As'ad Shukeiri

Portrait of Shukeiri in 1930s

Sheikh As'ad Shukeiri (Arabic: أسعد الشقيري; l860-1940) (also transcribed al-Shuqayri, Shuqeiri, Shukeiry) was a Palestinian religious and political leader in Acre, Palestine and the Ottoman-appointed Qadi from 1914 to 1918. Kamil al-Husayni was the Hanafi Mufti at the time and considered to be pro-British. Shukeiri was pro-Ottoman, favoring that Palestine continue to be part of the Ottoman Empire and in 1908 and 1912, he was elected to the Ottoman parliament.

From the latter year to 1914, he served as the deputy of the District of Acre. Afterwards, he held several posts in Palestine's religious judiciary, including librarian of the Imperial Library and member of the Sharia court in Istanbul. During World War I, he was appointed mufti of the Fourth Ottoman Army in Syria and Palestine.^[1]

Shukeiri rejected the values of the Palestinian Arab nationalist movement and routinely collaborated with Zionist leaders, meeting them regularly. He had a part in every pro-Zionist Arab organization from the beginning of the British Mandate until his death in 1940 and he publicly rejected Mohammad Amin al-Husayni’s use of Islam against Zionism.^[2]

In 1930, he founded the Liberal Party in Palestine and became head of the Supreme Muslim Council during the era of British rule in Palestine. One of his children, Ahmad Shukeiri, later became the first leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization.^[1]

References

1. Palestinian Personalities Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. (PASSIA).
2. Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948. By Hillel Cohen. University of California Press, 2009. p. 84