Born in Beirut, Leila SHAHID studied anthropology and sociology at the American University of Beirut, one of the historical centres of the Palestinian political contestation. Leila Shahid is a member of the Fatah, the main movement of Palestinian Liberation Organization, and she entered politics in 1969 after the rebellion in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. In 1989, Yasser Arafat gave her a diplomatic role: she became the Palestinian representative in Ireland, then in 1990 in the Netherlands. In 1994, she was nominated General Delegate of Palestine in France, until 2005 when she moved to Brussels to become the General Delegate of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.