"The Supreme Arab Committee"

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THE ARAB SUPREME COMMITTEE (ARAB: اللجنة العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية العربية) WAS THE SUPREME POLITICAL BODY THAT LED THE ARAB COMMUNITY IN THE LAND OF MANDATORY ISRAEL FROM 1936 TO THE WAR (INCLUDING DURING THE WAR).

BACKGROUND
IN 1935, THE EMIGRATION OF JEWS TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND THEIR LAND PURCHASES REACHED A PEAK. THE ARABS OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL FEARED THAT THIS PROCESS COULD MAKE THEM A MINORITY IN ISRAEL. IN MID-OCTOBER, THE SMUGGLING OF JEWISH WEAPONS WAS DISCOVERED IN CEMENT BARRELS IN JAFFA. THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES FAILED TO DISCOVER THE IDENTITY OF THE SMUGGLERS AND THE PALESTINIAN ARABS BELIEVED THAT THE WEAPONS WERE INTENDED FOR JEWISH MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. IN HEAVY PUBLIC PRESSURE, THE ARAB PARTIES BEGAN TO PROTEST THE GOVERNMENT. THE YOUTH CONFERENCE CALLED FOR COOPERATION, AND REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL PARTIES, EXCEPT THE AL-ESCAL PARTY, DECLARED A GENERAL STRIKE ON 26 OCTOBER 1935. IN A STATEMENT SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNMENT, THE PARTIES EMPHASIZED THAT THE JEWS ACCUMULATE WEAPONS AND TRAIN THEM AND PREPARE FOR WAR. THEY DEMANDED THAT THE GOVERNMENT SEEK ILLEGAL WEAPONS IN THE JEWS AND COLLECT BACK THE WEAPONS THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES. THE SUCCESS OF THE STRIKE BY A JOINT ACTION BY THE PARTIES WAS THE BASIS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ARAB SUPREME COMMITTEE. THE PARTY REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE CONTINUED TO PLAN FURTHER OPERATIONS, BUT IN NOVEMBER, AZIZ AL-QASSAM AND THREE OF HIS FRIENDS WERE KILLED BY BRITISH SECURITY FORCES. THIS EVENT CAPTURES THE COALITION, AND FOLLOWING THE PRAISE FOR THE QASSAM IN THE PRESS AS A NATIONAL HERO, THE ARAB PUBLIC WAS SUBJECTED TO TENSION. ON 25 NOVEMBER 1935, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FIVE PARTIES SUBMITTED A JOINT MEMO TO THE SUPREME COMMISSIONER, IN WHICH THEY DEMANDED THE IMMEDIATE CESSATION OF THE JEWISH IMMIGRATION, A BAN ON THE TRANSFER OF ARAB LAND TO JEWS, AND A “DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT” IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ALLIANCE OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, WHILE ISSUING THE CLAUSE IN THE MANDATE ARTICLE REQUIRING THE GOVERNMENT TO DEVELOP SELF-GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS. HOWEVER, IT WAS EMPHASIZED IN THE STATEMENT THAT THE ARABS DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE MANDATE ITSELF.

COMMITTEE ON THE GREAT ARAB UPRISING 1936-1939

FIRST OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEES
IN THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT ARAB REBELLION, THE TOWNS OF THE SETTLEMENTS AND NATIONAL COMMITTEES WERE ESTABLISHED, WHOSE ROLE WAS TO OVERSEE THE STRIKE AND GUIDE THE PUBLIC DURING IT. THE FIRST INITIATIVE FOR THE STRIKE WAS ON 20 APRIL 1936 IN JAFFA, WHERE THE FIRST STRIKE COMMITTEE WAS ORGANIZED. HOWEVER, THAT DAY, A “NATIONAL COMMITTEE” WAS ESTABLISHED, AND IT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FIRST PUBLIC CALL FOR A GENERAL STRIKE. HER FRIENDS TURNED TO THE LEADER OF THE AL-ESTAL PARTY IN HAIFA AND THE NEXT DAY THERE WAS A "NATIONAL COMMITTEE". ON 23 APRIL, THE MAJORITY OF THE ARAB TOWNS WERE “NATIONAL COMMITTEES” THAT HAD ACHIEVED THE STRIKE. THE RAPID EXPANSION OF THE STRIKE ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND THE SPEED OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEES INDICATES THAT THE ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE WAS LAID BEFORE. OF THE SIX PALESTINIAN ARAB PARTIES, THE FIRST TO CALL ON THE PUBLIC TO JOIN THE STRIKE MOVEMENT WERE MEMBERS OF ISTAGEL. THE PALESTINIAN ARAB PARTY ALSO JOINED THE CALL. THE SETTLERS INITIALLY OBJECTED TO THE STRIKE, BUT TWO DAYS LATER SUCCUMBED TO PUBLIC PRESSURE AND AGREED TO ITS EXISTENCE, WHICH OPENED THE WAY TO THE EXISTENCE OF A UNITED FRONT OF THE PARTIES TO WAGE THE NATIONAL STRUGGLE.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SUPREME ARAB COMMITTEE
THE SUPREME ARAB COMMITTEE WAS ESTABLISHED ON 25 APRIL 1936, FOLLOWING POPULAR PRESSURE EXERTED ON THE TRADITIONAL ARAB LEADERSHIP.
ON THAT DAY, DELEGATIONS FROM DIFFERENT PLACES IN THE COUNTRY ARRIVED TO DISCUSS THE NEXT STEPS IN THE STRUGGLE. THE JAPANESE DELEGATION, WHOSE MEMBERS WERE MEMBERS OF ESCALAL, OFFERED TO CONVENE THE NATIONAL COMMITTEES FOR THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE, IN WHICH THE SUPREME NATIONAL COMMITTEE WILL BE ELECTED. BUT OTHER PARTY LEADERS REJECTED THE IDEA AND DECIDED TO ESTABLISH A TOP COMMITTEE WITHOUT ELECTIONS.
THIS COMMITTEE APPOINTED THE LEADERS OF THE SIX PARTIES: JAMAL AL-HUSSEINI (PALESTINIAN ARAB PARTY), A LAWYER WHO WORKED FOR AL-HADI