Hajj Amin al-Husayni and the Haram al-Sharif: A Pan-Islamic or Palestinian Nationalist Cause?

Abstract

The World Islamic Conference, held in Jerusalem in 1931 under the auspices of Hajj Amin al-Husayni and the Supreme Muslim Council, marked a turning point in the Palestinian nationalist struggle as well as in the struggle between the two main factions—the more extremist one led by Hajj Amin and the more moderate Opposition—for control of the Palestinian leadership. The Conference, though co-sponsored by Shawkat ‘Ali and the Muslim Indian Congress, and ostensibly representative of the worldwide community of Muslims, was effectively dominated by Hajj Amin and his Palestinian supporters. Through his control of its proceedings, Hajj Amin was able to redefine the Palestinian nationalist cause as essentially a pan-Islamic one, in connection with the perceived need to defend the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem against Zionist encroachment. Contrasted here with the World Islamic Conference (and held concurrently with it) is the Second Arab Orthodox Congress. Whereas the World Islamic Conference sought to redefine an issue arguably specific to Palestine as pan-Islamic, the local Christian Orthodox community, in keeping with its desire to Arabise Palestine's Greek Orthodox Church (hence their self-designation as the Arab Orthodox Church in Palestine), sought to redefine what was essentially a religious matter—concerning the succession of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem—in nationalist terms. It was not simply a matter of differing ideological perspectives; defining the cause of the Haram al-Sharif as a pan-Islamic one also served a political objective, namely the enhancement of Hajj Amin's position vis-à-vis his political rivals. Nonetheless, whatever the motivations involved, this development was a factor in the marginalisation of the Christian Arab component of the Palestinian nationalist movement. Whereas at the start of the British Mandate they had played a role disproportionately large relative to their actual numbers, by its end, their role in the nationalist movement had diminished almost to the point of near inconsequence, as evidenced, for instance, by their marginal involvement in the Arab Revolt (1936–1939).

Notes

¹ Uri M. Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931 in Jerusalem’, Asian and African Studies, 12 (1978), pp. 123–125.

² See, for instance, Hasan Kayali, Arabs and Young Turks: Ottomanism, Arabism, and Islamism in the Ottoman Empire, 1908–1918 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997), pp. 36, 48; also Sylvia Haim, introduction to Arab Nationalism: An Anthology (Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1962), p. 22.

³ Rashid Khalidi, ‘Society and Ideology in Late Ottoman Syria: Class, Education, Profession and Confession’, in John Spangnolo (ed.), Problems of the Modern Middle East in Historical Perspective: Essays in Honour of Hourani (Reading: Ithaca Press, 1996), pp. 119–131.

⁴ See, for instance, Sir Steven Runciman, The Historic Role of the Christian Arabs in Palestine, the second Carreras Arab Lecture of the University of Essex, 26 November 1968 (London: Longman for the University of Essex, 1970), p. 1.

⁵ Derek Hopwood, The Russian Presence in Syria and Palestine, 1843–1914: Church and Politics in the Near East (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), pp. 175–176; also C. Earnest Dawn, From Ottomanism to Arabism: Essays on the Origins of Arab Nationalism (Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1973), pp. 387–388.

⁶ See, for instance, Yaacov Ro'i, ‘The Zionist Attitude to the Arabs’, Middle Eastern Studies, 4(3) (1968), pp. 198, 206, 212–213; also Anthony O'Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians: Religion, Politics and Society, c. 1800–1948’, in Anthony O'Mahony (ed.), Palestinian Christians: Religion, Politics and Society in the Holy Land (London: Melisende, 1999), pp. 28–29, 45–46.

⁷ Based on the figures given in the 1922 Census—see Table I, p. 5, in Palestine, Reports and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922, Taken on the 23 ^rd of October, 1922, compiled by J.B. Barron, Superintendent of the Census (London, 1922); also Janet Abu-Lughod, ‘The Demographic Transformation of Palestine’, in Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (ed.), The Transformation of Palestine: Essays on the Origin and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1971), p. 142.

⁸ See, for instance, Muhammad Y. Muslih, The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism, The Institute for Palestine Studies Series (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), p. 158; Millicent Fawcett, Easter in Palestine, 1921–1922 (London: T. Fisher Unwin Limited, 1926), p. 59; and Sir Steven Runciman, The Historic Role of the Christian Arabs in Palestine, the Second Carreras Arab Lecture of the University of Essex, 26 November 1968 (London: Longman for the University of Essex, 1970), p. 16.

⁹ Muslih, The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism, p. 158.

¹⁰ O'Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 36; Daphne Tsimhoni, ‘The Status of the Arab Christians under the British Mandate in Palestine’, Middle Eastern Studies, 20(4) (1984), pp. 184–186.

¹¹ O'Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 36.

¹² Fawcett, Easter in Palestine, p. 59; Daphne Tsimhoni, ‘The British Mandate and the Arab Christians in Palestine 1920–1925’ (PhD thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1976), p. 168; Robert Brenton Betts, Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study (Athens: Lycabettus Press, 1978), p. 35; and Ylana Miller, Government and Society in Rural Palestine, 1920–1948 (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1985), p. 50.

¹³ Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), p. 50.

¹⁴ Often referred to as the majlisīn, a reference to Hajj Amin al-Husayni's position as President of the Supreme Muslim Council, al-majlis al-islamiyyah al-‘aliyyah. In many respects, this institution functioned as Hajj Amin's power base.

¹⁵ The term mu‘āridīn or ‘Opposition’ was a direct reference to the fact that the moderate camp largely defined itself by its opposition to the faction centred around Hajj Amin al-Husayni.

