The Palestinian political parties and local self-governance during the British Mandate: Democracy and the clan

Abstract

This chapter discusses the various election cycles that the Palestinian Arabs went through during the period, and their effect on the formation of the Palestinian political parties, both at the national, and the local government levels. The Palestine mandate is considered a critical period for the emergence of Palestinian nationalism. The chapter focuses on local Arab self-governance during the period, political rivalry at the national level, and the competition between clans. The most important decision taken by the Palestinian Arab Congress was to boycott the 1923 elections to the Legislative Council. The 1936–1939 Arab revolt was the ideological and political implementation of Palestinian national demands when all the Palestinian political leaders joined forces. The involvement of the Arab league in 1946 sponsored the establishment of the Second Arab Higher Committee, support by the Palestinian parties. The relatively short period of 30 years of the British Mandate over Palestine was fraught with massive changes.