Omar Amin Suleiman Khamis Suleiman Elwary, also known as Omar Elwary, (1903–1972) was a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

, who was the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...

Career

On May 21, 1948, following the

1948 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

, and by order of the Jordanian Arab Army authorities, he formed the Military Court to consider issues related to security and public order. On June 16, 1948, he was appointed Head of the District Court in Jerusalem. On January 1, 1949, he was appointed as a judge in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of Appeal in Jerusalem and the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

of Jordan. On June 29, 1949, he began practicing the legal profession, and in the meantime, on August 18, 1951, he took up the defense with a group of attorneys Jerusalem lawyers, namely Yahya Hammouda, Hanna Atallah, Jabra Al-Anqar, Issa Aqel, Nasri Nasr, Aziz Shehadeh, and Wafiq Younis Al-Husseini in the case the killing of Abdullah I bin Al Hussein. On October 23, 1951, Elwary was elected a member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council. On March 12, 1952, he was appointed head of the municipal council of East Jerusalem and remained so until the end of 1955. During this period, he carried out several projects to implement the necessary services for the

holy city A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religi ...

, including water and

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from reside ...

projects, and opening the necessary roads for the city, in addition to expanding the borders of the Jerusalem municipality to include the neighboring areas as well to the form it is now. In his capacity as mayor of

, he received King

Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Suʿūd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 15 January 1902 – 23 February 1969) was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 195 ...

, King of the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Arab ...

and King Hussein bin Talal, King of the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

, during King Saud's visit to Jerusalem ( Al-Quds Al-Sharif). Al-Hajj Omar Elwary died in April 1972 in Jerusalem at the age of 69 years. The Waary-Shawarma, popular in Jerusalem and Jerichow, dates back to his dynasty.

References

وفي 1955 جرت انتخابات بلدية، وترأس المجلس البلدي عدة رؤساء بالوكالة مثل عمر الوعري، وامين مجج، ثم عُيّن روحي الخطيب رئيسا للبلدية عام 1957.
1903 births 1972 deaths Mayors of Jerusalem Lawyers from Jerusalem {{DEFAULTSORT:Elwary, Omar