Al-Najjada

al-Najjada (Arabic: النجادة‎‎, or Munazzamat al-Najjada al-Falastiniyya) was a Palestinian Arab paramilitary scout movement formed in Jaffa, British Mandate of Palestine on 8 December 1945. The organisation was headed by Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari as General Commander (al-Harawi had served in the British Mandate administration) and Rashad al-Dabbagh as Secretary General. The al-Najjada HQ was on Railway Station Street Jaffa. Its officers were mainly Arabs who had served in the British Army. During the lead into the 1948 war its membership numbered 2,000 to 3,000 but the organisation lacked arms.The Great revolt 1936-1939 led to an imbalance of power between the Jewish community and the Arab community, as the latter had been substantially disarmed. The British had estimated al-Najjada strength as 8,000 prior to 1947.

The inaugural proclamation of 8 December published in al-Difa’a read:-

al-Najjada had 11 branches: Jaffa as HQ, Haifa, Acre, Nablus, Beersheba, Tiberias, Jerusalem Tulkarem, Gaza, Majdal and Nazareth. Each branch was subdivided into companies troops and patrols. Al-Najjada was particularly active in Southern Palestine. It was pledged to assist Palestinian society through the improvement of the “educational and moral standards” of Arab youth." Training in al-Najjada consisted of; drilling, physical training, elementary military training (particularly rifle shooting) and indoctrination lectures on Arab nationalist ideology and Arab nationalism. Al-Hawari attempted to model the Najjada on the Haganah, but in practice its primary activity consisted of noisy parades in town squares; there was little if any military activity at all. al-Najjada along with al-Futawa was seen as a potential nucleus of a disciplined Palestinian Arab national para-military organisation.

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