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Issa Jamil Kassissieh | |
|---|---|
| Palestinian Ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta | |
| Assumed office January 2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 East Jerusalem |
Issa Jamil Kassissieh (born 1964) is a Palestinian scholar and diplomat, who since January 2017 serves as Palestinian ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. [1]
Kassissieh was born in East Jerusalem into a Greek-Orthodox family. He studied English literature at Bethlehem University, international relations at Birzeit University, public administration at the Kennedy School of Government and diplomacy at the University of Birmingham.[ citation needed ]
Kassissieh served in various positions involving negotiations on behalf of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. He served as director of International Relations department at the Orient House, Jerusalem. Later, he joined the staff of Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestinian Authority, and was mostly involved in negotiations with churches and on issues relating to the problem of Jerusalem. He was appointed Palestinian ambassador to the Holy See in January 2017.[ citation needed ]
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital city. Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim is widely recognized internationally.
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