The Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 in Palestine: A Study Based on Oral Sources (ص 105)

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عنوان

The Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 in Palestine: A Study Based on Oral Sources (ص 105)

المحتوى

by three of the rebels who were in Bal’a during that battle’. Bashir
Ibrahim who fought in the battle explains the Palestinian rebel position:
"In the first battle al-Qawuqji fought with Palestinians, the
Palestinian rebels fired few bullets and started to
withdraw. He thought that the rebels did not want to face
the planes which the British were using in that battle. But
the truth was that the rebels did not trust him, and they
wanted to test him, so they left him and his volunteers to
fight the battle and watched them. Eight of his men were
killed. In the next battle, the Palestinian rebels gathered a
large force and proved to him that they were not afraid of
planes." 2
Munir al-Rayis, head of one of the fighting volunteer units during the
Bal’a battle, said about the Palestinian rebels’ withdrawal:
"We were told that the reason behind the withdrawal of
Fakhri ’Abd al-Hadi and his band without any warning in
the first few hours of the battle, thus opening a breach for
the enemy in our defence line, was not only that the band
ran out of ammunition, but also the arrival of big
reinforcements to the enemy in the battle, and the fear that
the British troops together with al-Qawuqji’s forces would
surround ’Abd al-Hadi’s band and annihilate them"
However, it is unlikely that Fakhri "Abd al-Hadi and his men were the
ones who withdrew from the battle. As he had good relations with al-
Qawugqji following the latter’s arrival in Palestine, and as he was the
main Palestinian contact for al-Qawuqji with the Palestinian rebels, it is
likely that al-Rayis mentioned him in particular because Fakhri was
perhaps the Palestinian rebel leader best known to him (he does not
mention in his book the names of any other Palestinian leaders),
especially given that Fakhri was appointed by al-Qawuqji as the head of
the Palestinian rebel forces.
al-Qawuqji himself mentioned this incident in his memoirs:
“None of the Palestinians was injured in this battle. As they
were not used to this sort of fighting, they withdrew from
their positions in the first hour of the battle. The
51 Bahjat Abu-Gharbyia, personal interview, 5/5/85 Amman;
Bashir Ahmad Ibrahim, personal interview 15/7/84, Zeita,
Tulkarm and Shakir Milhim personal interview, 6/4/85,
Dhinnabah, Tulkarm.
92 Bashir Ahmad Ibrahim, personal interview 15/7/84, Zeita,
Tulkarm.
53 Munir al-Rayis, al-Kitab al Dhahabi p.235

هو جزء من

The Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 in Palestine: A Study Based on Oral Sources

تاريخ

1990-10

المنشئ

Sonia Nimr

مجموعات العناصر

Generated Pages Set

رسائل ماجستير ودكتوراه (صفحات)

كتب ٢ (صفحات)