{{Short description|Mayor of Gaza}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Rashad Al-Shawwa | image = Rashad al-Shawwa Portrait, 1972.jpg | caption = 1972 photograph of al-Shawwa | title = [[Mayor of Gaza City]] | term_start = 1972 | term_end = 1982 | predecessor = [[Ragheb Al-Alami]] | successor = [[Aoun Al-Shawwa]] | birth_date = {{circa}} 1909 | birth_place = [[Gaza, Palestine]] | death_date = {{death date|1988|09|28|df=y}} | death_place = [[Gaza, Palestine]] | office = | party = | spouse = | children = 6, including [[Laila al-Shawwa]] and [[Rawya Shawa|Rawya al-Shawwa]] }}
'''Rashad al-Shawwa''' ({{langx|ar|رشاد الشوا}}) (1909 – {{nowrap|28 September}} 1988) was the [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] mayor of [[Gaza City|Gaza]] for eleven years from 1971 to 1982. Before becoming mayor he was an outgoing local activist in the city. He was known by [[Israel]]is and Palestinians as the pro-Jordanian "father figure" of the [[Gaza Strip]].<ref name="NYT"/> He is the father of artist [[Laila Shawwa]].
== Early life and education == Al-Shawwa was born in 1909 into one of Gaza City's most prominent families.{{sfn|Filiu|p=403}} He was the youngest of five sons of [[Sa'id al-Shawwa]], a former mayor of Gaza City and the South Palestine representative to the [[Supreme Muslim Council]], a body that oversaw Muslim community affairs during the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]].{{sfn|Filiu|p=403}}<ref name="PASSIA">[http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/personalities/alpha_s.htm Palestinian Personalities – S] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706041435/http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/personalities/alpha_s.htm |date=6 July 2010 }} [[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]] (PASSIA).</ref> Rashad's mother was Lebanese. Rashad received his primary and secondary education in public schools in the city. In 1934, he graduated from the [[American University in Cairo]] with a degree in politics and economics.<ref name="GM"/>
== Political career == In 1934 he established the first sports club in Gaza called the Center for Youth Welfare. In 1935, he was assigned the post of caretaker of a Muslim shrine in [[Haifa]], and during his residence there, he came into contact with the [[Syria]]n revolutionary [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam]] who was leading an insurgency against British forces in Palestine.<ref name="GM">[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ar&u=http://www.mogaza.org/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DGaza%2BMunicipality%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DE5j%26pwst%3D1 Rashad Al-Shawwa, 1972 and 1975] Gaza Municipality.</ref>
During the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]], he helped organize the smuggling of arms from [[Iraq]] and [[Lebanon]] to the [[Arab Liberation Army]] under [[Fawzi al-Qawuqji]]. He returned to Gaza during this time period. In 1950, he founded the newspaper ''Sha'ab al-Arabiya'' ("The Arab Nation"). It was the mouthpiece of the Palestinians and he presided over the editing, but it ended after an eight-month circulation. Shawwa was appointed by Egyptian president [[Muhammad Naguib]] to "cleanse" Gaza of corruption and any remnants of the monarchy of [[Farouk of Egypt]].<ref name="GM"/>
== Mayor of Gaza City== === First term (1971–1972) === Shawwa was appointed mayor of Gaza by [[Israel]] in 1971.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DF1E30F93BA1575AC0A96E948260 |title=Rashad Al-Shawwa, 79, Ex-Palestinian Mayor |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |date=28 September 1988 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034642/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/28/obituaries/rashad-al-shawa-79-ex-palestinian-mayor.html }}</ref> He took over responsibility for the management of the municipality and made the decision to not annex adjacent [[Palestinian refugee camps]] to the city such as [[al-Shati]] and [[Jabalia]]. He commenced the development of the economic sector in the Gaza Strip, working on major projects for the export of locally grown citrus to the [[Arab world]], and establishing a juice factory which still exists off [[Salah al-Din Street]].<ref name="GM"/>
The Israeli government removed deposed Shawwa from office in 1972 for his pro-Palestinian nationalist stance.<ref name="JTA Death Lose"/><ref name="1972oust">{{Cite web |title=Israel Ousts Mayor and Council of Gaza |publisher=New York Times |date=23 October 1972 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/23/archives/israel-ousts-mayor-and-council-of-gaza.html |archive-date=28 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250928020615/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/23/archives/israel-ousts-mayor-and-council-of-gaza.html }}</ref>
=== Second term (1976–1982) === The Israeli government re-appointed Shawwa as Mayor of Gaza City in 1976.<ref name="JTA Death Lose"/>
