ARAB LIBERATION ARMY

military force of the arab league in palestine, 1947–1949.

After the United Nations voted to partition Palestine, in November 1947, the Arabs resisted the partition and went to war against Israel in the Arab–Israel War of 1948. The Arab League (also known as the League of Arab States) sponsored a military force after the 1947 vote, which was composed of Palestinians and non-Palestinian Arab volunteers, headed by a former Iraqi officer, Fawzi al-Qawuqji. This force was separate from the armies sent in by the five surrounding Arab states and the Palestinian forces under the command of Abd alQadir al-Husayni.

The first contingents of the Arab Liberation Army reached Palestine in January 1948. Between February and May, they suffered a string of defeats in northern Palestine. Between May and October, the Arab Liberation Army controlled parts of western Galilee but by October were completely defeated by Israel's forces.

see also arab–israel war (1948); husayni, abd al-qadir al-; league of arab states; palestine; palestinians; qawuqji, fawzi al-; united nations and the middle east.

Bibliography

Hirst, David. The Gun and the Olive Branch: The Roots of Violence in the Middle East, 2d ed. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1984.

Lesch, Ann M. Arab Politics in Palestine, 1917–1939: The Frustration of a Nationalist Movement. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1979.

Shlaim, Avi. Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.

Steve Tamari