Yahya Hammuda

Yahya Hammuda (يحيى حمودة, 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. He stated that Jewish citizens of Israel could not be expelled to the countries from which they had emigrated, a moderation of the general sentiment that still rejected the State of Israel. On January 21, 1968, Hammuda was received in Jordan by king Husayn and prime minister Bahjat al-Talhuni in a public welcome to reinvigorate the PLO within Jordan. He was succeeded by Yasser Arafat.

Hammuda was born in the village of Lifta in 1908. He took part of an attempt to secure a role for an independent Palestinan refugee delegation to the Rhodes armistice talks, together with Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari and 'Aziz Shihada. He was a founding member of the General Refugee Congress (GRC). The first congress of the GRC occurred on 17 March 1949 in Ramallah where Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari was elected as President with Hammuda as deputy. They persevered with an attempt at formal recognition for the General Refugee Congress, but they were marginalized by Jordan, where it was based. The Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) hoping to gain a degree of independent Palestinian representation, invited GRC delegates to come and appear before the PCC.