Manuel Hassassian

{{short description|Palestinian-Armenian academic and diplomat}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{Notability|Bio|date=March 2013}}

{{BLP sources|date=April 2020}}

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{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Manuel Hassassian

| image =

| office = Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom

| president = Mahmoud Abbas

| term_start = 2005

| term_end = October 2018

| birth_name = Manuel Sarkis Hassassian

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1953|12|28}}

| birth_place = East Jerusalem, Jordan

| death_date =

| death_place =

| residence =

| party =

| education = American University of Beirut
Toledo University
University of Cincinnati

| predecessor = Afif Safieh

| successor = Husam Zomlot

}}

Manuel Sarkis Hassassian (born 28 December 1953, Jerusalem) is a Palestinian- Armenian professor, who from late 2005 to October 2018 was the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic representative to the United Kingdom, after being appointed to the position by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hassassian worked at Bethlehem University for twenty five years as a professor of political science and in administrative roles at the University: Dean of Students, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Chair of the Humanities Department and as the Executive Vice President, during which time he also served as the President of the Rectors' Conference of the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and President of the Palestinian-European-American Cooperation in Education (PEACE) program.{{fact|date=November 2023}} During his tenure at Bethlehem University, Hassassian made scholarly contributions including Palestinian Political Culture, Civic Society and the Concept of Citizenship, The Transformation of Palestinian Civil Society and its Role in Developing Democratic Trends in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Historical Justice and Compensation for Palestinian Refugees. Hassassian also served as a consultant to the Higher Ministerial Committee for Church Affairs, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, UNESCO, the Palestinian Negotiating Team on Refugee Final Settlement, the Orient House P.L.O. Office in Jerusalem as Chief Political Advisor to the late Faysal Husseini, Minister of State Affairs – Head of the Jerusalem File, and the Ministerial Commission on Refugees.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

Hassassian was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Reims, France, and nominated by the Center of International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland, for the Gleitzman Middle East Award.{{Cite web|url=http://www.passia.org/personalities/351|title=HASSASSIAN, MANUEL (1953-)|date=n.d.|website=Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs|access-date=13 January 2009}} In March 2015, he was awarded the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award under the social driver category for his extensive work on promoting the rights of the Palestinian people as the country's representative in the UK.{{cite news|title=Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who |url=http://www.grassrootdiplomat.org/whoswho/ |accessdate=27 April 2015 |work=Grassroot Diplomat |date=15 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520125406/http://www.grassrootdiplomat.org/whoswho/ |archivedate=20 May 2015 }}[http://db.cbconf.org/cbc.nsf/pages/0AC77AC93EE30572862570A00062E550 Professor Manuel Hassassian of Bethlehem University Appointed Ambassador] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220103357/http://db.cbconf.org/cbc.nsf/pages/0AC77AC93EE30572862570A00062E550 |date=20 February 2006 }}. [http://db.cbconf.org/cbc/index.html Christian Brothers Conference] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050323031655/http://db.cbconf.org/cbc/index.html |date=23 March 2005 }} Press Release. Retrieved 13 January 2009.

In a speech in the UK Parliament in 2013, Hassassian said: “I’m reaching the conclusion that the Jews are the children of God, the only children of God and the Promised Land is being paid by God! I have started to believe this because nobody is stopping Israel building its messianic dream of Eretz Israel to the point I believe that maybe God is on their side.” A pro-Israel activist then challenged Hassassian over what he had said. Jonny Paul, “Palestinian envoy to Britain dismisses two-state solution”, Jerusalem Post, January 20, 2013. (See also: Richard Millett, [https://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/palestinian-ambassador-to-the-uk-ive-started-to-believe-that-the-jews-are-the-only-children-of-god/ “Palestinian Ambassador to the UK: ‘I’ve started to believe that the Jews are the only children of God’], 16 January, 2013). The Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, in a subsequent speech, defended Hassassian in the face of what Corbyn called “deliberate misrepresentations by people for whom English was a first language, when it isn’t for the ambassador.”Heather Stewart and Andrew Sparrow, [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/24/corbyn-english-irony-video-reignites-antisemitism-row-labour “Jeremy Corbyn: I used the term 'Zionist' in accurate political sense”], The Guardian'', 24 August, 2018. Corbyn said:

“We had a meeting in Parliament in which Manuel [Hassassian] made an incredibly powerful and passionate and effective speech about the history of Palestine ... This was dutifully recorded by the thankfully silent Zionists who were in the audience on that occasion; and then came up and berated him afterwards for what he had said. They clearly had two problems. One is they don't want to study history and, secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either. Manuel does understand English irony and uses it very very effectively.”Jeremy Corbyn [http://labourbriefing.squarespace.com/home/2018/8/29/full-texxt-of-that-speech-by-jeremy-on-zionists-and-a-sense-of-irony ‘Full text of that speech by Jeremy on the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, English irony and certain Zionist critics’] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911225611/http://labourbriefing.squarespace.com/home/2018/8/29/full-texxt-of-that-speech-by-jeremy-on-zionists-and-a-sense-of-irony |date=11 September 2018 }}, [‘Britain’s Legacy in Palestine’ conference, 19 January 2013, Friends Meeting House, Palestinian Return Centre], Labour Briefing website, 29 August, 2018.

Some commentators claimed that this statement was anti-Semitic.Heather Stewart and Andrew Sparrow, [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/24/corbyn-english-irony-video-reignites-antisemitism-row-labour “Jeremy Corbyn: I used the term 'Zionist' in accurate political sense”], The Guardian, 24 August, 2018.