Aref al-Aref

Aref al-Aref (; 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.

Biography Early life Aref al-Aref was born in 1892 as Aref Shehadeh in Jerusalem, then part of the Ottoman Empire. 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. 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. 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). while Bernard Wasserstein wrote "he seems to have cooperated with the police, and there is no evidence that he actively instigated violence". He advised Arabs against violence, urging them instead to adopt the "discipline, silence, and courage" of their opponents.

Political career In 1921, he was appointed as a district Officer of the British administration by the Civil Secretary, Colonel Wyndham Deedes. In 1967, he was appointed director of the Palestine Archaeological Museum (Rockefeller Museum) in Jerusalem. new edition published in Beirut, 2001 Probably identical with "The Bedouin Love, Law and Legend: History of Beersheba and Its Tribes", 1934 Also listed as Bedouin Love, Law and Legend: History of Beersheba and Its Tribes. History of al-Haram al-Sharif (Tarikh al-Haram al-Sharif or Tarikh al-Haram al-Qudsi), Jerusalem 1947 History of Jerusalem (Tarikh al-Quds), Cairo 1951 and/or Summary of the History of Jerusalem (Al Mijaz fi Tarikh al Quds), Cairo 1951 The Disaster (al-Nakba), six vols., 1956–1961. 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