Politicsמוחמד נימר אל-הווארי

Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari

Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari was a Palestinian lawyer and writer from Nazareth who led the al-Najjada paramilitary group in the 1940s and later served as a judge in the Nazareth District Court.

1908 to 1984Leading the al-Najjada paramilitary groupRefugee delegation at Lausanne talksThe Iqrit land caseThe book Sir al-Nakba

Occupation: judge, politician, writer

Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari was born in 1908 in Nazareth

Al-Hawari was born in Nazareth in 1908 to a family of Bedouin origin. He worked as a teacher in Hebron. He spoke Arabic, English and Hebrew.

He studied law in Jerusalem and graduated in 1939. He worked for the British Mandate as chief interpreter at the Jaffa district court, then left government service in Haifa in 1942 and practiced law in Jaffa.

In 1945 he helped found al-Najjada and led it until it merged with al-Futuwwa in January 1947. He was in charge of public security in Jaffa and later left the city. He held contacts with the Haganah intelligence service and with Josh Palmon of the Jewish Agency.

In 1949 he was elected president of the General Refugee Congress and led a refugee delegation at the Lausanne talks. In January 1950 he was allowed to return to Israel and settled in Nazareth as a lawyer. In 1951 he represented villagers of Iqrit, and the court recognized their right to their land.

In 1955 he published a book on the causes of the Arab defeat in 1948. In 1968 he became one of 3 judges of the new Nazareth District Court and served until 1978. He died in 1984.