Mu'in al-Madi
Encyclopedia
Mu'in al-Madi (?-1957) was a Palestinian Arab politician and member of the Arab Higher Committee
. He was one of the founders of the al-Istiqlal (Independence)
party, which espoused Arab nationalism
. Al-Madi helped organize the 1936-39 revolt in Palestine.
family, al-Madi, in the town of Ijzim
west of the Jezreel Valley
. The al-Madi family rose to prominence in the first half of the 19th century, originating from Ijzim where they owned considerable amounts of land. They expanded their holdings to the city of Haifa
and dominated swathes of territory along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine
, stretching from Jaffa
to villages north of Haifa. Mu'in's father, Abdullah al-Madi, was a member of Haifa's municipal council from 1902-05 and 1912.
Mu'in received his primary education at the government-run al-Rushdiyya School in Haifa, finishing in 1908. He later enrolled in the al-Mulkiyya School (Royal College) in Istanbul
where he learned the Turkish language
. After graduating in 1912, he began his career as an Ottoman
clerk in the town of Kashmuna in Anatolia
.
's municipality and then leader of Baysan. On August 1, 1915, upon suspicion of helping Arab nationalists, he was transferred to Beirut
(the Ottoman governor there, Jamal Pasha, had already hanged a number of Arab nationalists in the city) to serve as governmental employee. Following this demotion, he was tried by a military tribunal on charges of "conspiracy against the Ottoman state," but the charges were acquitted when his father interfered on his behalf. Al-Madi's demotion and trial left him embittered with the Ottoman authorities and after his release, he took up an alias and hid in the house of an Arab Christian, Najib al-Hakim, in Damascus
.
which also included Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim
, a prominent businessman and local Haifan leader. He had previously joined the nationalist underground organization, al-Fatat
. Initially, al-Madi's activities centered on the Hashemite
s, who led the Great Arab Revolt
against the Ottoman Turks in 1917. He served under the short-lived Damascus-based government of King Faisal ibn al-Hussein
, a Hashemite, in 1920. During this period, he was appointed governor of al-Karak in Transjordan
, as well as the Director of Intelligence.
After the dissolution of the pan-Arab government in May 1921, al-Madi returned to Ijzim. His background in addition to his education, allowed him to take controversial stands without affecting his position as an Arab nationalist. He was one of the few members in this movement to make compromises with the question of establishing an Arab Legislative Council. By 1924, he began to gain influence in Ijzim and formed a base of support in Haifa. He and Najib al-Hakim joined and offered their services without charge to the Haifa branch of the Palestine Arab Workers Society
(PAWS) upon its founding in 1925, in order to counter the influence of the Jewish labor organization, Histadrut
.
party which espoused pan-Arabism, independence from Great Britain
, and the assertion of the Palestinian Arab identity within Greater Syria
. He was one of the organizers of the 1933 anti-British demonstrations in Jaffa
.
He was later appointed to the Arab Higher Committee
(AHC), established in early 1936 by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
. In June, he was dispatched to Baghdad
where he was "enthusiastically" received. He successfully managed to convince Yasin al-Hashimi
, the Prime Minister of Iraq
, to release Fawzi al-Qawuqji
from the army to lead an Arab volunteer army against the British in Palestine
. He was again sent to Iraq (with Izzat Darwaza
and al-Haj Ibrahim) in January 1937, as well as to Riyadh
, to garner support for the Arab revolt that was initiated the year prior. He was exiled with most of the Palestinian Arab leadership and was one of the first leaders to meet with al-Husayni in Lebanon
to discuss a new Arab strategy. In January 1938, the French Mandate
authorities had al-Madi banished to Alexandretta in northern Syria.
. Because of al-Husayni's unwillingness to include wider representation in the AHC, al-Madi resigned from in mid-1947. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
, al-Madi fled his native village for Damascus where he died in 1957.
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...
. He was one of the founders of the al-Istiqlal (Independence)
Independence Party (Palestine)
The Independence Party was an Arab nationalist party established on 13 August, 1932, in Palestine during the British mandate. Its origins lay in the Istiqlal movement associated with the short-lived Sharifian government in Damascus....
party, which espoused Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
. Al-Madi helped organize the 1936-39 revolt in Palestine.
Early life and background
Mu'in was born to the large landowning ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
family, al-Madi, in the town of Ijzim
Ijzim
Ijzim was a Palestinian village located in the Haifa district of British Mandate Palestine, 19.5 kilometers south of the city, that was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war...
west of the Jezreel Valley
Jezreel Valley
-Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...
. The al-Madi family rose to prominence in the first half of the 19th century, originating from Ijzim where they owned considerable amounts of land. They expanded their holdings to the city of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
and dominated swathes of territory along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, stretching from Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
to villages north of Haifa. Mu'in's father, Abdullah al-Madi, was a member of Haifa's municipal council from 1902-05 and 1912.
Mu'in received his primary education at the government-run al-Rushdiyya School in Haifa, finishing in 1908. He later enrolled in the al-Mulkiyya School (Royal College) in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
where he learned the Turkish language
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
. After graduating in 1912, he began his career as an Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
clerk in the town of Kashmuna in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
.
