Palestine Arab Congress
Between 1919 and 1928, the Palestinian Arab population in the British Mandate of Palestine held a series of congresses, organized by a nationwide network of local Muslim-Christian Associations. Seven congresses were held in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa and Nablus. Despite broad public support their executive committees were never officially recognised by the British, who claimed they were unrepresentative. After the British defeat of Ottoman forces in 1918, the British established military rule and civil administration of Palestine. The Palestine Arab Congress and its organizers in the Muslim-Christian Associations were formed when the country's Arab population began coordinated opposition to British policies.
First congress: Jerusalem, 1919
In response to Jewish immigrants settling before the war, the first Palestine Arab Congress met from 27 January to 10 February 1919, with 27 delegates from Muslim-Christian societies across Palestine. It was presided over by Aref al-Dajani, president of the Jerusalem Muslim-Christian Society. Also present were Izzat Darwaza and Yousef El-Issa, editor of Falastin. Most delegates were from the propertied class, and were evenly divided into pro-British and pan-Arab factions. A cable was sent to the Paris Peace Conference, demanding a renunciation of the Balfour Declaration and the inclusion of Palestine as "an integral part of...the independent Arab Government of Syria within an Arab Union, free of any foreign influence or protection".The Congress rejected political Zionism, agreeing to accept British assistance if it did not impinge on Arab sovereignty in the region. Palestine was envisaged as part of an independent Syrian state, governed by Faisal of the Hashemite family.
The resolutions of the Jerusalem Congress were as follows:
- "We consider Palestine nothing but part of Arab Syria and it has never been separated from it at any stage. We are tied to it by national, religious, linguistic, moral, economic, and geographic bounds."
- Rejection of French claims to the area
- "Our district Southern Syria or Palestine should be not separated from the Independent Arab Syrian Government and be free from all foreign influence and protection"
- All foreign treaties referring to the area are deemed void
- To maintain friendly relations with Britain and the Allied powers, accepting help if it did not affect the country's independence and Arab unity
Second congress: Damascus, 1920
The authorities had banned all Arab political gatherings and prevented the congress convening on 15 May 1920 after the San Remo conference. Some of the would-be delegates sent a letter to the Syrian National Congress, stating their position and asking that they form a Palestinian delegation from Palestinian representatives present in Damascus that would travel directly to Europe to defend the Palestinian case. Shemesh says that there are a number of versions as to its timing and actual occurrence but quotes the memoirs of Izzat Darwaza with a version similar to the preceding.According to the Survey of Palestine, the delegates met earlier in Damascus on 27 February 1920. Allawai, Faisal's biographer, confirms this date and that while the delegates were assembling in Damascus for the recalled Syrian National Congress, a large number of Palestinians had already gathered in Damascus and organised themselves into the ‘Palestinian Congress’. They posited an independent Palestine within a united Syrian state, denounced Zionism, and demanded an end to Jewish immigration.
On 31 May, Palestinian emigres met at the Arab Club in Damascus and resolved to form 'The Palestinian Arab Society'. The officers of the Society were Haj Amin al-Husseini, Izzat Darwaza and ‘Aref al-‘Aref. The Society protested against the San Remo Conference's decision to grant Britain a mandate over Palestine and against Samuel's appointment. It also appealed to the Muslims of India and to the Pope, drawing attention to the Jewish danger in Palestine. Ilan Pappé says that the second congress was held in secret in Palestine on 31 May 1920, because British military authorities had banned all Arab political gatherings and a statement was issued calling for the return of all political deportees, and to protest against the San Remo Conference decision to include the words of the Balfour Declaration in the text of the British mandate over Palestine. It is unclear if this is the same event, as names given by Pappé are given by other sources as being in Damascus, not Palestine.
Third congress: Haifa, 1920
The third congress opened on 4 December. It was attended by 36 delegates, including Pasha Aref Dajani the Mayor of Jerusalem 1918, Sheik Suleiman al-Taji Al-Faruqi and head of the Catholic community Bullus Shehadeh. The congress was opened by Haifa's mufti, Muhammad Murad. Recently deposed mayor of Jerusalem Musa al-Husayni was elected president and chairman of the nine-member executive committee, a post he held until his death in 1934. It resolved as follows:- Called for Palestine to be part of the independent Arab state promised in the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence. Calls for unity with Syria were dropped but unity between Palestine and Syria re-emerging at a later date was not ruled out.
- Condemned the notion of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.
- Called on the British to establish "a national government responsible to representative assembly, whose members would be chosen from the Arabic-speaking people who inhabited Palestine until the outbreak of the War". The model was based on the terms of the Mandate of Iraq, with a parliament elected by a one-citizen-one-vote system, which accepted overall British control.
- Objected to the recognition of the World Zionist Organization as an official body and the use of Hebrew as an official language.
- Opposed Jewish immigration.
- Declared the British administration illegal, since the League of Nations had not yet reached a decision about the status of the territory.
In March 1921 Musa Kazem led a delegation from the executive committee to meet the British Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill, who had called a conference in Cairo to decide British policy in the Middle East. Churchill agreed to meet the delegation, but refused to discuss any issues until after the conference. On his journey back to London he met with members of the executive committee in Jerusalem on 28 March 1921, telling them they had to accept the Balfour Declaration as an immutable part of British policy.
Fourth congress: Jerusalem, 1921
The fourth congress, on 25 June 1921, was attended by about 100 delegates who voted to send a six-man delegation to London. The delegates arrived in London in September and met with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Winston Churchill. On their way, they met Pope Benedict XV in Vatican City and attempted to meet with delegates to the League of Nations in Geneva. Responding to the congress, High Commissioner Herbert Samuel promised that the British would "never impose a policy contrary to their religions, their political and their economic interests".Fifth congress: Nablus, 1922
The fifth congress opened on 22 August 1922, after the return of the London delegation. Its leader, Musa Kazem, opposed anti-British agitation and discouraged the use of violence; he reported that possibilities still existed for progress through negotiations. The following resolutions were passed:- Rejecting the new constitution.
- Boycotting elections for the proposed Legislative Council.
- Establishing a London bureau.
- Boycotting Jewish goods, including Pinhas Rutenberg's planned electricity supply.
- Forbidding land sales to Jews.
- Forbidding Jewish immigration.
- Pledging to oppose the establishment of a Jewish national homeland.