The National Defense Party ( ar, حزب الدفاع الوطني ''Ḥizb al-Difāʿ al-Waṭanī'') was founded by

Raghib al-Nashashibi Raghib al-Nashashibi ( ar, راغب النشاشيبي, ) (1881–1951), CBE (hon), was a wealthy landowner and public figure during the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate and the Jordanian administration. He was a member of the Nashashibi clan ...

in the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

in December 1934. The party was regarded as less extreme than the more popular

Palestine Arab Party The Palestinian Arab Party ( ar, الحزب العربي الفلسطيني ''‘Al-Hizb al-'Arabi al-Filastini'') was a political party in Palestine established by the influential Husayni family in May 1935. Jamal al-Husayni was the founder and ...

. Its program called for an independent Palestine with an Arab majority and rejection of 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 ...

. The party was represented on the first

Arab Higher Committee The Arab Higher Committee ( ar, اللجنة العربية العليا) or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of the Arab Palestinians in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative o ...

, 26 April 1936, but withdrew in early July 1937. It managed to avoid being banned when all the other Palestinian Arab nationalist parties were suppressed by the authorities beginning in October 1937. The party actively assisted the British during the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On t ...

and were regarded as collaborators and subject to attacks and assassinations. The second Arab Higher Committee tried to exclude members of the NDP from being included in the Palestinian Arab delegation to the 1939

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

. A compromise was reached and Raghib al-Nashashibi and a colleague joined the conference two days after its start. The NDP was the first Palestinian political party to announce that it accepted the 1939

White Paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

.''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. . p.948,949

References

Citations

Sources

* History of Mandatory Palestine Political parties in Mandatory Palestine Political parties established in 1934 1934 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Political parties with year of disestablishment missing {{Mandate-Palestine-stub