Samiha Khalil
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2020) |
Samiha al-Qubaj Salameh Khalil (Arabic: سميحة خليل) in Anabta, District of Tulkarm 1923 – February 26, 1999 in Ramallah), also known as Umm Khalil, was a Palestinian charity worker as well as a prominent figure in Palestinian politics.
Born in a village, she dropped out of highschool at the age of seventeen to marry Salameh Khalil. After the 1948 War, the couple fled to Gaza where they raised a family of five children, and in 1964 Samiha finally returned to school and graduated.
In 1965, Khalil came to the public eye when she founded the in her garage - it would grow to become the largest and most effective Palestinian welfare organization. In 1977 she became the first and only female member of the .
During the 1980s, Khalil was tied to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and detained six times by the IDF; she saw two of her children deported from Israel and the other three (who had been out of the country at the time) forbidden from re-entering. She was eventually placed under town-arrest in al-Bireh.
In 1996 she ran for president of the Palestinian Authority, losing to Yasser Arafat, while garnering 11.5% of the vote.
A grandmother of 13, Khalil remained an active member in the political scene, serving on the Palestinian National Council up until her death in 1999.
See also[]
External links[]
- Al Inaash al-Usra society
- Samiha Khalil biography, at PASSIA
 | This Palestinian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
- Palestinian people stubs
- 1923 births
- 1999 deaths
- People from Anabta
- Palestinian clothing
- Palestinian women in politics
- Palestine Liberation Organization members
- Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine politicians