Intissar al-Wazir | |
Office: | Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council |
Term Start: | 1996 |
Term End: | Present |
Office2: | Minister of Social Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority |
Term Start2: | 1995 |
Term End2: | 2005 |
Birth Place: | Gaza City, Mandatory Palestine |
Party: | Fatah |
Education: | BA in History |
Other Name: | Umm Jihad |
Nationality: | Palestinian |
Alma Mater: | University of Damascus |
Occupation: | politician |
Spouse: | Khalil al-Wazir |
Intissar al-Wazir (Arabic: انتصار الوزير; born 1941) (also known as Umm Jihad أم جهاد) is a Palestinian politician and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a former PNA minister. Her husband was Khalil al-Wazir, a senior figure of the Palestine Liberation Organization who was assassinated by Israel in 1988. She joined the Fatah organization in 1959, becoming the party’s first female member. She has a bachelor's degree in history from Damascus University.
Al-Wazir was born in Gaza City. She helped found the General Union of Palestinian Women, an organization that focuses on the social, economic and legal status of Palestinian women.[1]
She has been a member of the Palestinian National Council since 1974 and a member of the Fatah-Central Committee since 1987. She was the Secretary-General of the General Union of Palestinian Women from 1980–85. In 1983, she served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Fatah-Revolutionary Council. During Khalil al-wazir (Abu Jihad's) exile, Intissar lived with him for 30 years although she was not under exile. She returned to the Gaza Strip in 1995 and was elected to the PLC in 1996. From 1995 to 2005 she was Social Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.[2]
In 2016, al-Wazir was head of the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund, the organization that provides stipends to the families of Palestinians killed or wounded during confrontations with Israeli authorities.[3]