{{Short description|Palestinian journalist, historian and politician (1891–1973)}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Aref al-Aref | image = Aref al-Aref.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Mayor of East Jerusalem | term_start = 1949 | term_end = 1955 | predecessor = | successor = | office2 = Military Governor of Ramallah Governorate | term_start2 = | term_end2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = 1892 | birth_place = Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire | death_date = 30 July {{death year and age|1973|1892}} | death_place = Al-Bireh, West Bank | party = | spouse = | children = | alma_mater = Mulkiyya College in Istanbul | occupation = Journalist, historian, politician | profession = | signature = | signature_alt = | native_name = عارف العارف | native_name_lang = ar }}
'''Aref al-Aref''' ({{langx|ar|عارف العارف}}{{lrm}}; 1892–1973) was a Palestinian journalist, historian and politician. Born in Jerusalem in 1891, he studied in Constantinople (Istanbul) and joined Al-Muntada al-Adabi (The Literary Club) until he joined the Ottoman army during World War I. He was captured and spent three years in a prisoner-of-war camp in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, from where he escaped after the Russian Revolution and returned to Palestine. He served as mayor of East Jerusalem in the 1950s during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=مركز الشرق العربي ـ رجال الشرق ـ عارف العارف |url=http://www.asharqalarabi.org.uk/center/rijal-ar.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018073926/http://www.asharqalarabi.org.uk/center/rijal-ar.htm |archive-date=2021-10-18 |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=www.asharqalarabi.org.uk}}</ref>
==Biography== ===Early life=== Aref al-Aref was born in 1892 as Aref Shehadeh in Jerusalem, then part of the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=Tamari2>Tamari & Turjman (2011), pp. 66–68, 71–76</ref> His father was a vegetable vendor. Excelling at his studies in primary school, he was sent to the Marjan Preparatory School and Mulkiyya College in Constantinople (Istanbul). During his college studies, he wrote for a Turkish newspaper. Later, he worked as a translator for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<ref name=Tamari2/><ref name=Wasserstein>Wasserstein (1977)</ref> He served as an officer in the Ottoman Army in World War I. He was captured on the Caucasus front and spent three years in a prisoner of war camp in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, where, he learned Russian from the Russian officers and soldiers who were digging the camp, and he also learned German from the German and Austrian prisoners who were with him in captivity.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Tamari2" /> In Krasnoyarsk, he edited a newspaper in handwritten Arabic called ''Nakatullah'' [Camel of God] and translated Ernst Haeckel's ''Die Weltraethsel'' ("The Riddles of the Universe") into Turkish.<ref name="Tamari2" /> After the Russian Revolution and news spread of the Arab Revolt, he convinced twenty-one Arab prisoners to escape from the prison to join the ranks of the revolution. They escaped and took the route of Manchuria, Japan, China, and Egypt via the Red Sea. During this long journey, the truce was declared and the war ended. He returned in 1918 to what had become British-occupied Mandatory Palestine.<ref name=Tamari2/><ref name=":0" />
===Political activism=== [[File:Aref al-Aref as governor of Beersheba.jpg|thumb|300px|Aref al-Aref (seated, center), as District Administrative Officer of Bir al-Saba', later renamed to Beersheba, during British rule of Palestine.]] thumb|150px|Home of Aref al-Aref, Beersheba By 1919, al-Aref was involved in political activism in Palestine, agitating for unity of Palestine with Syria.<ref name=Tamari>Tamari & Turjman (2011), pp. 78–79</ref> In October 1919, he became editor of the recently established newspaper ''Suriya al-Janubiya'' (Southern Syria), which was the first Arab nationalist newspaper published in Jerusalem and was an organ of the al-Nadi al-'Arabi (The Arab Club).<ref name=Wasserstein/><ref name=Tamari/> Initially the paper supported the British military authorities, but soon became an opponent of the British Mandate.<ref name=Tamari/>
