Lana Nusseibeh, an Emirati diplomat with deep Palestinian roots, has emerged as a late frontrunner in the race to become the next United Nations secretary general, after her official nomination on Wednesday, according to Dawn.
The 48-year-old former UAE state minister, who stepped down from her posts at the foreign ministry and as envoy to the UN and EU to campaign, has already won the backing of Gulf states. Yet her candidacy carries heavy baggage for the Muslim world: her spirited defense of the Abraham Accords, under which Abu Dhabi recognized the Zionist entity in 2020, and mounting accusations over the UAE's role in Sudan's devastating war.
Who Is Lana Nusseibeh?
Nusseibeh comes from one of Jerusalem's most storied Palestinian families, uprooted by the creation of Israel in 1948. Her family traditionally held the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the walled Old City of Jerusalem, a custodianship that stretches back centuries and speaks to a lineage of service and honor.
Her grandfather served as defence minister in Jordan in the 1950s and was among the first Palestinians to establish contact with the Israelis. Her father, Zaki Nusseibeh, was adviser and interpreter to the UAE's founding president Sheikh Zayed and now serves as cultural adviser to the UAE president.
She was the UAE's permanent representative to the UN from 2013 to 2024, the first woman to hold that post, and holds two master's degrees, including one in Israeli and Jewish diaspora studies from the University of London. A mother of two sons, she projects the polished image of a modern Arab woman that Abu Dhabi has long sought to present to the West.
What Does Her Candidacy Mean for Palestine and Kashmir?
For believers in justice, from the martyred streets of Gaza to the occupied valleys of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the question is not whether a woman or an Arab leads the UN. The question is whether she will serve the oppressed or the powerful.
In her campaign video, Nusseibeh vows to