#0202_A_View_From_East_Jerusalem

“In the beginning of April in 1948, the leader of the Al-Jihad Al-Muqaddas Army [1], the [Palestinian] freedom fighter Abdel Kader Mousa Kathem Al-Hussaini was in Damascus meeting with representatives from the military committee of the Arab Liberation Army [2], and the Arab League. He was meeting with them in order to ask for the necessary weapons and provisions to defend Jerusalem.

He explained to them the importance of maintaining control of the village of Al-Qastal [3] which had fallen under Jewish control while he was in Damascus gathering weapons. They replied scathingly, mocking him for his great interest in Jerusalem. Taha Al-Hashimi from the military committee reportedly told Abdel Kader, ‘Why all this interest in Jerusalem Abdel Kader? The city is not worth it!’

The military committee’s weapons caches were full, but they refused to give Abdel Kader anything. According to his friends, he returned in secret to Jerusalem with only half a bag of bullets. It was at this time that he wrote this angry letter.

He arrived in Al-Qastal on April 7, where he fought until he was martyred on April 8, 1948. May God have mercy on his soul.

#Alqastel #Seventy_years_since_Alnakbeh”

-The Streets of Jerusalem

[Translation of the text in photo:]

“Al-Jihad Al-Muqaddas Organization

General Command-Jerusalem

Note: To the Secretary-General of the Arab League in Cairo

I hold you responsible after you have abandoned my men at the height of their victories without any aid or weapons.

Abdel Kader Al-Hussaini”

—-
0202 Editor’s Notes:
[1] Al-Jihad Al-Muqaddas Army was a Palestinian-Arab irregular force in the 1947-1948 Palestinian war led by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and Hasan Salama, two influential Palestinian nationalists.
[2] The Arab Liberation Army (also translated as the Arab Salvation Army) was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji, a leading Arab nationalist military figure. It fought on the Arab side in the 1948 War, and was founded by the Arab League as a counter to the Arab High Committee's Al-Jihad Al-Muqaddas Army.
[3] Al-Qastal was a Palestinian village located eight kilometers west of Jerusalem. It was named after a Crusader castle located on the hilltop. Used as a military base by Al-Jihad Al-Muqaddas Army, the village was captured by Jewish forces in the lead up to the Arab-Israeli War and was depopulated of its residents.

#1948_War #Abdel_Kader_Alhussaini #Jerusalem #History

https://bit.ly/2GF5Jt7

https://www.facebook.com/1675349376080655/posts/2089269961355259