Nakba or The Palestinian Failure

Regarding the "Nakba (Catastrophe)".

I previously wrote in detail about the Nachbah or Nackba in an earlier Blog entry of mine. After seeing comments from readers and in Talkbacks, the one question never asked is why this fictional country Palestine was not created after the Partition vote in 1947.

It is a historically recorded fact that the "existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" or as they called themselves the "Arabs of the Mandated areas" refused to accept the UNR181 ‎‎(The Partition Plan) in 1947 to create a “Palestinian State.”

 Instead they allowed the seven armies of the Arab League, who not only outnumbered the Israeli forces but had superior arms and funds, ‎to invade the League of Nations Mandated territory only to be humiliated in an overwhelmingly inglorious defeat at the hands of the fledgling Israeli army.

The question that begs to be asked is; "Why did  these "Arabs of the Mandated areas" allow themselves to be shunted aside and "invaded" by the Arab League?"

"Was there no "Palestinian Arab" shadow government and leadership like that of the "Jewish Zionists" to take control?"

The answer to this is a resounding "NO"! And they still do not!

So who were the “Palestinian Leaders”?

The "Arabs of the Mandated Area" were divide between two powerful extended family groups the Nashashibi and the al-Husayni clans who dominated Palestinian affairs during the British Mandate period, from 1920 until 1948.
Throughout the British mandate period, the Husayni and Nashashibi clans constantly competed for power. At the end of World War II, the Palestinian Arabs were divided and leaderless.

While the two families did not differ on their long-term goals (stopping the influx of European Jews and preserving the future Arab Palestinian state), they disagreed on the best way to achieve those goals. The al-Husayni family rejected the British mandate and Zionism as a whole, while the Nashashibis felt that the best approach was through political compromise.

Mohammad Amin al-Husayni was appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem by the British High Commissioner in 1921, a position he used to promote Islam while rallying a non-confessional Arab nationalism against Zionism. He was also President of the Supreme Muslim Council.
Haj Amin al-Husseini had been in exile since 1937 after evading an arrest warrant and spent the war years in occupied Europe. He actively collaborated with both Italy and with the Nazi leadership in Germany by making propagandistic radio broadcasts and by helping the Nazis recruit Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS. On meeting Adolf Hitler he requested backing for Arab independence and support in opposing the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home. At the war's end he came under French protection, and then sought refuge in Cairo to avoid prosecution.

In June 1946, the Arab League imposed upon the Palestinians the Arab Higher Executive, renamed as "Arab Higher Committee" in 1947, with Amin al-Husayni (then living in Egypt) as its chairman and Jamal al-Husayni as vice-chairman.

On the left above is a copy of a leaflet, distributed by the Mufti High Command after the U.N partition resolution, which calls on the Arabs to attack and conquer all of Palestine, to ignite all of the Middle East and to curtail the U.N partition resolution.

In September of 1948 with the defeat of the Arab League armies and the failure of the Arabs of the Mandated Areas to found a state.  The Mufti participated in the creation of an All-Palestine Government within the Egyptian controled Gaza Strip. All-Palestine Government won limited recognition by Arab states but was eventually dissolved by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1959.
After the creation of the Jewish State of Israel in the 1948 War. The Mufti's claims at leadership were shunned aside as he had been discredited in the defeat. In 1964 with the establishment of the PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization, he had lost all credibility and political influence. He died in July of 1974 in Beirut, Lebanon.
It has been a matter of historical dispute whether this highly controversial figure's fierce opposition to Zionism was grounded in nationalism or antisemitism or a combination of both.

Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni  was the nephew of Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti. Abd al-Qadir led the Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas or Holy War Army a force of Palestinian irregulars against the Haganah and other Jewish militias during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Abd al-Qadir's  army consisted of a force of 5,000 to 10,000, both foreign fighters from Arab states, They conducted a blockade of Jerusalem by attacking the Jewish convoys that attempted to breach the closure and bring relief and supplies to the starving population in the city.
Abd al-Qadir was killed during the battle for control of Qastal Hill on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, on 8 April 1948 and his death was a factor in the loss of morale among his forces.
Abd al-Qadir was the father of Faisal al-Husayni, born July 17th,1940 and died May 31st 2001. Faisal was the founder and leader of Arab Studies Society and he was considered to be a possible future leader of the Palestinian people. He also served as head of Fatah organization in the West Bank and Palestinian Authority Minister for Jerusalem Affairs from his headquarters,in the Orient House.

The Nashashibi family was considered to be politically moderate compared to the more militant views of the Husayni family. The Nashashibis favoured political, rather than violent, opposition to the British mandate and Zionism. They were also willing to compromise in some areas that many Palestinians were not. For example, the Nashashibi family favoured the partition proposed by Britain.

The bickering and diverse political views of these two partisan families largely created a rift of factionalism among Arabs of the Mandated areas that crippled them in fighting the "Zionists" and this is the story of why there is no "Palestinian" country.