Al-Aref attended the Nebi Musa religious festival in Jerusalem in 1920 riding on his horse, and gave a speech at the Jaffa Gate.<ref name=Wasserstein/> The nature of his speech is disputed. According to Benny Morris, he said "If we don't use force against the Zionists and against the Jews, we will never be rid of them",<ref>Morris (2011)</ref> while Bernard Wasserstein wrote "he seems to have cooperated with the police, and there is no evidence that he actively instigated violence".<ref name=Wasserstein/> In fact, "Zionist intelligence reports of this period are unanimous in stressing that he spoke repeatedly against violence".<ref name=Wasserstein/> Soon the festival became a riot involving attacks on the local Jews. Al-Aref was arrested for incitement, but when he was let out on bail he escaped to Syria together with co-accused Haj Amin al-Husseini.<ref name=Wasserstein/> In another version, he was warned and escaped before being arrested.<ref name=Tauber>Ṭauber (1994), pp. 95, 105</ref> He advised Arabs against violence, urging them instead to adopt the "discipline, silence, and courage" of their opponents.<ref name=Wasserstein/> In his absence, a military court sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.<ref name=Wasserstein/>
In Damascus, al-Aref became a deputy to the General Syrian Congress and with Hajj Amin and others formed al-Jam'iyya al-'Arabiyya al-Filastiniyya (Palestinian Arab Society).<ref name=Wasserstein/><ref name=Tauber/> He became its Secretary-General and campaigned against the decisions of the San Remo conference.<ref name=Tauber/> After the French invasion of Syria in July 1920, he fled to Transjordan.<ref name=Wasserstein/> He returned to Jerusalem late in 1920 after being pardoned by the new British High Commissioner for Palestine, Herbert Samuel, but the government refused to allow his newspaper to reopen.<ref name=Wasserstein/>
Al-Aref helped in popularizing the term "Nakba", in his encyclopaedic research ''Nakbat Filastin wa al-Firdaws al-Mafqud:1947-1955'' (The Palestinian Nakba and the Lost Paradise: 1947–1955), In it, he chronicled the events from the November 29, 1947, Partition Plan proposal through the intense battles of 1947/48 and their aftermath, up to 1955. In its introduction, he argued for the need to designate the events following the Partition Plan—what befell the Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular—as the 'Nakba' (catastrophe), stating:<blockquote>How can I not call it [the Nakba]? During this period we have been stricken by catastrophe, we, the society of Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular, as we have not been stricken for centuries and epochs: we have been deprived of our homeland, expelled from our homes, and have lost a great number of our people our own flesh and blood, and, above all, have been struck at the very core of our dignity.<ref>{{Cite journal |first= |date=2011 |title=The Palestinians in Israel Readings in History, Politics and Society |url=https://mada-research.org/storage/uploads/2020/06/english.indd_.pdf |journal=Mada Al-Carmel Arab Center for Applied Social Research |pages=19–20}}</ref></blockquote>
===Political career=== In 1921, he was appointed as a district Officer of the British administration by the Civil Secretary, Colonel Wyndham Deedes.<ref name=Wasserstein/> He served in that capacity in Jenin, Nablus, Beisan, and Jaffa.<ref name=Wasserstein/> In 1926 he was seconded to the Government of Transjordan as Chief Secretary, where he served for three years.<ref name=Wasserstein/> However he continued his political activities on the side to the displeasure of his British superior.<ref name=Wasserstein/> He returned to Palestine in 1929, where he served as District Officer in Beersheba and later in Gaza.<ref name=Wasserstein/> In 1933 he received a special commendation from the High Commissioner for keeping his district quiet during a time of disturbances elsewhere.<ref name=Wasserstein/> In 1942 he was promoted and transferred to al-Bireh.<ref name=Wasserstein/> He continued as a Mandate official until 1948.<ref name=Wasserstein/>
Upon Jordanian control of the West Bank, al-Aref was first appointed military governor of Ramallah governorate, and then, from 1949 to 1955, served as mayor of East Jerusalem.<ref name=Fischbach>Fischbach (2005)</ref> In 1967, he was appointed director of the Palestine Archaeological Museum (Rockefeller Museum) in Jerusalem.<ref name=Fischbach/>
Aref al-Aref died on 30 July 1973, in al-Bireh.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
==Published works== All following books have been published in Arabic, unless mentioned otherwise, and the English titles are literal translations of the Arabic ones. *[The] Bedouin Law/Bedouin Judiciary (''Al Qadaa bayn al Badou''), 1933;<ref name=Jad>{{cite book |last= Jad |first= Islah |author-link= |title= Palestine |pages= 217, 231 |editor= Suad Joseph|publisher= Syracuse University Press |year= 2018 |isbn= 9780815654247 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ex0xDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA217}}</ref> new edition published in Beirut, 2001<ref name=Assi/> *History of Beersheba and its Tribes (''Tarikh B’ir al-Sabi‘ wa Qabailiha''), Jerusalem 1934.