¹⁶ Abu Manneh, Butros, ‘Jerusalem in the Tanzimat Period: The New Ottoman Administration and the Notables’, Die Welt des Islams, 30 (1990), p. 23.

¹⁷ The most notable member of which was Raghib al-Nashashibi, the mayor of Jerusalem from 1921 (initially, by appointment) until 1934. Notably, Raghib al-Nashashibi was often described as being ‘European-minded’; both his first and second wives were non-Muslims, the first being French and the latter Turkish Catholic, and in general he tended to associate quite strongly with Christians. Indeed, he was one of the few Muslim leaders to associate with Christians socially and not just in political organisations; one of his closest associates was Ya'qub Farraj, one of the leading figures of Jerusalem's Orthodox Christian community. Tsimhoni, ‘The British Mandate and the Arab Christians in Palestine’, p. 289. Additionally, he had his sons educated in Christian schools, as noted by his nephew Nassar Eddin in his biography of his uncle. Nasser Eddin Nashashibi, Jerusalem's Other Voice: Ragheb Nashashibi and Moderation in Palestinian Politics, 1920–1948 (Exeter: Ithaca Press, 1990), p. 4.

¹⁸ See, for instance, Erik Freas, ‘Muslim-Christian Relations in Palestine during the British Mandate Period’ (PhD thesis, University of St. Andrews, 2006), pp. 207, 287–290.

¹⁹ See, for instance, CO 733/195/7, letter from Hajj Amin to the High Commissioner, 11 October 1931; also Martin Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots in Mandatory Palestine, 1928–35 (London: St. Martin's Press, 1993), p. 162.

²⁰ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 6–9.

²¹ Eric Hobsbawm, ‘Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870–1914’, in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger (eds), The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 265–283.

²² Concerning the relationship between the two, see, for instance, Adrian Hastings, The Construction of Nationhood, Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997). John Breuilly, Nationalism and the State, 2nd edition (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993). Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990); and Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986).

²³ Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780, p. 77.

²⁴ Yasir Suleiman, The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003), p. 40.

²⁵ Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1983), p. 56; and Oliver Zimmer, Nationalism in Europe, 1890–1940 (Studies in European History) (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003), pp. 21–22; also Hobsbawm, ‘Mass-Producing Traditions’, pp. 268–270.

²⁶ Suleiman, The Arabic Language, p. 41; and Zimmer, Nationalism in Europe, pp. 21–22; also Hobsbawm, ‘Mass-Producing Traditions’, pp. 266–268.

²⁷ Effectively, the Turkish administrative system determining the rights of the different religious communities vis-à-vis the various religious sites under Ottoman jurisdiction, the guiding principle of which was to uphold whatever had come to constitute traditional jurisdictions. See Command Paper Number 3530, Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August, 1929, Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, 1930, p. 35.

²⁸ From the Jewish side, there was clearly an intention to possess the Wall, and even some evidence that the Jews had designs on the entire Temple Mount. See, for instance, CO 733/175/2, correspondence from Braude and Horowitz to Officer Administering the Government of Palestine, 19 August 1929 and correspondence from Luke to Passfield, 22 August 1929. See also Philip Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti of Jerusalem in the Political Struggle over the Western Wall, 1928–29’, Middle Eastern Studies, 19(1) (1983), pp. 106–107. Relevant here is that under the status quo—which, under the British, continued to guide policy with respect to religious matters—the creation of facts on the ground often had the effect of legitimising one side's claims. Command Paper Number 3530, p. 35. Muslims in Palestine were thus fearful that if they acquiesced to Jewish demands that they be allowed to bring appurtenances such as chairs and benches, an ark and a screen for dividing men from women, the Western Wall would in effect become an open synagogue, and by fait accompli, a Jewish possession. See, for example, CO 733/160/18, correspondence from Hassan Abul Sa'oud, Secretary General Moslem Conference, Jerusalem, to Chancellor, 7 November 1928, attached to correspondence from Officer Administering the Government of Palestine to Amery, 13 November 1928; also Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti’, p. 105.

²⁹ Formed in conjuncture with the ‘General Muslim Conference’ convened in November 1928. Regarding the conference in general, see CO 733/160/18; also Command Paper Number 3530, p. 32.

³⁰ Command Paper Number 3530, p. 35.

³¹ Command Paper Number 3530, pp. 47–57, 154–155; also USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280, Palestine Police Records. See also Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 44.

³² Command Paper Number 3530, pp. 56–57, 91; also USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404.

³³ Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti’, p. 114.

³⁴ Other Palestinian communities that saw major disturbances were Safad, Haifa, Beisan and Jaffa. Safad was particularly badly hit and saw some 45 Jews either killed or wounded. Several Jewish colonies were also subjected to attacks, amongst them Motza. Counter-attacks in which Jews attacked Arabs also took place, the most notable of these being in Jaffa and Jerusalem. Command Paper Number 3530, pp. 63–65.

³⁵ Command Paper Number 3530, p. 65. Though it is likely the Arab numbers were higher, inasmuch as many of those killed and injured were never brought to hospital and thus were not counted. Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 42.

³⁶ CO 733/160/17, correspondences from Hajj Amin to the High Commissioner, 4 and 8 October 1928.

³⁷ In reference to the Muslim tradition maintaining that the Prophet Muhammad had tethered there his mythical steed, al-Buraq, in connection with his Night Journey to the Haram (and from there, to Heaven), the basis of its holy status among Muslims.

³⁸ CO 733/160/18, correspondence from Hassan Abul Sa'oud, Secretary to the General Muslim Conference to the High Commissioner, 7 November 1928; and CO 733/160/17, correspondence from Hajj Amin to the High Commissioner, 8 October 1928.

