Proving and Silencing: How Palestinian Fighters Ended “Annexation” (15 May 1948 – January 1949) in the writings of Qassem Al Rimawi on al-Jihad al-Muqaddas

مقاتلون فلسطينيون - قاسم الريماوي

This paper studies the position of al-Jihad al-Muqaddas, the most prominent Palestinian force in the 1947-1949 war, on Jordanian attempts to annex the remainder of central Palestine. It draws on primary written sources written at various points by one of the organisation's most prominent leaders, Qassem Mohammad Al Rimawi. It does not limit itself to laying out Rimawi's account of events in his earlier and later writings, but attempts to trace how his narrative develops over time through a selected sample, looking for the "silencing" that Rimawi engages in in his various works. The paper thus also focuses on how the history of al-Jihad al-Muqaddas's position was produced through Rimawi's writings and the circumstances under which they were written. It concludes that a key part of the history of 1947-1949 generally and the experience of Palestinian fighters specifically has been silenced in various historical sources because of later political developments.

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This paper studies the position of al-Jihad al-Muqaddas, the most prominent Palestinian force in the 1947-1949 war, on Jordanian attempts to annex the remainder of central Palestine. It draws on primary written sources written at various points by one of the organisation's most prominent leaders, Qassem Mohammad Al Rimawi. It does not limit itself to laying out Rimawi's account of events in his earlier and later writings, but attempts to trace how his narrative develops over time through a selected sample, looking for the "silencing" that Rimawi engages in in his various works. The paper thus also focuses on how the history of al-Jihad al-Muqaddas's position was produced through Rimawi's writings and the circumstances under which they were written. It concludes that a key part of the history of 1947-1949 generally and the experience of Palestinian fighters specifically has been silenced in various historical sources because of later political developments.

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