Emile al-Ghuri

1907 - 1984

Greek Orthodox Palestinian activist.

Emile al-Ghuri was born in Jerusalem and studied at Saint George's School. He went to the United States in 1929 to study at the University of Cincinnati, where he received his M.A. in political science in 1933. Upon his return to Jerusalem, he published the Arab Federation, an English-language weekly which was later closed down by the British authorities in Palestine because of the political line it had adopted. In 1933, he was elected a member of the Arab Executive. Al-Ghuri published the weekly al-Shabab (Youth) in 1934 and was later on the staff of the pro-Hajj Amin al-Husayni, mufti of Jerusalem, English-language weekly Palestine and Transjordan. Between 1936 and 1939, he was sent on propaganda and fundraising missions to England, the United States, and the Balkans. He quickly joined the ranks of his country's political elite, becoming in 1935 the secretary-general of the Husayni-led Palestine Arab Party. He later joined al-Husayni in Iraq after the outbreak of World War II. As an active mufti supporter, al-Ghuri was pursued and captured by the British in Iran in September 1941 but was allowed to return to Palestine the next year. Until 1944, the British authorities in Palestine prohibited him from engaging in politics. In 1944, he reorganized the Palestine Arab Party, which was replaced two years later by a reconstituted Arab Higher Committee. He joined this body of Palestinian politicians and represented it at the London Conference on Palestine (1946 - 1947) and at several United Nations conferences between 1948 and 1950. Throughout his political career, al-Ghuri enjoyed the support of the mufti and some of his closest associates. He served for many years on the Arab Higher Committee and after 1948 represented it in various Arab and international forums. He also occupied a number of senior positions in the Jordanian government between 1966 and 1971 and wrote several books on the Palestinian cause, including Filastin, and on Arab nationalism, including Harakat al-Qawmiyya al-Arabiyya. He also wrote a memoir, Filastin Ibr Sittin Aman.

— MUHAMMAD MUSLIH
UPDATED BY PHILIP MATTAR