³⁹ Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti’, p. 110.

⁴⁰ See, for instance, Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 118.

⁴¹ Philip Mattar, The Mufti of Jerusalem, Al-Hajj Amin Al-Husayni and the Palestinian National Movement (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), p. 3.

⁴² Abu Manneh, ‘Jerusalem in the Tanzimat Period’, p. 40.

⁴³ Mattar, The Mufti of Jerusalem, p. 13.

⁴⁴ Concerning his appointment as Grand Mufti, see Uri M. Kupferschmidt, The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam under the British Mandate for Palestine (Leiden and New York: E.J. Brill, 1987), p. 20.

⁴⁵ H.A.R. Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem in December 1931’, in Arnold J. Toynbee (ed.), Survey of International Affairs, 1934 (London: Humphrey Milford; Oxford University Press, 1935), p. 100; see also FO 371/14489, the Wailing Wall Commission's final report, copy addressed to Henderson, 24 December 1930.

⁴⁶ CO 733/195/4, extract from ‘Political Summary for the Month of February, 1931’, concerning ‘The Wailing Wall Question’ (original in 87021/31).

⁴⁷ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 45.

⁴⁸ Yehoshua Porath, The Palestinian Arab National Movement: The Emergence, 1918–1929 (London: Frank Cass and Company, 1977), Vol. I, p. 303.

⁴⁹ Certainly this was the perception of the Palestine Government. PREM 1/102, C.P. 108, ‘Palestine: High Commissioner's Views on Policy’, March 1930, p. 8. See also Command Paper Number 3530, pp. 61, 153–155, 158. In many respects, Palestine's Communist Party seemed to share a similar perspective. CO 733/175/4, ‘The Bloody War in Palestine and the Working Class’, Special Issue of the Central Council of the Palestine Communist Party, September 1929.

⁵⁰ See, for instance, CO 733/175/4, ‘The Bloody War in Palestine’.

⁵¹ Command Paper Number 3530, pp. 74–82.

⁵² Typical in this respect were reports appearing in Safad and Nablus that large numbers of Muslims had been murdered by Jews in Jerusalem and Haifa. A telegram was actually sent by the town of Ramleh to the League of Nations claiming that a ‘great slaughter is running being result of Balfour Declaration’. USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280. See also Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 49.

⁵³ USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280. See also Vincent Sheean, Personal History (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1969 [1934]), p. 361.

⁵⁴ As reported by the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Nablus, during the six months leading up to the disturbances, ‘it was noticeable that considerable efforts were being made [by the noted organisations] to remind, and to keep reminded, all Moslems of their religion and its history [in connection with the dispute over the Wailing Wall]’. USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280.

⁵⁵ USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280. Something perhaps reflective of a more general trend such as had evolved over the course of the Mandate, whereby nationalist demonstrations increasingly came to be organised around mosques, often in conjunction with Friday prayers. Daphne Tsimhoni, ‘The Arab Christians and the Palestinian Arab National Movement during the Formative Stage’, in Gabriel Ben-Dor (ed.), The Palestinians and the Middle East Conflict: An International Conference held at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Haifa, April 1976 (Ramat Gan, Israel: Turtledove Publishing, 1978), p. 78.

⁵⁶ USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280.

⁵⁷ USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280

⁵⁸ USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280; also Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti’, p. 114. Later accusations that Hajj Amin intentionally initiated the riots stemmed from this fact, inasmuch as there were some who felt that he had not sufficiently attempted to pacify the crowd. Ironically, Hajj Amin would later be criticised by many Muslims for having tried too hard to pacify those attending the service, as being ‘unfaithful to the Muslim cause’. USNA, 59/8/353/84/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280.

⁵⁹ As evident, for instance, in the 1922 Census in Reports and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922.

⁶⁰ Interestingly, in the police reports, ‘Christian’ often constituted a separate category from ‘Arab’, the latter term seemingly being interchangeable with ‘Muslim’. Thus, when indicating the causalities for any given day, the breakdown is sometimes ‘Jews/Muslims/Christians’ and at other times ‘Jews/Arabs/Christians’. The latter is the breakdown used when giving total numbers. USNA, 59/8/353/84/867n. 404 Wailing Wall/280. Discrepancies across different casualty tallies suggest that ‘Christians’ were not always counted as ‘Arabs’; in any case, among the British there was a tendency to conflate ‘Arab’ with ‘Muslim’. See, for instance, CO 733/175/2, ‘Addendum to Note on Disturbances in Palestine’, for use by British delegation to Geneva, where the tally is four Christians killed, but only 10 wounded. See also Command Paper Number 1499, An Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine, during the Period 1 ^st July, 1920—30 ^th June, 1921, Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, August 1921, p. 4. Concerning the conflating of the terms ‘Arab’ and ‘Muslim’, see Tsimhoni, ‘The British Mandate and the Arab Christians in Palestine’, pp. 169, 335.

⁶¹ Sheean, Personal History, pp. 376, 380.

⁶² Porath, The Emergence, p. 303.

⁶³ F.H. Kisch, Palestine Diary (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1938), p. 288. While such evidence is strongly anecdotal and no doubt highly reflective of the circumstances pertaining to that city, his role might be contrasted with that of a Muslim police officer in Hebron, who reportedly took part in the violence. Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate, trans. Haim Watzman (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1999), p. 323. See also Kisch, Palestine Diary, p. 266, concerning the fact that following the riots, Jews bitterly attacked the police in connection with the violence in that city.

⁶⁴ Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 55.

⁶⁵ Sheean, Personal History, p. 380.

⁶⁶ Kisch, Palestine Diary, pp. 272–273. See also USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404; and Tsimhoni, ‘The Arab Christians and the Palestinian Arab National Movement’, p. 78.

