Summary
Jerusalemite Palestinian leader and historian, author of the six-volume, diary-based Al-Nakba: Nakbat Bayt al-Maqdis wal-firdaws al-mafqud 1947–49 (The Disaster: The Disaster of Jerusalem and the Lost Paradise), which Manna presents as one of the most important detailed early works on the Nakba (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.52).
Details
- Al-‘Arif published many works on Jerusalem, the Bedouins in southern Palestine and other topics before the Nakba, and during the Mandate was among the prominent Palestinian leaders known for nationalist activities (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.52).
- His six-volume work expresses the Palestinian point of view on their calamity shortly after it occurred; depending heavily on his diaries, he presents events chronologically, beginning with the partition decision of November 1947 (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.52).
- In his history he makes a distinction between Arab and Druze fighters, which Manna says clearly reflects the tense relations between the Druze minority and the other sects in Palestinian society, and he set aside several pages for the battle of Husha and al-Kasayir and the Druze battalion’s withdrawal under Shakib Wahhab (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.60).