘Politics & Revelation: Mawardi & After’ was published in 1995 by Edinburgh University Press and was also published in Arabic. The book has a preface by Edward Said in memory of his friend Hanna and a foreword by Professor Biancamaria Scarcia Amarotti. Professor Albert Hourani described the book as the most interesting essay on Sunni political thought that I have ever read.

In 1973 Abu Omar became a Jury member of the Second Russell Tribunal on Latin America.
In July 1976 during the Lebanese civil war, Abu Omar and nine of his comrades and two sailors disappeared while on their way by sea to the besieged Palestinian camps in Northern Lebanon ...Despite an assiduous search that continued intermittently for years and which turned up some important information, the exact fate of Abu Omar and his comrades remains unknown to this day.
More is to be leant about Abu Omar’s life and values from this website.