Birth: 1/10/1894 Death:1/1/1962
Born in Jerusalem in Oct. 1894; studied at St. George’s School and the English College in Jerusalem; studied Medicine at the AUB and at Istanbul University; served in the Ottoman army during WWI, mainly in Gaza, and later in Emir Faisal’s army in Aleppo from 1918-19; worked as a medical doctor for the Public Health Dept. in Aleppo during Emir Faisal’s rule in 1920; returned to Mandatory Palestine to work in the Health Dept. from 1921-34, eventually as Senior Medical Officer (SMO) in the Nablus and Jerusalem districts; also worked as lecturer in Forensic Medicine at the Jerusalem Law School; was a member at several medical associations and congresses; resigned as SMO in 1934 and was elected Municipal Councilor for Jerusalem; was appointed mayor of Jerusalem in 1935 (until 1937); founded the Reform Party (Hizb Al-Islah) in Jenin on 23 June 1935 and became its leader; member of the first Arab Higher Committee formed in 1936; was arrested by the British for membership in the ‘illegal’ Arab Higher Committee and exiled to the Seychelles Islands in Aug. 1937, but released in 1938; took part in the London Conference at St. James’s Palace in Feb. 1939; among those rejecting the British government’s White Paper proposal; returned to Palestine in 1942 and worked in a private medical practice; joined the reconstituted Arab Higher Committee in 1945 and became its Secretary in 1946; was the only member of the Arab Higher Committee to stay in Palestine during the fighting in 1947-48, but without influence; briefly joined the All-Palestine Government in 1948; known for his moderate position; served as Custodian and Supervisor of the Haram Ash-Sharif in 1951; was Jordanian FM in 1953 and 1955, and appointed PM for a brief period in 1957; died on 26 Dec. 1962.
