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Akram Zuaiter (1909-11 April 1996) was a Palestinian politician, diplomat, writer and activist. He served as the Foreign Minister of Jordan in 1966 and was later appointed to other political offices.

Early life and journalism

Zuaiter was born in Nablus in 1909, during Ottoman rule. His father Omar served as the mayor of the city around the end of the Ottoman period. Zuaiter's brother Adil was a well-known intellectual and attorney in Palestine. In 1917 the Ottomans were forced out of Palestine by British and Hashemite Arab forces during the Great Arab Revolt towards the end of World War I. British military rule followed and the British Mandate of Palestine was established in 1920. Zuaiter completed his higher education at An-Najah National College and briefly attended the American University of Beirut (AUB) afterward. At the AUB he joined Urwa al-Wuthqa, a cultural association.

In 1926 he started work as a teacher in Nablus and later at a government-run high school in Acre. During his time in Acre, he co-founded the city's Young Men's Muslim Association (YMMA). He also became friends with ex-members of the Independence Party (al-Istiqlal) from Haifa, near Acre.At age 20, Zuaiter advocated and spread the notion of independence from the British among his pupils. His anti-imperialist activities brought him under the surveillance of the authorities. After the 1929 Palestine riots, Zuaiter resigned from his post as a high school teacher in November of that year, finding it hard to adjust his nationalist sympathies with being employed by the government. Following his resignation, he enrolled in the School of Law in Jerusalem. He graduated with a certificate of law.

Towards the end of the year, Zuaiter contacted Boulous Shehadeh, owner of the Arabic, Jerusalem-based periodical Mir'at al-Sharq ("Mirror of the East"), and asked to head the paper. Its former lead editor and a colleague of Zuaiter, Ahmed Shukeiri, had left the post. After consultations, Shehadeh appointed Zuaiter as editor-in-chief. When assuming the post, Zuaiter wanted guarantees that he would be given complete authority over its content and policy. He continued in this role until 1930 when he became chief editor of Al Hayat. He was staunchly opposed to British rule in Palestine and sought to have the Palestinian Arab independence struggle focus on ending it. He viewed Britain as Zionism's principle sponsor. Through the Al Hayat paper, he encouraged young Palestinian Arabs to actively oppose the authorities.

The YMMAs were largely shut down following the 1929 Palestine riots, and Zuaiter sought to fill the void of these centers for young nationalists by the establishment of countrywide local associations that would be devoted to Palestinian independence. Zuaiter felt that Palestinian leaders were naive to believe that the British would grant them independence out of compassion or sympathy with what they believed was a clearly just cause.

During the 1936 Palestine revolt, Zuaiter developed a good relationship with the rebel commander Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad. He became a founding member of the Central Committee of National Jihad in Palestine, which nominally headed the revolt from 1937 until its suppression in 1939.

In 1946, Zuaiter declared that Palestinian self-determination was a moral principle and that the Palestinians had a "natural right" to govern Palestine despite the decisions of the British Mandatory rulers and international powers and bodies. Moreover, Zuaiter asserted that only through a mass revolt could the Palestinians salvage their territory from becoming part of a Jewish state, and that arms, which the Palestinians lacked, needed to be funneled into Palestine from friendly Arab countries.

Foreign minister

Zuaiter was appointed Foreign Minister of Jordan in 1966 and the year after was made the Minister of the Royal Court.