In January 1982, Shawwa joined Mayor of [[Bethlehem]] [[Elias Freij]] in publicly calling for the PLO to officially recognise the State of Israel, while also calling for the Israeli government to recognise the PLO.<ref>{{cite web|date=26 January 1982|title=Gaza Mayor Joins Freij on Calling on the PLO to Recognize Israel|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/gaza-mayor-joins-freij-on-calling-on-the-plo-to-recognize-israel|author-last=|author-first=|access-date=28 December 2024|work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]}}</ref>
In July 1982, the Israeli government deposed Shawwa from his position as mayor of Gaza, along with the entire Gaza City council, accusing them of failing to cooperate with Israeli military rule of the [[Gaza Strip]]. Shawwa and the council had refused to work in the city hall building since the [[March 1982 Palestinian general strike]] that had been triggered by the deposal of the [[Al-Bireh]] city council by the Israeli government, working from home instead in a symbolic protest. Shawwa and the council had also refused to sign an order from the Israeli military forbidding them from making political statements.<ref>{{cite web|date=10 July 1982|title=Palestinian Mayor of Gaza Is Dismissed by the Israelis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/10/world/palestinian-mayor-of-gaza-is-dismissed-by-the-israelis.html|author-last=Shipler|author-first=David K.|website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=28 December 2024}}</ref>
== Later life and death == Shawwa's local influence in Gaza remained strong after his deposal as mayor, largely because of his chairmanship of the Gaza Benevolent Society, which dispensed Jordanian funds.<ref name="NYT"/>
During the [[First Intifada]], Shawwa publicly sympathized with the participants of the uprising, saying "People here have reached a point where they don't see much difference between life and death under the insulting and degrading conditions of military occupation."<ref name="NYT"/>
On 28 September 1988, Shawwa died of a heart attack in his Gaza home at 79 years of age.<ref name="NYT"/> Israeli President [[Chaim Herzog]] and Minister of Defence [[Yitzhak Rabin]] both sent telegrams of condolences to his family.<ref name="JTA Death Lose">{{cite web|date=29 September 1988|title=With Death of Rashad A-shawwa, Gazans Lose a Moderate Voice|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/with-death-of-rashad-a-shawwa-gazans-lose-a-moderate-voice|author-last=Sedan|author-first=Gil|access-date=3 May 2025|work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]}}</ref> The Israeli military attempted to limit the size of Shawwa's funeral by imposing lockdowns on the suburbs of Gaza City, but the soldiers deployed to the city were ordered to avoid confronting funeral demonstrators, even when the demonstrators raised the Palestinian flag over the mosque where the funeral service was held, in violation of the Israeli occupation laws.<ref>{{cite web|date=30 September 1988|title=Gaza Mayor Buried by Crowds of Chanting Palestinian Youths|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/gaza-mayor-buried-by-crowds-of-chanting-palestinian-youths|author-last=|author-first=|access-date=3 May 2025|work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]}}</ref>
== Political positions == According to Gil Sedan of the Jewish Journal, Al-Shawwa was considered one of "more moderate" Palestinian leaders, saying that while Shawwa "deeply resented the humiliation of living under military occupation," he "cautioned against hasty solutions. He always stressed the need to end the Israeli administration of the territories before a Palestinian state could be established," adding that Shawwa "was a key figure of the pro-Jordanian camp in the administered territories and refused to blindly follow the guidelines of the Palestine Liberation Organization."<ref name="JTA Death Lose"/>
== Legacy == In 1988, the [[Rashad Shawa Cultural Center]] in Gaza was completed.<ref name="GM"/> The Center was destroyed by Israeli forces in late 2023, during the [[Gaza war]].<ref>{{cite web|date=26 February 2024|title=Gaza's oldest theatre lies in ruins. For the people who made art there, its story lives on|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art/2024/02/26/gazas-oldest-theatre-lies-in-ruins-for-the-people-who-made-art-there-its-story-lives-on/|author-last=McCormack|author-first=Chris|access-date=3 May 2025|work=The Irish Times}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last = Filiu | first = Jean-Pierre | authorlink = Jean-Pierre Filiu | year = 2014 | title = Gaza: A History | publisher = C. Hurst & Co. | location = London | isbn = 978-1-84904-401-1 | ref = {{sfnRef|Filiu}} }} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawwa, Rashad}} [[Category:1900s births]] [[Category:1988 deaths]] [[Category:American University in Cairo alumni]] [[Category:Mayors of Gaza City]] [[Category:Palestinian newspaper publishers (people)]]