When McCormick junior Hisham Zaid was growing up in Cyprus, he always had to wake up earlier than his classmates to get a ride to school. After all, Hisham’s mother couldn’t drive him to school without checking for car bombs.

When your father works for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, even going to school can be dangerous. Hisham’s father, Hikmat, is a member of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s cabinet. The Zaids’ story shows a different side of the PLO.

When he says dropping his family name in Palestine means something, Hisham isn’t boasting. Hikmat Zaid currently serves as the agricultural minister for the Palestinian Legislative Council, a job he has held since Arafat appointed him in 1998. It’s an important job because 25 percent of Palestinians are farmers. On any given day he could be helping to set prices, negotiating export deals or working on community development.

Hikmat’s job hasn’t sheltered him from much of the recent violence; during the Israeli military occupation of Ramallah, the agricultural ministry was invaded.

The Zaids have also suffered losses with the deaths of two uncles in the late ’80s.

“There isn’t a family in Palestine that hasn’t had a tragedy,” said Hisham.

Hikmat, however, hasn’t become cynical about the peace process. His position allows him to see both sides work together in a mutually beneficial way. Israel is the only export market Palestinian farmers can use, and Hikmat spends much of his time keeping it open.

Hikmat’s political associations began during his college years in Alexandria, Egypt. As a bright, young student from Jenin, Hikmat was given the chance to study abroad for free by the Egyptian government in 1963. On campus, active PLO recruiters sought out students to become the next group of PLO leaders, known as the “Third Generation.”

Hikmat, an agricultural engineering major who served as student body president, fit the profile. He decided to return home after graduation to help liberate Palestine – until Israel gave him the choice of living abroad or facing arrest at home.

From the late ’60s until the early ’90s, he served as a diplomat and, along with his family, traveled around the Middle East and Europe, living with other PLO members.

This period became a trying time to be part of the PLO. The Abu Nidal Organization (ANO), a splinter group of the PLO founded in 1974, became frustrated with the increasingly moderate tone of Palestinian groups. In retaliation, the group organized bombings throughout Europe in the ’70s and ’80s and targeted moderate PLO members, like Hikmat, for assassination. They never followed through with their threat.

Through all of this turmoil, Hikmat managed to raise four children: a daughter, 30-year-old Hadil, and three sons, 26-year-old Zeid, Hisham, and 17-year-old Samer. Hisham remembers frequent moves during his youth with the PLO as the one constant.

Hisham grew up around high-ranking officials, mingling with family friends who happened to be leading famous liberation movements. “You need people you can be astonished by,” Hisham said. “Sometimes you live through legends.”

The biggest legend in Hisham’s mind is Hikmat. “I look up to my father a lot,” Hisham said, “and he is everything I want to be. I want to surpass his accomplishments.”

With the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in the early ’90s, Hikmat and his family were allowed to return to Palestine. Hikmat welcomed the chance and joined the government in the territories, hoping to pursue his goal of community development. He was elected to parliament, representing Jenin, for two terms before Arafat asked him to become the agricultural minister.

Hikmat’s rapid rise in political power belies his opposition to some of Arafat’s policies. “Dad believes that Arafat acts too late, that he only reacts under pressure,” Hisham said. The political dynamics of the Palestinians, according to Hisham, revolve around a collection of different groups with diverse agendas that can rarely form a unified front

“The Fatah and Hamas are not the angels of the Middle East,” Hisham said, referring to two Palestinian groups. “They play their own politics.”

According to the younger Zaid, Hikmat’s lifetime of experience makes him think twice about the wisdom of suicide bombings.

“He is at odds over the bombings,” said Hisham. “He has always been against the idea of Intifada (the uprising) as resistance for the PLO. He always thought the PLO must break ties with Israel to conduct a true armed resistance.” The current Intifada pits the youth against an Israeli army they can’t possibly defeat, while politicians don’t see the front lines.

Connected to the Palestinian struggle, Hisham feels a calling to represent his people.

“I feel a pressure to go into politics,” he said. “Not a bad kind of pressure, but it is there.” nyou