Dajani, Aref

Dajani, Aref (1856-1930), Palestinian politician, one of the leading early nationalists. Dajani's career spanned the collapse of Turkish imperial rule, the British mandate period, and the early growth of Jewish immigration.

Dajani was born in Jerusalem into an influential Arab family. During World War I he served as mayor of the city. Following the armistice and the collapse of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, he became further involved in politics as the various Arab nationalist movements struggled to find a common voice and establish goals that satisfied the various power groupings. His first position after the war was as Muslim representative to the Administrative Committee of the Muslim Christian Association (MCA) in 1918. The following year he was elected president of the Jerusalem branch, a position which led to him becoming de facto president of the movement. As president, he was able to push forward his demands for an independent Palestine linked in a federation with Syria, along with an utter rejection of Zionist aims to establish a new Jewish state in the region.

Dajani's views on a federal Palestinian/Syrian state changed and he emerged later in the same year as a leader of the movement that supported a fully independent Palestine-the so-called "Palestine for Palestinians" movement. Under this banner, he was elected Palestinian representative to the 3rd Congress of the Arab Executive Committee for Jerusalem (1920), and 4th Congress (1921), which also saw him elected as vice-president. Dajani was a member of the Arab Executive until 1922 but his alliance with Ragheb Nashashibi led to his opposition and then to his splitting with the Executive in 1926/1927.