Yahya Hammuda

Yahya Hammuda (, also transliterated Hamoudeh or Hammouda; 1908 – 16 June 2006) was the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee from 24 December 1967 to 2 February 1969, following the resignation of Ahmad Shukeiri. He was a veteran activist in Palestinian refugee affairs and a colorless left-leaning lawyer. His tenure as Chairman did not leave a mark on the organization.

Biography Hammuda was born in the village of Lifta in 1908.

General Refugee Congress

Following the Nakba, Hammuda took part in an attempt to secure a role for an independent Palestinian refugee delegation to the Rhodes armistice talks together with Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari and 'Aziz Shehadah. They persevered with an attempt at securing formal recognition for the body, but they were marginalized by Jordan, where the GRC was based. Ultimately the body was politically "ill-fated."

On January 21, 1968, Hammuda was received in Jordan by King Hussein and prime minister Bahjat al-Talhuni in a public welcome to reinvigorate the PLO within Jordan.

He was succeeded as chairman by Yasser Arafat.

Views In the aftermath of the 1967 war, while acting as PLO chairman, Hammuda publicly stated his belief that Jewish citizens of Israel could not be expelled to the countries from which they had emigrated. This "moderation" came under criticism from Palestinian factions who were troubled by Hammuda's apparent "willingness to come to terms with the existence of Israel." The statement was ultimately retracted.

Historian Yezid Sayigh suggests that Hammuda was a "sympathizer" to the leftist Palestinian faction called the Popular Organization for the Liberation of Palestine (POLP, est. 1964 by Samir al-Khatib and 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wajih). POLP had "a modest following" and "Maoist leanings" and sought "to bring all guerilla forces under PLA command within a single body."