Sheikh Muhammad Ali Ja'abari ( 1900–1980) was the long-serving mayor of the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

city of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

, appointed by Jordan, from 1948 to 1976. Ja'abari was head of the Jericho Conference in

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

which supported the unification of the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and Jordan. In the 1950s, he held a seat in the upper chamber of the Jordanian government.Palestinian Personalities
Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA).

Career

Sheikh Muhammad ali Ja'abari represented Hebron at the Fourth Conference of the Arab Mayors of Palestine in 1945, hosted in Gaza. After Israel occupied the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, he proposed that Israel only remain in power for five years after which the Palestinians would reserve the right of self-determination. Apparently, it had been agreed with Israel that he would serve as the Prime Minister of a new Palestinian state. He prominently opposed the violent nature of the

fedayeen Fedayeen ( ''fidāʻiyyūn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic language, Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign. Etymology "Fidayun" is the plural of "fidayi" ( ''fidāʻiyy'' ...

. His tenure as mayor of Jordan ended on 28 March 1976, and he was succeeded by

Fahd Qawasmi Fahd Qawasmi (1934–1984) was a Palestinian agricultural engineer and a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He was the mayor of Hebron between 1976 and 1980. During his tenure he was among the most ...

who was the first elected mayor of the city. Throughout the 1970s, Ja'abari was member of various Jordanian cabinets, and held the portfolio of

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in 1955, 1958, 1959 and 1960-1961. Ja'abari died in 1980. He is related to Sulaiman Ja'abari, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

References

1900 births 1980 deaths People from Hebron Justice ministers of Jordan Members of the Senate of Jordan Mayors of Hebron Mayors of places in Jordan {{Jordan-mayor-stub