⁶⁷ Kisch, Palestine Diary, p. 273.

⁶⁸ And in fact, as noted above, not a single Christian was fined or punished in connection with the riots. Porath, The Emergence, p. 303.

⁶⁹ Kisch, Palestine Diary, p. 314.

⁷⁰ It seems that the lack of Christian involvement in the disturbances became a source of inter-communal tension, something further exacerbated by the murder of a Christian Arab journalist in Haifa the following summer, in connection with a conflict between local Muslims and Christians over ownership of a cemetery. Porath, The Emergence, p. 303.

⁷¹ See Kisch, Palestine Diary, pp. 251, 339; also CO 733/175/2, ‘Addendum to Note on Disturbances in Palestine’.

⁷² Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (15 November 1928), referring to an article that appeared in Al-Zuhur; also Al-Karmil (14 January 1930).

⁷³ Al-Karmil (14 January 1930). Though it is interesting to note that with respect to an earlier incident in 1911, wherein it was believed that British archeologists had violated the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem's Christian Arabs had stood alongside their fellow Muslims in condemning those Ottoman authorities considered responsible. Louis Fishman, ‘The 1911 Haram al-Sharif Incident: Palestinian Notables versus the Ottoman Administration’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 34(4) (2005), p. 14. At the same time, it would appear that Jerusalem's Christian communities were motivated in part out of consideration that Muslim reaction might end up being at least partly directed against them. Fishman, ‘The 1911 Haram al-Sharif Incident,’ p. 12.

⁷⁴ Al-Karmil (14 January 1930). See also Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (15 November 1928).

⁷⁵ Al-Karmil (14 January 1930).

⁷⁶ Mrs. Matiel E.T. Mogannam, The Arab Woman and the Palestine Problem (London: Herbert Joseph Limited, 1937), p. 70; also Steuart Erskine, Palestine of the Arabs (London: George G. Harrap and Company, Limited, 1935), pp. 180–181.

⁷⁷ Mogannam, The Arab Woman, pp. 56–58. The same organisation later transmitted a telegram to the Colonial Secretary protesting the findings of the Commission. The telegram was signed by both its Muslim President and its Christian Secretary. See CO/733/195/5, telegram from the Arab Women's Association to the Colonial Secretary, 22 June 1931.

⁷⁸ See for example, CO 733/195/7, letters of protest addressed to the High Commissioner from the Muslim-Christian Associations of Nablus and Jaffa, 11 June and 4 July 1931, respectively.

⁷⁹ CO 733/195/7, letter from the Liberal Party, signed by the ‘Standing Committee’, and apparently drafted by Hanna Asfur, to the High Commissioner, 15 June 1931.

⁸⁰ CO 733/175/3, ‘Memorandum of Conference with the Arab Executive’, held on 2 October 1929, attached to correspondence from Chancellor to Passfield, 5 October 1929.

⁸¹ CO 733/195/7, letter from Hajj Amin to Wauchope, 11 October 1931; see also letter from the Liberal Party, 15 June 1931.

⁸² CO 733/195/7, correspondence from Hajj Amin to Wauchope, 11 October 1931; also Filastin (30 October 1929).

⁸³ FO 371/14489, The Wailing Wall Commission's final report, copy addressed to Henderson, 24 December 1930.

⁸⁴ Along with their ‘dislike of Jews’. CO 733/175/4, High Commissioner's Telegram No. 204 of September 19, in Cabinet Memorandum ‘Situation in Palestine’, C.P. 343 (29), November 1929.

⁸⁵ In asserting a connection between the Palestinian national movement's radicalisation and its ‘Islamisation’, I anticipate developments over the decade following the World Islamic Conference. Particularly illustrative in this respect is the Arab Revolt of 1936–1939, which, in addition to being a strong manifestation of the movement's radicalisation, was, by all accounts, a predominantly Muslim affair; most of those militantly active were Muslim, were inspired by and modelled themselves after such militant religious reformers as Shaykh ‘Izz al-Din Qassam, and, like him, had come to see Islamic reform as a necessary precondition to national liberation (hence their being designated as ‘Qassimites’). See, for instance, ZA, S/25, 4550, Ha-Cohen and Sasson to Shertok, reporting on talk with al-Hajj Tahir Qaraman, 21 August 1938; also Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 109, 183; Ted Swedenburg, ‘The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936–1939)’, in E. Burke III and I. Lapidus (eds), Islam, Politics and Social Movements (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1988), pp. 191–192; and Nels Johnson, Islam and the Politics of Meaning in Palestinian Nationalism (London: Kegan Paul International, 1982), p. 48.

⁸⁶ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 3.

⁸⁷ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 38; also Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 67.

⁸⁸ See FO 371/16009, secret correspondence from Wauchope to Cunliffe-Lister, 30 January 1932; also Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 49; and Kupferschmidt, The Supreme Muslim Council, p. 45.

⁸⁹ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 55.

⁹⁰ See Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 22–23.

⁹¹ The Arab Executive was also running into financial difficulties, and at one point even had to borrow money from the aforementioned Central Relief Committee, a body largely under Hajj Amin's control. See Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 136; also Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, pp. 165–166.

⁹² See, for instance, Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 50–52.

⁹³ See, for instance, CO 733/195/7, correspondence from the High Commissioner's office to Cunliffe-Lister, 19 November 1931.

⁹⁴ Porath, From Riots to Rebellions, p. 64.

⁹⁵ See, for instance, al-Karmil (10 June 1928); also Mir'at Al-Sharq (29 September 1933; 14 March 1934).

