Doctor Shawkat belief in Palestinian's need for education inspired him to co-found and later become president of An Najah University in his hometown of Nablus. Shawkat, after completing his degree in Europe, returned to northern Palestine in 1964 and joined UN relief and works agency (UNWRA) until 1989. He believed that Palestinians would one day achieve restitution of their human right and the expropriation and colonisation of his land, first in 1948 and then later is a temporary aberration. He served as a special advisor to Yasser Arafat following the Oslo peace accords of 1993. Shawkat al-Kelani was born into a leading Palestinian family. He fought bravely against cancer, and along with the tragedies of contemporary Palestinian life was forced to a family separation, and due to difficulty of receiving proper treatment had to spend more time in Jordan where he died. His last wish to be buried in Nablus could not be fulfilled because of the occupation of the land by the Israelis.