The First Arab Higher Committee in Palestine before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 950

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE PALESTINE YOUTH PARTY.

This organisation is not strictly speaking a party. Although now commonly called the 'Palestine Youth party' its more correct title is the Arab Young Men's Congress Executive. The first Arab young men's congress was held at Jaffa in 1932, with the object of organising the Arab youth to serve the Palestine Arab cause. This congress elected an executive under the presidency of Ya'coub Eff. el Ghussein. Its influence is now small and localised, being confined chiefly to the areas around Jaffa and Ramle.

The First Arab Higher Committee.

13. The first Arab Higher Committee was formed on the 26th April, 1936, to co-ordinate the work of the national committees which had been formed in the different towns of Palestine for the purpose of dealing with questions of major policy regarding the Arab cause. The chairman was Haj Amin Eff. el Husseini, who thus reached the zenith of his career as the virtually unopposed leader of the Palestinian Arabs. The five major Arab political parties were all represented. At the time of its formation an Arab general strike was already in progress throughout Palestine. The first act of the new committee was to adopt a resolution "to continue the general strike until the British Government changes its policy in a fundamental manner, the beginning of which is the stoppage of Jewish immigration". It also called for the prohibition of the transfer of Arab lands to Jews.

14. Throughout the disturbances of 1936 and 1037, Haj Amin continued to direct Arab affairs through the Arab Higher Committee. The latent feud between Husseini and Nashashibi, however, could not long be repressed. On the 3rd July, 1937, the Defence party withdrew from the Higher Committee. One of the various reasons published in support of this step was that the Higher Committee was taking no steps to prevent the growing evil of political assassination, which was creating a widening cleavage among the Arabs of Palestine.

15. In October, 1937, the first Arab Higher Committee was declared unlawful. Its members were arrested and deported to the Seychelles, with the exception of the chairman, Haj 'Amin Eff. el Husseini and Jamal Eff. Husseini, who managed to escape to the Lebanon, the Defence party representatives who had resigned, and Abdul Latif Bey Salah, who also escaped.

16. After 1937, Haj Amin and his associates fostered the disturbances from their refuges in Syria and the Lebanon. There

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