Anwar Bey Nuseibeh ( ar, أنور نسيبة) Anwar Bey Nuseibeh (1913–1986) was a leading
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 ...
who held several major posts in the Jordanian Government before Israel took control of
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 separat ...
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 ...
in the
1967 war
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Jun ...
.
After the Six Day War he became one of the first Palestinians involved in contacts with Israel after it captured the Eastern part of the city and later encouraged his son,
Sari Nusseibeh
Sari Nusseibeh ( ar, سري نسيبة) (born in 1949) is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and former president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. Until December 2002, he was the representative of the Palestinian National Authority in t ...
, to make contact with the Israelis.
Early life
Ancestry
Nuseibeh was from an aristocratic Arab family descended from the female chieftain
Nusaybah bint Ka'ab
Nusaybah bint Ka'ab ( ar, نسيبة بنت كعب; also ''ʾUmm ʿAmmarah'', ''Umm Umara'', ''Umm marah''Ghadanfar, Mahmood Ahmad. "Great Women of Islam", Riyadh. 2001.pp. 207-215), was one of the early women to convert to Islam. She was one of t ...
, an early convert to Islam who defended
Muhammed
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...
during the
Battle of Uhud
The Battle of Uhud ( ar, غَزْوَة أُحُد, ) was fought on Saturday, 23 March 625 AD (7 Shawwal, 3 AH), in the valley north of Mount Uhud.Watt (1974) p. 136. The Qurayshi Meccans, led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, commanded an army of 3,000 m ...
in 625. The Neuseibeh family were guardians of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
, whose keys had been entrusted to the Nuseibeh family by
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
in 1192.
Birth and education
Nuseibeh was born in Jerusalem and was educated at
The Perse School
(He who does things for others does them for himself)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, religion = Nondenominational Christian
, president =
, head_label = Head
, he ...
in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, becoming the first
Palestinian Arab
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
to be sent to an English public school. He then went to
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
, where he studied law. He was a keen sportsman who captained the Cambridge tennis team, an accomplished horseman and a talented pianist. After Cambridge he went on to
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
where he was called to the bar. During his time at Queens', he was a contemporary of
Abba Eban
Abba Solomon Meir Eban (; he, אבא אבן ; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was an Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages.
During his career, he served as Fo ...
, who would later be
Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's ...
during the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 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, S ...
.
Political career
Nuseibeh started working for the
British administration of Palestine in 1936, first as Land Officer, and then as a magistrate in
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
and then
Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
. At the same time, he worked with his father in law,
Yaqub al-Ghusayn
Yaqub al-Ghussein ( ar, يعقوب الغصين, ) (1899-1948) was a Palestinian landowner from Ramla and founder of the Youth Congress Party. He graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. Ghussein was elected president of the first Nation ...
, in the anti-British nationalist movement, often helping in clandestine operations to source weapons for the Palestinian nationalist rebels. In 1939 he supported the Malcolm
MacDonald White Paper
The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British government ...
which essentially called for the creation of a single democratic state for all citizens in Palestine irrespective of race. This was rejected by the
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
movement as it limited Jewish immigration during increased demand because of the Nazis. In 1945, he went to London at the behest of
Abd al-Rahman Pasha Azzam, an Egyptian statesman who was a friend of
Yaqub al-Ghusayn
Yaqub al-Ghussein ( ar, يعقوب الغصين, ) (1899-1948) was a Palestinian landowner from Ramla and founder of the Youth Congress Party. He graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. Ghussein was elected president of the first Nation ...
and founder of the
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, to head the Arab Office there. This was seen as a counter-move to the
Mufti
A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...
's move to Berlin.
1948 Arab–Israeli War and All-Palestine Government
In 1947 he was appointed Secretary to the
Arab National Committee and was responsible for co-ordinating the
Arab defence of Jerusalem when 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 ...
broke out. Nuseibeh lost his leg fighting the Israeli forces in 1948 on his return with his convoy from a failed mission to convince
Abdullah I of Jordan
AbdullahI bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين, translit=Abd Allāh al-Awwal bin al-Husayn, 2 February 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the ruler of Jordan from 11 April 1921 until his assassination in 1951. He was the Emir ...
, then at Shuna in Jordan, to lend a single piece of artillery to hold the valley approach to Jerusalem against the advance by Israeli militias. After a brief period recuperating in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, he returned to Palestine to become Secretary to the Cabinet of the
Government of all Palestine in
Gaza. After 1948, he led the Arab delegation to discuss the terms of the armistice and the ceasefire line with the newly founded Israeli government. He originally opposed the
Jericho Conference
The Jericho Conference ( ar, مؤتمر أريحا) was held in December 1948 to decide the future of the portion of Palestine that was held by Jordan at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, led by Sheikh Muhammad Ali Ja'abari. Pro-Jordanian ...
, which was favoured by his brother
Hazem, but accepted the will of the majority and returned to Jerusalem to serve in the Jordanian government.
Jordanian minister and diplomat
Nuseibeh held a number of cabinet posts in the Jordanian government, including Defence, Interior and Education, and stood for
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
as well as serving in the Senate. By the late 1950s he had moved away from the government in
Amman
Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
as he gave up on convincing the young
King Hussein
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
to accept Parliamentary democracy. In 1961, he became governor of Jerusalem but was dismissed after he refused to allow a US Senator to cross the
Mandelbaum Mandelbaum is a Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname from the German ''Mandelbaum'' ‘almond tree’.Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press Notable people with the surname include:
* Albert Mandelbaum (1925–unknown), Israeli ...
check point from Israel into Jerusalem on the basis that such an act would be a de facto admission that the border was legal, as opposed to simply a cease fire line. He was dismissed by the King which led to riots in Jerusalem in his support. In 1965, he became the Jordanian Ambassador to the Court of St. James. During his time as an ambassador in London, Nuseibeh established a warm relationship with members of the British Royal Family.