⁹⁶ Kamel Mahmoud Khleh, Filastin w'al-Intidab al-Britani, 1922–1939 (Beruit: Al-Mansha Al-A'ma, 1982), p. 438; and Porath, The Emergence, pp. 301–330.

⁹⁷ See, for instance, Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (16 August 1928; 12 July 1932); Mir'at Al-Sharq (14 June 1924; 10 October 1925); and Al-Ittihad Al-‘Arabi (27 June 1925). See also Tsimhoni, ‘The British Mandate and the Arab Christians in Palestine’, p. 274. Related to this was the perception that the British generally favoured Christians for administrative posts. Porath, The Emergence, p. 301.

⁹⁸ USNA, 59/8/353/4/867n. 404. In particular, see the ‘General Observations’ of the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Nablus.

⁹⁹ S. Abdullah Schleifer, ‘The Life and Thought of ‘Izz-id-Din al-Qassam’, The Islamic Quarterly, 22(2) (1979), p. 71; Johnson, Islam and the Politics of Meaning, pp. 31, 41; Lesch, Arab Politics in Palestine, 1917–1939: The Frustration of a National Movement (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1979), p. 108; Swedenburg, ‘The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry’, p. 189; and Porath, Riots and Rebellion, p. 136.

¹⁰⁰ See, for instance, Filastin (24 April 1928); Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (8 and 24 May 1928); and Palestine Bulletin (19 April and 8 May 1928).

¹⁰¹ See, for instance, The Palestine Bulletin (1 and 16 October 1930), the latter reprinted from Mir‘at Al-Sharq; Al-Karmil (6 and 16 August 1930); also Tsimhoni, ‘The Arab Christians and the Palestinian Arab National Movement’, p. 76.

¹⁰² The Palestine Bulletin (30 May 1928), from an article appearing in Filastin; Mir‘at Al-Sharq (24 May and 7 June 1928); Al-Karmil (22 April and 30 May 1928); and Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (5 March 1928).

¹⁰³ The Palestine Bulletin (14, 15, 16, 17 and 19 September 1931); Al-Karmil (4 October 1931).

¹⁰⁴ See, for instance, Yehoshua Porath, The Palestinian Arab National Movement: From Riots to Rebellion, 1929–1939 (London: Frank Cass and Company, 1977), Vol. II, p. 269. One could maintain that this constituted something of a temporary setback, as Christians would certainly come to play a prominent political role in various Arab countries with the resurgence of secular Arab nationalism—that is, during the 1950s and 1960s, the heyday of pan-Arabism. This would be as true in Palestine (for example, George Habash, the Christian nationalist leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) as it was regionally (for example, Michel ‘Aflaq, the ideological founder of Ba‘athism). Nonetheless, during the first half of the century, it was not clear, in Palestine or in the Middle East as a whole, what form Arab nationalist identity would take or, likewise, what would constitute the relationship between Arab identity and Islam. It seems fair to say that it is a relationship that is yet evolving.

¹⁰⁵ CO 733/195/7, letter from the Liberal Party, signed by the ‘Standing Committee’, Hanna Asfur, 15 June 1931.

¹⁰⁶ Al-Karmil (3 October 1929).

¹⁰⁷ Al-Karmil (26 October 1929); see also Al-Karmil (11 March 1928).

¹⁰⁸ Sergio I. Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism: Conflict in the Holy Land 1895–1925 (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 21.

¹⁰⁹ Sergio I. Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism: Conflict in the Holy Land 1895–1925 (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 21

¹¹⁰ Al-Karmil (26 October 1929).

¹¹¹ Al-Karmil (21 September 1929); Filastin (18 June 1936).

¹¹² See Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 130.

¹¹³ Concerning the long-standing relationship between the Supreme Muslim Council and the Indian Muslim Khalifat Committee, see CO 733/49, dispatch from Samuel to the Colonial Office, 23 September 1923; also a telegram sent from Samuel to the Colonial Secretary, 26 September 1923, and an ‘urgent memo’ to Downing Street from the Under Secretary of State for the India Office, 1 October 1923. See also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, pp. 128–129.

¹¹⁴ FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, attached to correspondence from Wauchope to Cunliffe-Lister, 24 December 1931; also FO 371/15332, ‘Note of Interview of Shawkat Ali, 10 February 1931’, enclosure to confidential dispatch, 14 February 1931.

¹¹⁵ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 4–5.

¹¹⁶ See FO 371/14489, telegram from the High Commissioner to the Colonial Secretary, 18 June 1930.

¹¹⁷ FO 371/14489, reference to telegram No. 178 in Colonial Office internal memorandum, 16 June 1930.

¹¹⁸ Notable in this respect were the aforementioned YMMAs, the Arab Boy Scouts, and various youth clubs—essentially those organisations representative of Palestine's (predominantly Muslim) youth, many of whom were becoming impatient with the traditional elite and their moderate politics. This youthful element would become increasingly prominent politically over the course of the 1930s, and would eventually directly challenge the traditional leadership's control of the movement. Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 122–123.

¹¹⁹ See, for instance, CO 733/204/2, correspondence entitled ‘Arab Incitement’, circa mid-1931.

¹²⁰ Named after the Colonial Secretary at the time, Lord Passfield.

¹²¹ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 31.

¹²² See, for instance, CO 733/182/8, telegram from Wauchope to Lord Passfield, 4 November 1930. For the overall Arab press reaction, see Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 31, ‘Palestine Arabic Press Summary No. 57 for the week ending 25^th October 1930’.

¹²³ See Walter Laqueur, A History of Zionism (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972), p. 492.