Municipalities of Acre and Baysan
In 1914, al-Madi was elected head of AcreAcre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
's municipality and then leader of Baysan. On August 1, 1915, upon suspicion of helping Arab nationalists, he was transferred to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
(the Ottoman governor there, Jamal Pasha, had already hanged a number of Arab nationalists in the city) to serve as governmental employee. Following this demotion, he was tried by a military tribunal on charges of "conspiracy against the Ottoman state," but the charges were acquitted when his father interfered on his behalf. Al-Madi's demotion and trial left him embittered with the Ottoman authorities and after his release, he took up an alias and hid in the house of an Arab Christian, Najib al-Hakim, in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
.
Arab nationalism
From 1918, al-Madi was among the focal members of an emerging group of Arab nationalists based in Haifa and linked the pan-Arab movement of SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
which also included Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim
Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim
Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim was a Palestinian Arab banker and a leader of the Independence Party of Palestine . He was one of the most influential Arab leaders of Haifa in the first half of the 20th-century and played a leading role in both the 1936 Arab revolt and the 1948 Battle of Haifa.-Early life...
, a prominent businessman and local Haifan leader. He had previously joined the nationalist underground organization, al-Fatat
Al-fatat
Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society was founded in 1911 by Arab nationalist, Izzat Darwaza .It was a secret Arab nationalist organization under the Ottoman Empire. Its aims were to gain independence and unity for various Arab nations then under the Ottoman rule. It found adherents in areas such as...
. Initially, al-Madi's activities centered on the Hashemite
Hashemite
Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...
s, who led the Great Arab Revolt
Great Arab Revolt
The Great Arab Revolt may refer to:*The 1916-1918 Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali*The Iraqi revolt against the British in 1920.*The Great Syrian Revolt of 1924-1927.*The 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine....
against the Ottoman Turks in 1917. He served under the short-lived Damascus-based government of King Faisal ibn al-Hussein
Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
, a Hashemite, in 1920. During this period, he was appointed governor of al-Karak in Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
, as well as the Director of Intelligence.
After the dissolution of the pan-Arab government in May 1921, al-Madi returned to Ijzim. His background in addition to his education, allowed him to take controversial stands without affecting his position as an Arab nationalist. He was one of the few members in this movement to make compromises with the question of establishing an Arab Legislative Council. By 1924, he began to gain influence in Ijzim and formed a base of support in Haifa. He and Najib al-Hakim joined and offered their services without charge to the Haifa branch of the Palestine Arab Workers Society
Palestine Arab Workers Society
The Palestine Arab Workers Society was the main Arab labor organization in the British Mandate of Palestine. Its headquarters were in Haifa where it was established in 1925. From 1937 onwards, its general secretary was Sami Taha...
(PAWS) upon its founding in 1925, in order to counter the influence of the Jewish labor organization, Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
.
Independence Party of Palestine
On August 2, 1932, al-Madi became one of nine Palestinians who founded the al-Istiqlal (Independence)Independence Party (Palestine)
The Independence Party was an Arab nationalist party established on 13 August, 1932, in Palestine during the British mandate. Its origins lay in the Istiqlal movement associated with the short-lived Sharifian government in Damascus....
party which espoused pan-Arabism, independence from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and the assertion of the Palestinian Arab identity within Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
. He was one of the organizers of the 1933 anti-British demonstrations in Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
.
He was later appointed to the Arab Higher Committee
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...
(AHC), established in early 1936 by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.-Ottoman era:...
, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
. In June, he was dispatched to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
where he was "enthusiastically" received. He successfully managed to convince Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi was an Iraqi politician who served twice as that country's prime minister. Like many of Iraq's early leaders, Hashimi, who was born Yasin Hilmi Salman, served as an officer during Ottoman control of the country...
, the Prime Minister of Iraq
Prime Minister of Iraq
The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority...
, to release Fawzi al-Qawuqji
Fawzi Al-Qawuqji
Fawzi al-Qawuqji was the field commander of the Arab Liberation Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in Palestine, and a rival of the principal Palestinian Arab leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.-Biography:...
from the army to lead an Arab volunteer army against the British in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. He was again sent to Iraq (with Izzat Darwaza
Izzat Darwaza
Muhammad 'Izzat Darwaza was a Palestinian politician, historian, and educator from Nablus. Early in his career, he worked as an Ottoman bureaucrat in Palestine and Lebanon. Darwaza had long been a sympathizer of Arab nationalism and became an activist of that cause following the Arab revolt...
and al-Haj Ibrahim) in January 1937, as well as to Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, to garner support for the Arab revolt that was initiated the year prior. He was exiled with most of the Palestinian Arab leadership and was one of the first leaders to meet with al-Husayni in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
to discuss a new Arab strategy. In January 1938, the French Mandate
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
authorities had al-Madi banished to Alexandretta in northern Syria.
Later life
Al-Madi received amnesty in 1946. The re-established AHC again appointed him a member in January 1947. He could not attend the London Conference that year due to an illness and was temporarily replaced by Sami TahaSami Taha
-Early life:Taha was born in Arrabah, a town near Jenin. He had completed primary school but, through independent study, he became fluent in English and acquired a good knowledge of labour law. His family later moved to Haifa, where he lived during his teenage years, in the early 1930s...
. Because of al-Husayni's unwillingness to include wider representation in the AHC, al-Madi resigned from in mid-1947. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, al-Madi fled his native village for Damascus where he died in 1957.