Mohammed Abu Tair

Sheikh Mohammed Abu Tair, born in Umm Tuba in 1951, was a Hamas representative for East Jerusalem on the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) between 2006-2018. He is running in the May 2021 legislative elections on Hamas’ ‘Jerusalem is our Promise’ list. 

He originally joined the secular Fatah party in the 1970s, before leaving to join the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2005 he was recruited by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to lead its national list in the 2006 legislative elections. 

Abu Tair has spent more than 30 years in Israeli prisons for directing attacks against Israeli targets. He was one of 64 Hamas officials arrested by Israel following Hamas’ capturing of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006.

In 2011, Israel exiled Abu Tair from Jerusalem to the West Bank. He currently resides in Ramallah.