NASHASHIBI, FAKHRI (1899-1941)

Born in Baghdad in 1899; nephew of Ragheb Nashashibi; worked in the British Mandate government during the early 1920s; was a founding member of Al-Hizb Al-Watani (Palestine Arab National Party), established in Nov. 1923; one of the leading figures in the Nashashibi-led opposition during the Mandate period; was blamed for the scandalous forging of letters written by Prince Shakib Arsalan, which he published in Al-Jami’a Al-Islamiyyah newspaper; worked for the Arab Chamber of Commerce in Jaffa; joined the Arab Revolt of 1936; supported the 1937 Partition Plan of the British and became a leading member in the National Defense Party in 1938 and a fierce opponent of Haj Amin Al-Husseini and his forces, who made several attempts on his life during the late 1930s; with the outbreak of WWII, moved to Baghdad (and later Syria and Lebanon) where he organized the ‘peace bands,’ recruiting Palestinians to collaborate with the British army; published a book titled The Martyr Graves of Palestine (Arabic, 1938); was assassinated in Baghdad on 8 Nov. 1941 by what is believed to have been supporters of the Mufti; buried in Jerusalem.

النشاشيبي، فخري (1899-1941) ولد في بغداد في 1899؛ عمل في حكومة الانتداب البريطاني في بداية العشرينات؛ عمل في الغرفة العربية التجارية في يافا؛ انضم إلى الثورة العربية في 1936؛ دعم مشروع لجنة بيل البريطانية (خطة التقسيم) الأولى في 1937 تولى قيادة حزب الدفاع الوطني في 1938؛ نجا من عدة محاولات اغتيال في أواخر الثلاثينات؛ انتقل إلى بغداد (فيما بعد سوريا ولبنان) خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية حيث نظم «عصابات السلام» لتجنيد فلسطينيين للقتال إلى جانب قوات الحلفاء؛ أصدر كتاباً عنوانه قبور الشهداء في فلسطين (1938)؛ اغتيل في بغداد في 8 تشرين الثاني/ نوفمبر 1941؛ دفن في القدس.