Arab Higher Committee

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The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Palestine, established in 1936. It was formed by Amin al-Husayni (who was appointed its president) and Raghib al-Nashashibi, National Defence Party (NDP), along with Jamal al-Husayni, Palestine Arab Party (PAP), Yaqub al-Ghusayn, Youth Congress Party (YCP), Abd al-Latif Salah, National Bloc (NB), Husayin al-Khalidi, Reform Party (RP) and Awni Abd al-Hadi, the leader if the Istiqlal (Independence) Party, who was appointed General Secretary (Levenberg, 1993, p. 7). It was outlawed by the British in 1937 (Sayigh, 2000, p. 8).

As of April 1946 the members were: Jamal al-Husayni, Tewfiq al-Husayni, Yusif Sahyun, Kamil al-Dajani, Emile al-Ghury, Rafiq al-Tamimi and Anwar al-Khatib (all members of or affiliated with the Palestine Arab Party); Dr Izzat Tannus (an independent Christian medical doctor); Antone Attallah (a member of the Greek Orthodox community); Ahmad al-Shukayri (a lawyer from Acre and an Arab nationalist); Sami Taha (head of PAWS) and Dr Yusif Haykal (the mayor of Jaffa, who was politically independent) (Khalaf, 1991, pp. 121-122). By mid-1946 membership had dwindled to just al-Husayni, al-Khalidi, Hilmi Pasha and al-Ghury, but at the beginning of 1947 the AHC was expanded to include the four remaining core members plus Hasan Abu Sa'ud, Izhak Darwish al-Husayni, Izzat Darwaza, Rafiq al-Tamimi and Mu'in al-Madi. This restructuring of the AHC to include additional supporters of Amin al-Husayni was seen as a bid to increase his political power (Khalaf, 1991, p. 129-130).

References

Khalaf, Issa (1991). Politics in Palestine: Arab Factionalism and Social Disintegration, 1939-1948. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791407071
Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945-1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0714634395
Sayigh, Yezid (2000). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198296436

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