The Independence Party of Palestine (''Hizb al-Istiqlal'') was an

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

established on 13 August 1932 in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

during the British Mandate. The party was founded by Muhammad Izzat Darwaza, and the other founders of the party were Fahmi al-Abboushi, Mu'in al-Madi, Akram Zu'aytir, ‘Ajaj Nuwayhid, Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim, Subhi al-Khadra, and Salim Salamah. The party did not achieve a large membership but

Awni Abd al-Hadi Awni Abd al-Hadi, () aka Auni Bey Abdel Hadi and Awni Abdul Hadi (1889, Nablus, Ottoman Empire – 15 March 1970, Cairo, Egypt) was a Palestinian political figure. He was educated in Beirut, Istanbul, and at the Sorbonne University in Paris. H ...

, through his role as private secretary to Amir Feisal in Damascus between 1918-1920, had good relations with many senior leaders across the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. Its origins lay in the Istiqlal movement associated with the short-lived Sharifian government in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. The party's creation was spurred by the

al-Husayni Husayni ( also spelled Husseini) is the name of a prominent Palestinian families, Palestinian Arab clan formerly based in Jerusalem, which claims descent from Husayn ibn Ali (the son of Ali). The Husaynis follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Isl ...

–

Nashashibi Nashashibi (, transliteration: ''Al-Nashāshībī'') is the name of a prominent Palestinian Arabic family based in Jerusalem. After the First World War, during the British period, Raghib al-Nashashibi was Mayor of Jerusalem (1920–1934). A br ...

rivalry, which had almost paralyzed the Palestinian national movement. Its founders, most of whom hailed from the Nablus area, called for the adoption of new methods of political action, including noncooperation with the British Mandate authorities and nonpayment of taxes. The party also called for total Arab independence, pan-Arab unity, the abrogation of the Mandate and the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

, and the establishment of Arab parliamentary rule in Palestine. The party called for mass resistance to the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

project and its British patron in Palestine. During the 1936–39 Arab revolt the party called for an Indian Congress Party-style boycott of the British. The party reached its maximum influence, especially among the young and the educated, in the first half of 1933, and then declined very rapidly. Among the factors responsible for its decline were the active hostility of the Husayni camp, the lack of financial resources. A distinctive mark of the party was its espousal of the idea that British imperialism was the principal enemy of the Palestinians; thus the party urged them to focus their struggle not simply on Zionism, but on British colonialism as well. Istiqlal was represented on the first

Arab Higher Committee The Arab Higher Committee () or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Haj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Je ...

formed in April 1937, with its leader,

, being general secretary of the AHC.Text of decree in Haim Levenberg, ''Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine 1945-1948'', Frank Cass London, 1993, p. 7. Following the continuing disturbances, and the assassination on 26 September 1937 of the Acting British District Commissioner of

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

, the AHC and other political parties, including Istiqlal, were outlawed by the British administration in October 1937. Al-Hadi, who was out of the country at the time, was not allowed to return. However, he was a member of the Palestinian Arab delegation that attended the

London Conference of 1939 The London Conference of 1939, or St James's Palace Conference, which took place between 7 February – 17 March 1939, was called by the British Government to plan the future governance of Palestine and an end of the Mandate. It opened on 7 Fe ...

Notes

References

*Choueiri, Youssef M. (2000). ''Arab Nationalism: Nation and State in the Arab World''. Oxford: Blackwell. *Hassassian, Manuel Sarkis (1990). ''Palestine: Factionalism in the National Movement, 1919-1939''.

Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA; ) was founded in Jerusalem in March 1987 by Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi and a group of Palestinian academics and intellectuals. PASSIA is a member of the Palestinian NGO ...

. *Kedourie, Elie (1974). ''Arabic Political Memoirs and Other Studies''. London: Routledge. *Khalidi, Rashid (1997). ''Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness''. Columbia University Press. *Khalidi, Rashid (2001). The Palestinians and 1948: the underlying causes of failure. In Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim (Eds.). ''The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948''(pp. 12–36). Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. *Pappé, Ilan (1999). ''The Israel/Palestine Question''. London: Routledge. *''A Survey of Palestine - prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry.'' Reprinted 1991 by the Institute of Palestine Studies, Washington. Volume II. . {{Arab nationalism 1932 establishments in Mandatory Palestine 1937 disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine Arab nationalism in Mandatory Palestine Arab nationalist political parties Organizations based in Mandatory Palestine Political parties disestablished in 1937 Political parties established in 1932 Political parties in Mandatory Palestine

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References