¹²⁴ Concerning the fact that the letter represented official policy as such, see CO 733/197/1D, in particular, ‘Extract from the Official Report of 12^th February 1931’; also Laqueur, A History of Zionism, p. 493.

¹²⁵ See, for instance, ISA 987/56-, letter from Musa Kazim al-Husayni, President of the Arab Executive, to the High Commissioner, 16 February 1931.

¹²⁶ See Lesch, Arab Politics in Palestine, p. 104.

¹²⁷ The third signatory was ‘Awni ‘Abd al-Hadi. ISA 986/28-, Salim Salamah, Secretary of the Ramallah MCA to the AE, on the Legislative Council.

¹²⁸ See Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 34–35.

¹²⁹ See Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 130; and R.M. Coury, ‘Egyptians in Jerusalem: Their Role in the General Islamic Conference of 1931’, Muslim World, 82(i–ii) (1992), p. 37.

¹³⁰ CO 733/195/5, telegram from the High Commissioner to the Colonial Secretary, 16 June 1931.

¹³¹ Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 15.

¹³² Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 38–40. Overall, there existed a perception that the Opposition had, in a number of ways, compromised itself with respect to the nationalist movement. See, for instance, Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti’, p. 110.

¹³³ Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 101, from Statement by the Mufti, published in The Times, 27 November 1931.

¹³⁴ For a breakdown of the numbers attending by country, see Thomas Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference in Jerusalem in 1931’, Middle Eastern Studies, 18(3) (July 1982), p. 316.

¹³⁵ See chapter 11, ‘In Defense of Jerusalem’, in Martin Kramer, Islam Assembled (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986).

¹³⁶ Oriente Moderno (December 1931), p. 579, from Türkische Post (24 November 1931).

¹³⁷ Oriente Moderno (December 1931), p. 579, from Türkische Post (24 November 1931), pp. 579–580.

¹³⁸ Oriente Moderno (December 1931), p. 579, from Türkische Post (24 November 1931) p. 580. See also Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 102.

¹³⁹ Oriente Moderno (December 1931), p. 579, from Türkische Post (24 November 1931). A reference to Hajj Amin's involvement in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

¹⁴⁰ Oriente Moderno (December 1931), p. 580, from Al-Ahram (23 November 1931). See also Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 129.

¹⁴¹ See Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 312.

¹⁴² Oriente Moderno (November 1931), p. 527, from Al-Ahram (3 November 1931). See also Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 313.

¹⁴³ Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 313; also Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, p. 163. Shawkat ‘Ali, in elaborating his programme for the restoration of the caliphate, called for the establishment of an Islamic university in Jerusalem, as in his opinion Al-Azhar had lost its religious zeal. See Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 130.

¹⁴⁴ Oriente Moderno (November 1931), p. 529, from Al-Ahram (6 November 1931). See also Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 128.

¹⁴⁵ See FO 371/15283, exchange between the Foreign Office and the High Commissioner on the question of admitting the ex-caliph into Palestine, 23 and 20 November 1931.

¹⁴⁶ Concerning the Italians in Libya, see FO 371/15282, correspondence from Rendel to Williams, 17 November 1931; also FO 371/15282 correspondence from the Italian ambassador to the British Foreign Office, 17 November 1931.

¹⁴⁷ Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 103; also Oriente Moderno (December 1931), p. 579, from Al-Ahram (29 November 1931).

¹⁴⁸ Kramer, Islam Assembled, pp. 134–135. See also Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 105, footnote 1, from Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 42.

¹⁴⁹ Kramer, Islam Assembled, pp. 126, 135. See also CO 732/47/6, Colonial Office internal memorandum, 8 September 1931.

¹⁵⁰ Alfred Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference at Jerusalem’, Moslem World, 22 (1932), p. 341. Nielsen's article appeared almost immediately after the Conference and in many respects resembles a journalistic account of the event. Much of the information provided was, in fact, taken from the newspaper Filastin.

¹⁵¹ Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 319.

¹⁵² Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 135.

¹⁵³ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 148.

¹⁵⁴ Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (7, 10, 14 and 16 December 1931); see also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 14.

¹⁵⁵ FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931; also Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (11 December 1931).

¹⁵⁶ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 30, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931).

¹⁵⁷ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 30, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931)

¹⁵⁸ Oriente Moderno (November 1931), p. 529, from Al-Ahram (6 November 1931).

¹⁵⁹ FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

¹⁶⁰ FO 371/16009, handwritten secret cover memorandum from the Colonial Office (No. 98036/32), dated 12 February 1932, concerning the police report on the Islamic Conference.

¹⁶¹ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 25, from Filastin (7 December 1931). See also Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (12 June 1931) and Al-Karmil (24 June 1931); also Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 123.

¹⁶² Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, pp. 341–342.

¹⁶³ Concerning the subjects of the eight sub-committees, see Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 105.

¹⁶⁴ Concerning the subjects of the eight sub-committees, see Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 105

¹⁶⁵ FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

¹⁶⁶ The general view being that they intended to rebuild the Jewish temple on the site of the Haram al-Sharif. FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931. See also Mattar, ‘The Role of the Mufti’, p. 107.

¹⁶⁷ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 152.

¹⁶⁸ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 145.

¹⁶⁹ Al-Jami‘ah al-‘Arabiyyah (15 and 18 December 1931).

¹⁷⁰ Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 354, quoting from an article appearing at the time in a journal called Near East (uncited).

¹⁷¹ The ‘gathering’ was essentially a party given by ‘Awni ‘Abd al-Hadi for about 40 guests, and only later became known as the ‘Arab Conference’. See FO 371/16854, Memorandum on the Proposed Arab Congress, attached to correspondence from Percy to Oliphant, 20 January 1933; also Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 318.

