Aref (Pasha) Dajani
(1856 - 1930)
Born in Jerusalem in 1856; mayor of Jerusalem during World War I; in 1918 representative to the Administrative Committee
of the Muslim-Christian Association (MCA); became (January 1919) president
of the MCA in Jerusalem and through the senior status of the association's
Jerusalem branch, the MCA's overall president; under this presidency
he initiated the First Palestinian National Congress in Jerusalem (1919),
demanding an independent Palestinian government in federation with Syria and rejecting Zionist political claims;
elected vice president of the congress' Executive Committee; one of
the leaders of the movement `Palestine for the Palestinians' which emerged
in 1919; elected representative to the 3rd (December 1920, Haifa)
and 4th (May 1921, Jerusalem) Congress of the Arab Executive Committee
for Jerusalem; elected vice-president at the 4th Congress; member of
the Arab Executive until 1922; he and Ragheb Nashashibi in the early
1920s led the opposition before splitting in 1926/27.
Sources: PASSIA |