Return to Jerusalem
He returned to Jerusalem just before the
1967 war
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Jun ...
(technically abandoning his post) and continued to live there under occupation. In 1970, he fell out with the
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...
because he thought their war with the Jordanian authorities was ill-conceived and dishonorable (since they were effectively 'guests' in Jordan). In 1974 he moved further from the Palestinian nationalist cause when he opposed the
Rabat Conference for two reasons. First, he believed that
King Hussein
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
and
President Nasser had a moral duty to the Palestinians to restore the 1967 borders, because it was lost 'on their watch'. Secondly, he believed that making the PLO the 'sole representative of the Palestinian people' was merely a precursor to their accepting the legality of the State of Israel, which he never did. That is why he was adamant that the first step was always
UN resolution 242, then a discussion of democratic principles as the only moral solution to the problem. He always held the view that his implacable refusal to accept the legality of the State of Israel did not preclude conversation with a people he viewed as fellow Arabs with a different religion, and so became one of the first Palestinians involved in contacts with Israel after it captured the Arab sector of the city.
His final act of public service was taking on the post of Chairman of the East Jerusalem Electric company,
[ which had become the center for a tug of war over the legality of Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem. It is notable that at the death of this essentially patrician Arab, his large funeral was led by the socialist labour unions.
During his life, he filled the following positions:]
*Land Officer of Jerusalem, 1936.
*Magistrate Nazareth, then Jafa.
*Head of Arab Offices London 1945.
*Secretary to the Arab National Committee 1947–48 (Coordinating Defense of Jerusalem).
*Cabinet Secretary of the All-Palestine Government
, image =
, caption = Flag of the All-Palestine Government
, date = 22 September 1948
, state = All-Palestine Protectorate
, address = Gaza City, All-Palestine Protectorate (Sep.–Dec. 1948) ...
, formed by Amin al-Husseini
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897
– 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notable ...
in Gaza, September–October 1948.
*Elected in 1950 as a Palestinian representative to the lower house (Chamber of Deputies) of the Parliament of Jordan
The Parliament of Jordan ( ar, مجلس الأمة ') is the bicameral Jordanian national assembly. Established by the 1952 Constitution, the legislature consists of two houses: the Senate ( ar, مجلس الأعيان ''Majlis Al-Aayan'') ...
.
*Appointed in September 1952, as the Jordanian Cabinet (Minister of Defense, later Minister of Development and Reconstruction, later and Minister of Interior and finally of Education).
*Appointed in 1963, to the Upper House (Senate).
*Appointed as the Governor of Jerusalem, 1961.
*Appointed as the Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1965–67.
*Legal Council to the UNRWA 1967–1979.
*Appointed as Executive chairman to the East Jerusalem Electric Company 1979–86.
Death
Nuseibeh died of cancer on 22 November 1986 at his home in Jerusalem at the age of 74.[ He was buried at the gates of the Noble Sanctuary within the confines of Haram as-Sharif ]Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque (, ), also known as Jami' Al-Aqsa () or as the Qibli Mosque ( ar, المصلى القبلي, translit=al-Muṣallā al-Qiblī, label=none), and also is a congregational mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situate ...
. His funeral was attended by thousands of people.
Political views
Nuseibeh was an Arab nationalist
Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...
who believed in parliamentary democracy
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
and in maintaining Arab consensus, on the grounds that Arab unity was more important than individual differences. He also believed in accepting the will of the majority, hence his participation in Jordanian politics following the Jericho Conference
The Jericho Conference ( ar, مؤتمر أريحا) was held in December 1948 to decide the future of the portion of Palestine that was held by Jordan at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, led by Sheikh Muhammad Ali Ja'abari. Pro-Jordanian ...
of 1948. He believed that holding fast to one's principles does not preclude one from dialogue with the other, hence his reputation for openness and accessibility. He always maintained that the Jews, as Semites, were Arabs and had all the rights due to Arabs throughout the Arab world. Before 1947 several Jewish lawyers took their articles in his offices. This belief led to his support for a single state solution for Palestine in 1939, his opposition to the fascist dogmas in Europe in the 1930s and later as postulated by the Ba'ath movement. When invited to become a founding member by Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq ( ar, ميشيل عفلق, Mīšīl ʿAflaq, , 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its politic ...
, he declined in a telegram with a single line of 'I have always opposed Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
'. He also opposed the expelling of Jews from Arab states post 1947.
See also
* Nusaybah (disambiguation)
References
;General
*The London Times Obituary, 24 November 1986.
*Al-Qus Obituary, 23 November 1986
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuseibeh, Anwar
1913 births
1986 deaths
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Ambassadors of Jordan to the United Kingdom
Construction ministers of Jordan
Defence ministers of Jordan
Education ministers of Jordan
Government ministers of Jordan
Jordanian Arab nationalists
Jordanian people of Palestinian descent
Jordanian people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Members of the House of Representatives (Jordan)
Members of the Senate of Jordan
Anwar
Palestinian Arab nationalists
Palestinian nationalists
People educated at The Perse School
Mandatory Palestine people of World War II
Members of the All-Palestine Government