¹⁷² FO 371/16854, Memorandum on the Proposed Arab Congress, attached to correspondence from Percy to Oliphant, 20 January 1933. See also Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 107; Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 348; and Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 124. For the text of the manifesto, see Al-Karmil (27 January 1932).

¹⁷³ Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 107; also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 141.

¹⁷⁴ For what it's worth, none of these were Christian. See Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 124; also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, pp. 155–156.

¹⁷⁵ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 125. Among other things, the Istiqlal Party called for a policy of non-payment of taxes and non-cooperation with the government, as well as a more militant line against the Palestine government. Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 125. Additionally, while essentially pan-Arab in outlook, it was a pan-Arabism strongly rooted in the salafiyyah model of Arab identity, something perhaps best evidenced by the party's strong ties with Sheikh ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam. Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 137–138.

¹⁷⁷ From a statement made be Shawkat ‘Ali appearing in Filastin. See CO 732/47/6, collection of speeches and statements made by ‘Ali, collected by Arlosoroff, and addressed to Brodetsky, 3 October 1931.

¹⁷⁶ ZA, S/25, 4142, Kalvarisky to Arlosoroff, on a talk with al-Tabataba'i.

¹⁷⁸ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 39, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931).

¹⁷⁹ Coury, ‘Egyptians in Jerusalem’, p. 42.

¹⁸⁰ Coury, ‘Egyptians in Jerusalem’, p. 51.

¹⁸¹ Concerning Egypt's response to the Palestinian issue and the fear of sectarianism, see James Jankowski, ‘Egyptian Responses to the Palestine Problem in the Interwar Period’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 12(1) (1980), pp. 8–9; also Coury, ‘Egyptians in Jerusalem’, p. 52.

¹⁸² Coury, ‘Egyptians in Jerusalem’, p. 47.

¹⁸³ As President of the Supreme Muslim Council, Hajj Amin also held the title ra'īs al-‘ulamā, which might be translated as president or ‘head’ of the Muslim leadership or ‘learned community’. See Kupferschmidt, The Supreme Muslim Council, p. 79.

¹⁸⁴ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 141.

¹⁸⁵ See FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931; also Filastin (8 December 1931); and Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (9 December 1931). See also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, pp. 139–140; and Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 133.

¹⁸⁶ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 139.

¹⁸⁷ Oriente Moderno (November 1931), pp. 527–528, from Al-Ahram (25 October 1931).

¹⁸⁸ See Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 104, footnote 1; also Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 127.

¹⁸⁹ Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, pp. 314–315, from the Egyptian Gazette (14 November 1931).

¹⁹⁰ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 47.

¹⁹¹ FO 371/16009, secret correspondence from Wauchope to Cunliffe-Lister, 26 March 1932.

¹⁹² Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 140. Arguably also with the purpose of demonstrating (collectively) its own ‘Islamic’ credentials.

¹⁹³ See FO 371/16009, secret correspondence from Wauchope to Cunliffe-Lister, 30 January 1932.

¹⁹⁴ See FO 371/16009, secret correspondence from Wauchope to Cunliffe-Lister, 30 January 1932

¹⁹⁵ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, pp. 150–151.

¹⁹⁶ Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 137. Concerning the manner in which Hajj Amin dominated the Conference, see also FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

¹⁹⁷ See Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 352; also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 150.

¹⁹⁸ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), pp. 38–39, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931).

¹⁹⁹ This was to be done largely through the printing of polemical pamphlets on the Crucifixion and the Redemption, spelling out what it was that Muslims did and did not believe concerning Jesus. Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 35, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931).

²⁰⁰ A complete list of the resolutions can be found in Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 12.

²⁰¹ See FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

²⁰² Though, it might be noted, of Lebanese descent.

²⁰³ Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 135.

²⁰⁴ Coury, ‘Egyptians in Jerusalem’, p. 45.

²⁰⁵ Ann Mosely Lesch, ‘The Palestine Arab Nationalist Movement under the Mandate’, in William B. Quandt, Fuad Jabber and Ann Mosely Lesch (eds), The Politics of Palestinian Nationalism (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1973), p. 19.

²⁰⁶ Oriente Moderno (November 1931), p. 528, from Al-Ahram (25 October 1931). Though comments made by an Egyptian newspaper regarding the attitude of Christian Arabs in Palestine should probably be taken with a pinch of salt.

²⁰⁷ Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 156.

²⁰⁸ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 27, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931).

²⁰⁹ A similar attitude was evident with respect to the boycott of the elections for the legislative council in 1923. See, for instance, Hopwood, The Russian Presence in Syria and Palestine, p. 201.

²¹⁰ Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 346.

²¹¹ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 35, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931).

²¹² See FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

²¹³ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 27, from Palestine Bulletin (7 December 1931).

²¹⁴ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 33, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931). See also Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 345.

²¹⁵ Filastin (16 October 1931); see also Hopwood, The Russian Presence in Syria and Palestine, p. 205.

²¹⁶ Concerning the functioning of the Electoral Assembly, see CO 733/204/9, article clipping from the Church Times (16 October 1931), entitled ‘The Jerusalem Election. How the New Patriarch Will Be Chosen’.

²¹⁷ Concerning the functioning of the Electoral Assembly, see CO 733/204/9, article clipping from the Church Times (16 October 1931), entitled ‘The Jerusalem Election. How the New Patriarch Will Be Chosen’

²¹⁸ Concerning the involvement of the Greek government, see Concerning the functioning of the Electoral Assembly, see CO 733/204/9, article clipping from the Church Times (16 October 1931), entitled ‘The Jerusalem Election. How the New Patriarch Will Be Chosen’, internal British memorandum (no date), circa late December 1931, and letter from the Office of the High Commissioner to Thomas, 31 October 1931; also Kirsten Stoffregen Pedersen, The Holy Land Christians, ed. Natalie King (Jerusalem: Private Publication, 2003), pp. 97–98.

