Fawzi al-Qawuqji
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Fawzi al-Qawuqji (Arabic: فوزي القاوقجي; 1890–1977) was the field commander of the Arab Liberation Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and a rival of the principle Arab Palestinian leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.
[edit] Biography
Qawuqji was born in Beirut in 1890. An Arab nationalist, he served as an officer in the Ottoman army during World War I.
After Syria became a French Mandate, Qawuqji joined the French-Syrian Army and receeived formal traing at the French military academy at St. Cyr. During the rebellion of 1925–1927, he deserted the French Army to join the rebellion. Qawuqji remained an outlaw thereafter.[1]
Qawuqji fought against the British in the Mandate of Palestine during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. He fought in Iraq during the Rashid Ali coup of 1941 and, after the British invaded, he was subsequently evacuated in Nazi Germany[2] for the remainder of World War II. He served as a agent of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) in Palestine and held a title of an officer of the Wehrmacht.[citation needed]
His tactics during the 1948 war were aggressive, but entirely ineffective, and he failed to win a single important battle against Jewish forces often far outnumbered by his own men.[citation needed] His forces were driven out of Palestine and into Lebanon following the disastrous Battle of Sa'sa' on October 30.
[edit] Note
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[edit] References
- Lyman, Robert (2006). Iraq 1941: The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad. Campaign. Oxford, New York: Osprey Publishing. pp. 96. ISBN 10: 1-84176-991-6.
