Leila Shahid

{{Short description|Palestinian diplomat (born 1949)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Leila Shahid

| image = Leila Shahid (2015).jpg

| caption = Leila Shahid (2015)

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Beirut, Lebanon

| nationality = Palestinian

| office = General Delegate of Palestine to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg

| term_start = 2006

| term_end = 2014

| predecessor =

| successor =

| office2 = Ambassador of Palestine to France

| term_start2 = 1993

| term_end2 = 2006

| predecessor2 =

| successor2 =

| office3 = Ambassador of Palestine to The Netherlands

| term_start3 = 1990

| term_end3 = 1993

| predecessor3 =

| successor3 =

| office4 = Ambassador of Palestine to Ireland

| term_start4 = 1989

| term_end4 = 1990

| predecessor4 =

| successor4 =

| education = PhD in Anthropology

| alma_mater = American University of Beirut

| occupation = Diplomat, Anthropologist

| parents = Munib Shahid (father), Serene Husseini Shahid (mother)

| relatives = Al-Husayni clan, great-great granddaughter of Baha'u'llah (paternal lineage)

| website =

| native_name = ليلى شهيد

| native_name_lang = ar

}}

Leila Shahid ({{Langx|ar|ليلى شهيد}}; born in Beirut in 1949) is a Palestinian diplomat.{{Cite web |last=Giblin |first=Blanc |date=2016 |title=Palestine, Arabs and the Arab world. An Interview with Leïla Shahid |url=https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_HER_160_0273--palestine-arabs-and-the-arab-world-an.htm }} She was the first woman ambassador of Palestine, serving the PLO in Ireland in 1989, in The Netherlands in 1990, then serving the PA in France where she had taken office in Paris in 1993.{{Cite web |title=Questions swirl around Arafat's health - Oct 30, 2004|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/30/arafat.health/index.html|access-date=2021-05-02|website=CNN}} From 2006 to 2014, she was the General Delegate of Palestine to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg.{{Cite web|date=2014-12-14|title=Leila Shahid leaves her function of Palestinian delegate to Belgium and the EU|url=https://brusselsdiplomatic.com/2014/12/14/leila-shahid-leaves-her-function-of-palestinian-delegate-to-belgium-and-the-eu/|access-date=2021-05-02|website=Brussels Diplomatic|language=en}}

She is the daughter of Munib Shahid and Serene Husseini Shahid and thus related to the Al-Husayni clan.[http://www.unesco.org/courier/1999_04/uk/dires/txt1.htm Leila Shahid The resolve of a Palestinian envoy], Interview by Sophie Boukhari and Amy Otchet, Unesco{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091001171121/http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.net/pages/Leila_Shahid-1181270.html Leila Shahid]}}, at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine[http://www.eurojar.org/en/answers-mrs-leila-shahid Mrs. Leila Shahid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513220637/http://www.eurojar.org/en/answers-mrs-leila-shahid |date=2010-05-13 }}, Eurojar Shahid's parents were from Acre and Jerusalem, but she grew up with her two sisters in exile in Lebanon. After studying anthropology and psychology at the American University of Beirut, Leila worked in the Palestinian refugee camps until 1974 when she began her doctorate in anthropology in Paris, where she met Jean Genet. In 1976 she was elected president of the Union of Palestinian students in France.{{Cite journal|last=Running-Johnson|first=Cynthia|date=2001|title="La Vision Invisible": Feminine Bodies in Jean Genet's "Quatre Heures À Chatila"|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43802796|journal=Romance Notes|volume=41|issue=3|pages=333–345|jstor=43802796|issn=0035-7995}}BBC World Service (2012). Leila Shahid – Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the EU (Audio).

In September 1982, Shahid and Jean Genet went to Beirut. They arrived during the Sabra and Shatila massacres. Genet's account was published in "La revue d'études palestiniennes", in an article entitled Quatre heures à Chatila (Four Hours at Chatila) -- Catherine Biscovitch's film "Dancing Among the Dead" was based on this article by Genet.{{Cite web|title=Leila Shahid, Jean Genet and the Position of Sudden Departure|url=http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/92C41.htm|access-date=2021-05-02|website=www.mafhoum.com}} While working as the Ambassador of Palestine to France, Shahid arranged for the safe storage of artefacts in that had been discovered during archaeological investigations in Gaza at sites such as Tell es-Sakan; they had been on display at the Institut du Monde Arabe for an exhibition on Gaza's history but could not be returned after the end of the exhibition due to the start of the Second Intifada.{{Cite journal |last=Armaly |first=Fareed |date=2008 |title=Crossroads and Contexts: Interviews on Archaeology in Gaza |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1525/jps.2008.37.2.43 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |language=en |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=53–54 |doi=10.1525/jps.2008.37.2.43 |issn=0377-919X|url-access=subscription }}

In 2004, she was with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his final days.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswslw|title=Witness, The Last Days of Yasser Arafat|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-12-04}}

She was a longtime director of "La revue d'études palestiniennes" (The Review of Palestinian Studies), while serving as a board member right now.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-27|title=14th edition – 2019|url=https://www.pcmmo.org/14th-edition-2019/|access-date=2021-05-02|website=PCMMO - Panorama des Cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen-Orient|language=fr-FR|archive-date=2021-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502113800/https://www.pcmmo.org/14th-edition-2019/|url-status=dead}}

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine was established in response to a call by Leila Shahid and Ken Coates (Chairperson of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation), Nurit Peled (Israeli, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Speech 2001).{{Cite web|date=November 15, 2011|title=The Russell Tribunal on Palestine|url=https://www.cjpme.org/fs_142|access-date=2021-05-02|website=CJPME - English|language=en}}

Though not a follower of the Baháʼí Faith, she is the great-great granddaughter of the Baháʼí prophet Baha'u'llah through her father, who was a grandson of Abdu'l-Baha.Aghdasi, Farzin. "The Vision of Shoghi Effendi: A Study" Session 5: Covenant Breakers: in the East, the West, and at the World Center. http://www.bci.org/bahaistudies/courses/shoghi.htm Archive : https://web.archive.org/web/20140221112645/http://www.bci.org/bahaistudies/courses/shoghi.htm Her father was excommunicated from the Baháʼí Faith for opposition to Shoghi Effendi.Momen, Moojan. "Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit." p. 290. http://irfancolloquia.org/pdf/lights10_momen.pdf