Hussein Fakhri Al-Khalidi

(1895 - 1966)

Hussein Fakhri Al-Khalidi was born in 1895 in Jerusalem; worked as medical doctor for the Department of Public Health in Aleppo during Amir Faisal's rule; elected mayor of Jerusalem 1934-37; founded, on 23 June 1935, the Reform Party (Hizb-al-Islah) and joined the Arab Higher Committee as leader; exiled to the Seychelles Islands in 1937 but released in 1938; took part in the London Conference, St. James's Palace, February 1939; among those rejecting the Government's White Paper proposal; returned to Palestine in 1943 and joined the renewed Arab Higher Committee in 1945; became secretary of the Arab Higher Committee in 1946; was the only member of the Higher Committee to stay in Palestine during the fighting, 1947-48, but without influence; briefly joined the All-Palestine Government (1948); known for his moderate position and loyalty towards the Hashemites under Jordanian rule; custodian and supervisor of the Haram al-Sharif in 1951; in the 1950s Jordanian Cabinet Minister (of Foreign Affairs); appointed Prime Minister for a brief period in 1957; died on December 26, 1966.

Sources: PASSIA