<ref name=Pappe>{{cite book |title= The Israel/Palestine Question |editor-last= Pappé |editor-first= Ilan |editor-link= Ilan Pappé |publisher= Routledge |year= 2005 |orig-year= 1999 |isbn= 0-203-00376-4 |url= https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/5689998/mod_resource/content/1/isra_palestine%20question%20%5BIlan%20Pappe%CC%81%5D.pdf |access-date= 14 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=Assi>{{cite book |last= Assi |first= Seraje |title= The History and Politics of the Bedouin: Reimagining Nomadism in Modern Palestine |pages= 332–333 |publisher= Routledge |series= Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict |year= 2018 |isbn= 9781351257862 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT332|access-date= 14 August 2021}}</ref> Probably identical with "The Bedouin Love, Law and Legend: History of Beersheba and Its Tribes", 1934<ref name=Jad/> *My Vision (''Ru'yay''), Jerusalem 1943<ref name=Assi/> *History of Gaza (''Tarikh Ghazza''), Jerusalem 1943<ref name=Assi/> *Gazan-Jerusalemite History (''Tarigh Ghaza-Al Quds''), Jerusalem 1943<ref name=Jad/> *'Aref el-'Aref, in collaboration with/editor Harold W. Tilley, in English. ''Bedouin Love, Law and Legend, Dealing Exclusively with the Badu of Beersheba''. Jerusalem 1944.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Bedouin-Love-dealing-exclusively-Beersheba/dp/B00178WL9W Amazon], with cover and precise description of the edition.</ref><ref>[https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH001967884/NLI Israel National Library]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1971743|title=Bedouin love law and legend dealing exclusively with the Badu of Beersheba|first=Aref al-|last=Aref|date=10 March 1944|via=National Library of Australia (new catalog)}}</ref> Also listed as ''Bedouin Love, Law and Legend: History of Beersheba and Its Tribes''.<ref name=Assi/> *History of al-Haram al-Sharif (''Tarikh al-Haram al-Sharif'' or ''Tarikh al-Haram al-Qudsi''), Jerusalem 1947<ref name=Pappe/><ref name=Assi/> *History of Jerusalem (''Tarikh al-Quds''), Cairo 1951<ref name=Assi/> and/or Summary of the History of Jerusalem (''Al Mijaz fi Tarikh al Quds''), Cairo 1951<ref name=Jad/> *The Disaster (''al-Nakba''), six vols., 1956–1961.<ref name=Jad/> Also listed as The catastrophe: The catastrophe of Jerusalem and the lost paradise (''al-Nakba: Nakbat Bayt al-Maqdis wal-firdaws al-mafqud'') *The Detailed History of Jerusalem (''al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-Quds''), Jerusalem 1961<ref name=Pappe/><ref name=Assi/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |last= Fischbach |first= Michael R. |title= Encyclopedia of the Palestinians |editor-last= Mattar |editor-first= Philip |editor-link= Philip Mattar |chapter= Arif al-Arif |page= 81 |publisher= Infobase Publishing |series= Facts on File Library of World History |year= 2005 |isbn= 9780816069866 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA81 |access-date= 14 August 2021}} *{{cite book |last= Morris |first= Benny |author-link= Benny Morris |title= Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1998 |page= 95 |publisher= Knopf Doubleday |year= 2011 |isbn= 9780307788054 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xC_uIe9G2FYC&q=%22never%20be%20rid%22 |access-date= 14 August 2021}}, quoting the official history of the Haganah *{{cite book |last1= Tamari |first1= Salim |author-link= Salim Tamari |last2= Turjman |first2= Ihsan Salih |title= A Soldier's Diary and the Erasure of Palestine's Ottoman Past |publisher= California University Press |isbn= 9780520259553 |year= 2011}} *{{cite book |last= Tauber |first= Eliezer |title= The Formation of Modern Syria and Iraq |year= 2013 |orig-year= 1995 (Frank Cass Publ.) |pages= 95, 105 |publisher= Routledge |location= London |isbn= 9781135201258 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WVjbAAAAQBAJ |access-date= 14 August 2021}} Very limited access to the text on Google Books. *{{cite journal |last= Wasserstein |first= Bernard |author-link= Bernard Wasserstein |title= 'Clipping the Claws of the Colonisers': Arab Officials in the Government of Palestine, 1917-48 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume= 13 |issue= 2 |year= 1977 |pages= 171–194 |doi= 10.1080/00263207708700343}} {{refend}}
{{Mayors of Jerusalem}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aref, Aref}} Category:Arab people from Mandatory Palestine Category:People from Mandatory Palestine Category:20th-century Palestinian historians Category:1892 births Category:1973 deaths Category:Mayors of Jerusalem Category:Arab people from Ottoman Palestine Category:People from Ottoman Palestine Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Russia Category:Ottoman prisoners of war Category:Ottoman Army officers Category:Ottoman military personnel of World War I Category:Chief secretaries of Transjordan Category:Ethnographers of Palestine (region) Category:People convicted in absentia Category:Recipients of British royal pardons