Summary
Nazareth-district notable and real-estate broker who had cooperated with the Jews from the 1930s, worked with the Jewish National Fund, and after Nazareth’s occupation became a prominent local leader openly collaborating with Israel and the military government — set up by Israel, in Manna’s phrase, as a leader of the Arabs in Israel as a reward for his services (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.70, 76).
Details
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The presence in Nazareth and its district of many opponents of the mufti, prominently al-Zu’bi, with cooperative relations with the Jews from the 1930s and relationships with influential Jewish parties, was among the factors Manna says contributed to protecting the city from destruction and its inhabitants from expulsion (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.70).
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He had worked with HaKeren HaKayemet (the Jewish National Fund) as a real-estate broker, and for that reason survived an assassination attempt in 1947; during the 1948 war the Zu’bi clan’s villages in Marj ibn ‘Amir concluded a peace and good-neighbourliness agreement with Jewish settlements in the area, and Arab Rescue Army intelligence accused him of collaboration and attempted to arrest and try him (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.76).
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After the occupation of Nazareth he came to the city and cooperated with military governor Elisha Soltz, helping him return normal life to the city quickly (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.76).
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Al-Zu’bi’s memoirs record his visit to ‘Akbara with military governor Elisha Soltz and Mano Friedman to see the forcibly settled Hulayhel clan of Qadditha: the village was reachable only on horseback, a road and water were arranged with kibbutz Kokhav HaShahar, and he admitted he “did not go back to visit the village” after that (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.202).
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Chapter 7 (parts 7-8): al-Zu’bi headed the Nazareth Democratic list in 1949 and the Mapai-affiliated Democratic slate thereafter; Manna presents him as the “good Arab” faithful follower whose demands were limited to mediation for relatives and friends, in contrast to his list-mate Amin Jarjura (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.260-262).
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His slate won three seats in 1951, drawing Druze and al-Shaghur votes through Jabr Ma’di’s 1948 help to villagers; in 1955 its 15,475 votes elected only two, and in March 1956 al-Zu’bi was pressured to give up his own seat for Ma’di, while Mas’ad Qassis refused to step down under Bishop Hakim’s protection (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.274, 281).
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His supporters used threats and even physical violence in the April 1954 Nazareth municipal elections, where the authority-connected camp still could not form a coalition without Maki’s six members (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.281).