Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari ( ar, محمد نمر الهواري; 1908 - July 11, 1984) was a

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 ...

-born Palestinian who studied law in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, graduating in 1939. Al-Hawari served in the British Mandate administration as chief interpreter in the district court of

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 ...

and chairman of the Association of Government second-division officers. He was transferred to

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

where he resigned his government position in 1942. On his resignation, he returned to practicing law in Jaffa.Haim Levenberg (1993) "Military preparations of the Arab community in Palestine, 1945-1948: 1945-1948" Routledge , p. 129 Al-Hawari started his career as a devoted follower of Amin al-Husseini but broke with the influential Husseini family in the early 1940s.Benny Morris (2008) ''1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War''. Yale University Press , pp. 88-89. Muhammad Nimr Al-Hawari, during the termination of the British mandate, formed and commanded ''

al-Najjada al-Najjada ( ar, النجادة, or ''Munazzamat al-Najjada al-Falastiniyya'') was a Palestinian Arab paramilitary scout movement formed in Jaffa, British Mandate of Palestine on 8 December 1945.Morris, 2008, pp. 88-89.Haim Levenberg (1993) p 12 ...

'', a paramilitary armed movement. Al-Hawari was in command of the militia in the defence of Jaffa until he fled in the mass exodus of Palestinians in late December 1947. Al-Hawari fled from Jaffa to

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

in December 1947.Benny Morris (2004) "Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited" Cambridge Press , p. 111 Al-Hawari together with ‘Aziz Shihada (also spelt Shehadeh) a lawyer from

opened an office in the West Bank for

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

affairs. Hawari returned to Palestine and years later became judge in the District Court of

. In 1955, Muhammad Nimr Al-Hawari wrote and published a significant historic book titled, Sir Al-Nakba he Secret Behind the Nakba">Nakba.html" ;"title="he Secret Behind the Nakba">he Secret Behind the Nakba As well as his native Arabic, Al-Hawari was fluent in English and Hebrew.

General Refugee Congress

The first meeting of the General Refugee Congress (GRC) occurred on 17 March 1949 in Ramallah where al-Hawari was elected as President with Yahya Hammuda and ‘Aziz Shihada as deputies. The Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) hoping to gain a degree of independent Palestinian People">Palestinian representation, invited Al-Hawari to come and appear before the PCC.Ilan Pappé (1992) “The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1947-1951” I B Tauris , p. 223 At informal meetings at the Lausanne peace talks during May 1949, Al-Hawari as head of the Palestinian refugee delegation put forward to Eliahu Sasson a plan that Israel should accept 400,000 refugees to return to Palestine/Israel. A-Hawari put forward the argument that the Arab states did not want the refugees, would not assimilate them and that masses of refugees living on the cease fire lines, stateless and impoverished would give Israel nothing but grief. In June 1949 Al-Hawari contacted the Israeli Government suggesting an early solution to the refugee problem with 2 alternative plans; to create an independent Palestinian state or annex the West Bank to Israel. The failure of the attempt by al-Hawari, Yahya Hammuda, ‘Aziz Shihada, Sa’id Baidas and Francis Jelad to win a role for the independent refugee delegation at the Rhodes armistice talks in February 1949 and the subsequent Lausanne talks was an early demonstration of the inherent weakness of the Palestinian Arab people to replace the previous leadership structure destroyed by the collapse of the Palestinian society during the 1948 conflict. Although efforts were made to gain formal recognition of the GRC as a negotiating body and political representative of the Palestinian people. The Jordanian Government gradually marginalized the GRC until it withered away. Leaving Palestinian society fractured and fragmented.

All Palestine Government

Egypt sought the aid of Al-Hawari in early 1950 to strengthen the Mufti’s political position, A-Hawari did not comply.

Iqrit

Al-Hawari was involved with the first legal action against the state of Israel in 1951 on behalf of 5 men of the village of Iqrit. Al-Hawari acting as their lawyer was instrumental in gaining the right of return for the men of Iqrit. On 31 July 1951 the Israeli courts recognized the rights of the villagers to their land and their right to return to it. The court said the land was not abandoned and therefore could not be placed under the custodian of enemy property.Joseph L. Ryan, S.J.
"Refugees within Israel: The Case of the Villages of

Kafr Bir'im Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem ( ar, كفر برعم, he, כְּפַר בִּרְעָם), was a former village in Mandatory Palestine, located in modern-day northern Israel, south of the Lebanese border and northwest of Safed. The village was s ...

and Iqrit" in 2, no. 4 (Sum. 73): 55-81.

Published works

* ''Sir al- Nakba'' (The Secret Behind the Disaster), Nazareth – 1955

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Yoav Gelber (2006) Palestine 1948, Sussex Academic Press, *Haim Levenberg (1993) "Military preparations of the Arab community in Palestine, 1945-1948: 1945-1948" Routledge *Benny Morris (2008) 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War. Yale University Press *Benny Morris (2004) "Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited" Cambridge Press *Joseph L. Ryan, S.J. "Refugees within Israel: The Case of the Villages of

and Iqrit" Journal of Palestinian studies 2, no. 4 (Sum. 73): 55-81. *Ilan Pappé, (2006) The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Oneworld publications *Ilan Pappé (1992) “The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1947-1951” I B Tauris *Avi Plascov (1981), "The Palestinian refugees in Jordan 1948-1957" Routledge *Yezid Sayigh (1999) Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement 1949-1993. Oxford University Press *Avi Shlaim (1988 reprinted 2004) "The Politics of Partition; King Abdullah, The Zionists, and Palestine 1921-1951 Oxford University Press

References

Reference to "the late Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawari, Muhammad Nimr al Palestinian politicians Palestinian nationalists Arab citizens of Israel People from Nazareth 1948 Arab–Israeli War Palestinian writers 1908 births Year of death missing 20th-century Israeli judges