Bassam Shakaa

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Bassam Shakaa (1930- ) (Arabic: بسام شكاء‎) was elected mayor of Nablus in 1976. Former Nablus mayor Ghassan Shakaa is his first cousin.

Shakaa had been a PLO supporter and outspoken critic of the Camp David accords, and was subsequently accused of inciting terrorism by his public statements and was issued an expulsion order in 1979. Felicia Langer successfully defended him from the charges.

On July 2, 1980 he became the victim of a bomb placed in his car by followers of members of what later became known as Gush Emunim Underground. They also planted bombs in the cars of Ibrahim Tawil, the mayor of El-Bireh, and Karim Khalaf, the mayor of Ramallah. Khalaf lost one leg, while Shakaa had to have both legs amputated. Moshe Zer, one of the first Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank, was the person who led the Jewish underground "hit team" that tried to assassinate him. Zer was sentenced to three years in prison, but hardly served any time.

In 1982 Shakaa resigned as mayor of Nablus.