Jamal al-Husayni

Who was Jamal al-Husayni?

Jamal al-Husayni was born in Jerusalem and was a member of the influential Husayni family.

Husayni served as Secretary to the Executive Committee of the Palestine Arab Congress and to the Muslim Supreme Council. He was co-founder and chairman of the Palestine Arab Party, established in Jerusalem in 1935, and in 1937 became a member of the first Arab Higher Committee, led by Amin al-Husayni, later becoming its chairman.

During the 1936-39 Arab revolt he escaped first to Syria and then to Baghdad, Iraq. He led the Arab delegation to the 1939 London Conference and was Palestinian representative to the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry. Husayni was arrested by the British in 1941 and exiled to Southern Rhodesia. He was released at the end of World War II and returned to Palestine in 1946. He was an unofficial delegate to the United Nations in 1947-48. In September–October 1948 he was the foreign minister in the Egyptian-sponsored All-Palestine Government.