The Central Committee was led by
Izzat Darwaza, an exiled teacher, historian and founding member of
al-Istiqlal ("Independence Party"). Later,
Jamal al-Husayni, the head of the
Palestine Arab Party, former Istiqlal member
Akram Zuaiter and guerrilla leader
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni joined Darwaza in the committee. The veteran
pan-Arab guerrilla leader
Fawzi al-Qawuqji and his deputy
Muhammad al-Ashmar were invited to lead the rebellion by the Committee and the Grand Mufti, but did not accept the role. Al-Qawuqji had previously served as the revolt's leader on the ground, at least nominally, in 1936. In general, the local rebel leaders fighting in Palestine were wary of outside leaders as well as each other. In late 1938 the rebels formed a central military command structure called the Bureau of the Arab Revolt in Palestine, which would serve as the Central Committee's military arm. However, the growing rivalry between
Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad and
Arif Abd al-Raziq impeded the Bureau's operations and coordination. The two were designated the rotational role of General Commander of the Revolt. In February 1939 al-Hajj Muhammad was confirmed as the sole General Commander by the Central Committee. He was killed fighting British troops and allied Arab "peace bands" near
Jenin in late March. Following his death, the Central Committee appointed Ahmad al-Hasan as General Commander, although this did little to boost rebel morale and the revolt dissipated by the winter of 1939. ==References==