²¹⁹ CO 733/204/9, internal British memorandum (no date), circa late December 1931.

²²⁰ CO 733/204/9, representation submitted by the Executive Committee of the Second Arab Orthodox Congress to the High Commissioner's Office, 22 October 1931; and CO 733/204/9, letter from Douglas to Gaselee, 2 October 1931. See also Tsimhoni, ‘The Status of the Arab Christians’, p. 171 and footnote 34.

²²¹ CO 733/204/9, letter from Office of the High Commissioner to Thomas, 31 October 1931.

²²² CO 733/204/9, article clipping from the Church Times, 16 October 1931.

²²³ See, for example, Filastin, 8 December 1931.

²²⁴ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 35, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931). See also FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931, where it is noted that ‘Nachleh Kattan of Jerusalem sought the support of the [Islamic] Congress of Christian Orthodox demands…’. Also Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 344.

²²⁵ Elie Kedourie, ‘Religion and Politics: The Diaries of Khalil Sakakini’, Middle Eastern Affairs, 1, St. Antony's Papers, 4 (1958), p. 86, footnote 22, original from Filastin, 16 October 1931.

²²⁶ Oriente Moderno (January 1932), p. 35, from Filastin (6–18 December 1931). See also Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 106.

²²⁷ Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 319.

²²⁸ Though in part this reflected a concerted effort on the part of the British to prevent the subsequent holding of such conferences. See, for example, FO 371/16854, private correspondence from Cunliffe-Lister to Foreign Office, 21 March 1933, and correspondence from Williams to the Under Secretary of State, Foreign Office, 24 February 1933.

²²⁹ See Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 152; also Gibb, ‘The Islamic Congress at Jerusalem’, p. 108. Though the worsening political environment in Palestine in the period leading up to the Arab Revolt likely proved somewhat disruptive in this respect as well.

²³⁰ Erskine, Palestine of the Arabs, p. 165.

²³¹ See, for instance, Lesch, Arab Politics in Palestine, p. 107.

²³² See, for instance, CO 733/311/5, telegram from the Home Department of the Government of India to the Secretary of State for India, 10 October 1936. Indeed, the British were particularly anxious about how the situation in Palestine was playing in India, given its sizeable Muslim minority. Thus, the British Secretary of India noted with concern that the ‘Mohammedan newspapers in India were criticizing the pro-Zionist policy of His Majesty's Government’. CO 733/297/2, Note of conversation with Mr. Kenneth Williams, Editor of Great Britain and the East, 5 June 1936, and from Cabinet Extract 41(36) from Conclusions of a Meeting held on Wednesday, 10 June 1936. Telling also was London's reluctance two years after the World Islamic Conference (in 1933) to allow the convening of a Pan-Arab Congress in Jerusalem, considered the worst possible choice of venue in all of the Middle East on account of how strongly the Palestinian cause (both with respect to Zionism and the Haram al-Sharif) was then resonating throughout the Muslim world. See FO 371/16854, private correspondence from Cunliffe-Lister to Foreign Office, 21 March 1933, and correspondence from Williams to the Under Secretary of State, Foreign Office, 24 February 1933.

²³³ Kramer, Islam Assembled, p. 136.

²³⁴ See FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

²³⁵ See Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 352.

²³⁶ FO 371/16009, secret correspondence from Wauchope to Cunliffe-Lister, 26 March 1932.

²³⁷ Mayer, ‘Egypt and the General Islamic Conference’, p. 319.

²³⁸ Near East article [no date] quoted in Nielsen, ‘The International Islamic Conference’, p. 354.

²³⁹ See, for instance, ZA, S/25, 3557, report from A.H. Cohen, 11 October 1933, concerning the long-term impact of Opposition Congress.

²⁴⁰ See, for instance, FO 371/16926, CID Periodical Appreciation Summary, 25 March 1933.

²⁴¹ See, for instance, ZA, S/25, 3478, K/272/30, report from F.H. Kisch, 16 February 1930, concerning H.M. Kalvarisky's encounter with Musa Kazim al-Husayni; also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, p. 155.

²⁴² See, for instance, CO 733/231/3, correspondence from different Muslim countries indicating solidarity with Palestine's Arabs and a concern for the Muslim holy sites there; also Kupferschmidt, ‘The General Muslim Congress of 1931’, pp. 156–157.

²⁴³ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 200–201.

²⁴⁴ FO 371/16009, police report on the 1931 Islamic Conference, 24 December 1931.

²⁴⁵ While they might equally have been referring to government schools as missionary-founded ones, it is worth noting that one of the main criticisms of the government schools was the fact that a majority of the teachers in them were Christian Arabs. See for example, Al-Jami‘ah Al-‘Arabiyyah (15 November 1928).

²⁴⁶ See, for instance, Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 181, 267–269.

²⁴⁷ Indeed, as of the time of the Arab Revolt, such a perception was still quite strong. Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 269. Concerning negative attitudes among Muslims towards Christian Arabs in general at the time of the Revolt, see for instance CO 733/347/10, Second Revision of section on ‘The Christians’, from the report of the Royal Commission, 1937, p. 12; also Miller, Government and Society in Rural Palestine, p. 124, originally in H.M. Wilson’s ‘School Year in Palestine, 1938–1939’. St. Antony's College, Middle East Centre, University of Oxford; and Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, pp. 269–270.

²⁴⁸ See, for instance, The Palestine Bulletin, 14–19 September 1931, Al-Karmil (4 October 1931); also O'Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 49.

²⁴⁹ Porath, From Riots to Rebellion, p. 120.