Zuhdi Labib Terzi Explained

Zuhdi Labib Tarazi
Office:1st Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations
Predecessor:Position established
President:Yasser Arafat
Successor:Nasser al-Qudwa
Birth Date:20 February 1924
Birth Place:Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
Death Place:Amman, Jordan
Spouse:Widad Awad
Children:Karimah Zuhdi Tarazi, Kamel Zuhdi Tarazi
Alma Mater:Terra Santa College
Term Start:1974
Term End:1991

Zuhdi Labib Terzi (née Zuhdi Labib Suleiman Tarazi 20 February 1924 – 1 March 2006) served as the first Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations from 1974 to 1991.

Ambassador to the UN

Terzi was the first Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations and served from 1974 to 1991.[1] Terzi successfully fought attempts by the United States to close down the Mission, and following the 1988 Declaration of the Independence of the State of Palestine, Terzi changed the role of the Ambassador from representing the Palestinian Liberation Organization to representing the State of Palestine.[1]

In 1985, the United States Department of State refused Terzi the right to enter the United States for a debate with Harvard professor, Alan Dershowitz.[2] Consequentially, Harvard Law School brought suit against the Secretary of State George P. Shultz to permit Terzi to enter the United States.[2] Judge Skinner, of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, reversed the decision of the Secretary and permitted Terzi to enter the United States because denying Terzi entry into the United States suppressed political speech that is protected under the First Amendment.[2]

Personal life and education

Tarazi, dubbed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, was born to Greek Orthodox parents in Jerusalem during the British Mandate. He attended Terra Santa College, and graduated with a law degree in 1948.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Former Ambassadors . . Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations . March 2, 2015.
  2. Web site: Leagle . Harvard Law School Forum v. Shultz 633 F.Supp. 525 (1986) . June 29, 2015 . The Secretary's proffered reason for denying Terzi's travel request is not facially legitimate because it is related to the suppression of protected political discussion. Accordingly, even under the limited review contemplated by Mandel, I conclude that it is likely that the Secretary's actions will be adjudged unconstitutional. Finally, I must consider the balancing of the public interest. It may well be that the public interest will, in some respect, be adversely affected by affording a forum to a PLO representative whose policies are in conflict with those of the United States and indeed are anathema to many citizens. The public interest in preserving free and open debate on precisely such subjects, however, must be regarded as of overwhelming priority, as mandated by the First Amendment, and as being at the heart of our survival as a free people .
  3. Web site: Zehdi Terzi (1924-2006) . Williams . Ian . September 3, 2009 . Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Indeed, it would be difficult to demonize as a fundamentalist terrorist someone whom the Patriarch of Jerusalem had dubbed a Knight of the Holy Sepulcher, or whom his daughter Karimah remembers as a feminist who admonished her, “BSc, MSc, PhD—and only then Mrs.” Nonetheless, for 16 straight years, if you judged him by the New York tabloids and the Congressional Register, Ambassador Terzi was America’s most unwanted..

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