Arab Executive Committee

A committee, also known as the Arab Executive, formed during the third Palestine Arab Congress held in Haifa in December 1920, to represent Palestinian opposition to British and Zionist plans in Palestine. Between 1919 and 1928, seven Palestine Arab Congresses were organized by a network of local Muslim–Christian Associations throughout Palestine, led by prominent Palestinian families. The third congress in Haifa formed an executive committee of nine members, with Musa Kazim al-Husseini—recently deposed from his position as mayor of Jerusalem by Colonial British Mandate authorities—elected president and chairman. Among other demands, the committee called for Palestine to be part of an independent Arab state and for the formation of a national representative assembly in Palestine; it also rejected the Balfour Declaration and Jewish immigration. British Mandate authorities never recognized the committee and dissolved it in 1934. As a result, several Palestinian political parties were formed, including the Arab Higher Committee in 1936.