Afif Safieh

Afif Safieh (; born 4 May 1950) is a Palestinian diplomat. He has served as a Palestinian delegate to the Netherlands (1987–1990), to the United Kingdom (1990–2005), the Holy See, Vatican (1995–2005), and in Washington, D.C. as the head of the PLO mission (2005–2008). He was most recently the Palestinian ambassador to the Russian Federation.

Safieh is an experienced diplomat, having served in the three most politically significant capitals: London, Washington, and Moscow. Before this, he was deputy director of the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Early life and education Safieh was born in Jerusalem in 1950 to a Palestinian Roman Catholic family. He studied at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, then in the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. During this time, he headed the Belgian branch of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) between 1969 and 1971; and the French branch of GUPS between 1974 and 1975.

In September 2014 he was awarded by the Bethlehem University the degree of Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa.

In the 6th Fateh Conference in 2009 and the 7th Fateh Conference in 2016, he was elected Member of the Revolutionary Council, which is the parliament of Fatah and since then has been Deputy Commissioner for International Relations.

In 2018, Safieh gave a speech to Sinn Féin in Ireland at the Ardfheis.

Personal life Safieh is married and has two daughters.