Pre-1948 Palestinian parties claimed Palestine on nationalist, not religious, grounds.

Evidence

During the British rule over Palestine, from 1917 through 1948, all Palestinian political parties and organizations shared the goal of resisting the growing influence of Zionism and its increasingly aggressive plans to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Leading parties then formulated their resistance and political activism on nationalist bases. Their founding documents and main declarations hardly mentioned any religious references in claiming ownership of Palestine; such references, when they existed, were used to mobilize resistance and jihad against Zionism, as shown below. Their manifestos, political parties’ goals, and original pronouncements (as well as throughout the rest of their texts) reveal strong national leaning. For example, in 1923, the Arab National Party’s (1923) first goal was “The maintenance of Palestine as an Arab country for her Arab people, purified from any foreign or Zionist right or influence; and as part of the Arab countries” (al-Hout 1986, 721–22). In 1927, the Free Palestine Party’s main aspiration was to “Pursue complete independence and fulfill national dreams and sovereignty” (al-Hout 1986, 723). In 1932, the Arab Independence Party’s statement of foundation indicated that “Palestine is an Arab country, and natural part of Syria … [calling for] … the establishment of parliamentarian Arab rule in Palestine” (al-Hout 1986, 735). In 1934, the National Defense Party’s platform asserted, “Seeking full independence for Palestine where Arab sovereignty over it is guaranteed, and without any recognition of any international commitments that lead to foreign control or influence or political condition that compromises independence” (al-Hout 1986, 742–43). In 1935, the Arab Palestinian Party’s goals included “The independence of Palestine and the removal of the Mandate … Protecting the Arabism of Palestine and resisting the establishment of a Jewish homeland … connecting Palestine with other Arab countries in a political national unity fully independent” (al-Hout 1986, 743–44), and in the same line of expression was the 1935 pronouncement of the National Coalition Party, calling for “the complete political independence of Palestine and the protection of the Arab identity of Palestine using all available political means” (al-Hout 1986, 747–48). — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 2387

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Religion stayed marginal in mainstream Palestinian nationalism for four decades — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 2413