Ghassan Khatib (1954- ) is a Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 politician. He was born in Nablus

Nablus

Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

, in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

, and is a member of the Palestinian People's Party

Palestinian People's Party

The Palestinian People's Party , founded in 1982 as the Palestinian Communist Party, is a socialist political party in the Palestinian territories and among the Palestinian diaspora....

. Khatib is married with three children. He was also a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation in 1991 and was involved in the Washington negotiations from 1991 to 1993. He was appointed the Palestinian National Authority

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

 Minister of Labor in 2002, then the Planning Minister

Planning Minister of the Palestinian National Authority

The Planning Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority is the branch of the Palestinian government, that is responsible for cross-sector planning, developing comprehensive development policies with the participation of all relevant Palestinian institutions and to coordinate sector planning in...

 in 2005-06. He is currently Director of the Government Media Centre.

Biography

Khatib was formerly the Director of the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC), a non-governmental organization that conducts public opinion polls and provides media support to journalists in the Palestinian territories

Palestinian territories

The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

. A long-time advocate of Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, Khatib co-founded and was director of bitterlemons.org, a Palestinian-Israeli internet-based political magazine. Khatib was also the President of the Board of Directors of the Arab Development Center, an agricultural development organization and a member of the Advisory Board of Palestinian Politics. He also served as co-founder of the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center

Democracy and Workers' Rights Center

The Democracy and Workers' Rights Center is a Palestinian non-governmental, non-profit organization, not affiliated with any political party. DWRC was established in 1993 by a group of trade unionists, lawyers, academics and political figures in Palestinian society to defend workers’ rights and...

 and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends Schools in Palestine. Khatib regularly lectures at the Cultural Studies Program of Bir Zeit University.