Aref Al-Aref - Political Activism

Political Activism

By 1919, al-Aref was involved in political activism in Palestine, agitating for unity of Palestine with Syria. In October 1919, he became editor of the recently established newspaper Suriyya al-Janubiyya (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). Initially Suriya al-Janubia supported the British military authorities, but soon became an opponent of the British Mandate.

Al-Aref attended the Nebi Musa festival in Jerusalem in 1920 riding on his horse, and gave a speech at the Jaffa Gate. 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", while Bernard Wasserstein wrote "he seems to have co-operated with the police, and there is no evidence that he actively instigated violence". In fact, "Zionist intelligence reports of this period are unanimous in stressing that he spoke repeatedly against violence". 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. In another version, he was warned and escaped before being arrested. He advised Arabs against violence, urging them instead to adopt the "discipline, silence, and courage" of their opponents. In his absence, a military court sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.

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). He became its Secretary-General and campaigned against the decisions of the San Remo conference. After the French invasion of Syria in July 1920 he fled to Transjordan. He returned to Jerusalem late in 1920 after being pardoned by the new High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel, but the government refused to allow his newspaper to reopen.