Akram Zuaiter
Palestinian politician (1909–1996)
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Akram Zuaiter (Arabic: أكرم زعيتر, also Romanized as Akram Zu'ayter, among other spellings; 1909 – 11 April 1996) was a Palestinian activist, publicist, orator, diplomat, and educator who contributed to the Arab nationalist movement in Mandatory Palestine.[1][2][3]
Akram Zuaiter | |
|---|---|
أكرم زعيتر | |
Portrait of Akram Zuaiter | |
| Born | 1909 |
| Died | 11 April 1996 (aged 86–87) |
| Education | An-Najah Nabulsi School American University of Beirut |
| Occupations | Politician, diplomat, activist, publicist, orator, educator |
| Political party | Istiqlal Party |
| Relatives | Wael Zwaiter (nephew) |
Biography
He was born in Nablus and was the son of an opposition politician.[4] He attended the American University of Beirut.[4] He worked for the major Palestinian newspapers Mir'at al-Sharq and al-Hayat and also taught at al-Najah school.[4][1]
He was a founding member of the Istiqlal Party and played an instrumental role in the development of nationalism in Palestine during the 1930s.[4][5][6] He authored the text Ta'rikhuna ("Our History") in 1935. He also supported transnational Arab nationalist organizing in Syria and Iraq, coordinating with the League of Pan-Arab Action and the fascist group Nadi al-Muthanna in each country respectively. In 1941 he participated in the fascist revolt in Iraq led by Rashid Ali al-Kaylani.[1] He also lectured at the Teachers' Training College in Baghdad.[3]
Following the Nakba, Zuaiter served in the Jordanian government as ambassador to Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, and Lebanon, followed by a year as Jordanian foreign minister (1966) and then in the Jordanian Upper House of Parliament and as chief of the Royal Court.[1]
He published the text al-Qadiyya al-Filastiniyya ("The Palestine Cause") in 1956.[1] In 1979, his papers were published as Watha'iq al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Filastiniyya 1918–1939 ("Documents on the Palestinian National Movement 1918–1939"), edited by Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout, and his diaries were published in 1980.[7][6][1]
Views
Zuaiter espoused a nationalist philosophy of opposition to British administration of Palestine, taking a "hard line" that resulted in his arrest and detention by the British colonial government in 1931 and 1936. He was a staunch Arab nationalist and advocate of pan-Arabism.[1][6][8]