Jamal al-Husseini was a Palestinian politician born in Jerusalem in 1893. He joined the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut in 1912. He worked as a secretary of the Health Department in Jerusalem during the British occupation, an advisor to the governor of Nablus, an assistant to the governor of Ramla until 1920, and a secretary of the Supreme Islamic Sharia Council.
His life and work
He studied primary school in Jerusalem and continued his secondary school at Bishop Gobat School . In 1912, he joined the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut , but he only spent two years there because the university was closed due to the outbreak of World War I. His good knowledge of the English language led to his appointment to a high-ranking government position by the British Mandate government administration , but he soon resigned and established a translation office in Jerusalem .
His private life
He is married and has five sons and six daughters.
National Movement
He joined the Palestinian National Movement and was elected Secretary-General of the Executive Committees and Secretary-General of the Supreme Islamic Council . He participated in the Palestinian delegation headed by Hajj Amin al-Husseini to London in 1930. After his return, he was imprisoned in Acre Prison following his participation in the famous Jerusalem demonstration, but the Mandate authorities released them after Palestine went on strike for a whole week in protest against their arrest. He was elected President of the Palestinian Arab Party in March 1935, a member of the Arab Higher Committee, and headed the Palestinian delegation to London in 1936.
He participated in testifying before the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry in 1946, became Vice President of the Arab Higher Committee for Palestine (a political body representing the Palestinians), headed the Palestinian delegation to the London Conference in Britain to follow up on the Palestinian issue in 1947, was part of the Palestinian delegation participating in the meeting of the Political Committee of the League of Arab States in Cairo in 1947, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the All-Palestine Government in 1948, and represented it at the United Nations and at a number of international conferences.
the prison
He secretly joined Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini in Beirut when the British authorities dissolved the Arab Higher Committee and exiled some of its members to the Seychelles . He headed the Palestinian delegation to the Round Table Conference in London in early 1939 on behalf of Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini. He went to Iraq after the outbreak of World War II and the failure of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani's revolution , then to Iran where he was arrested by the British authorities along with a number of Palestinian and Arab leaders who were unable to escape to Germany . The British authorities threw them into the Ahwaz prison, then they were transferred to a prison in Rhodesia where they spent four years.
Back to Palestine
Members of the Arab Higher Committee in 1936, including Jamal al-Husseini.
Jamal al-Husseini returned to Palestine in early 1946, and resumed his political activity as head of the Palestinian Arab Party . He was chosen as a member of the "Arab Higher Committee for Palestine ", and headed a number of delegations to the United Nations and London, in addition to attending courses at the Arab League. He left for Cairo after the Nakba and participated in the All -Palestine Government and the Palestinian Conference held in Gaza in 1948. He moved to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Abdulaziz, conveyed by King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, and stayed with King Abdulaziz Al Saud until his death. After that, he was appointed Minister during the reign of King Saud , and then appointed as a special advisor to King Saud - the political division of the Royal Court. He also accompanied King Saud on most of his foreign trips, and after that, King Saud appointed him as a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in several areas, including the Reconciliation Committee between India and Pakistan in Kashmir , and the Committee to Support the Algerian Revolution with Sheikh Youssef Yassin , and then he worked in private trade in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in Lebanon.
His writings
Jamal Al-Husseini was interested in literature and published many articles in various newspapers. He also issued the newspaper “Al-Liwaa”, the mouthpiece of the Arab Party in Jerusalem in 1936. His name was awarded the Jerusalem Medal for Culture and Arts in 1990. Jamal Al-Husseini wrote two novels:
On the Hejaz Railway - Jerusalem, 1932.
Thuraya - Jerusalem, 1934.
His death
He died in Riyadh on July 5, 1982 and was buried there.
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