All-Palestine Government
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The All-Palestine Government (Arabic: حكومة عموم فلسطين hukumat 'umum Filastin) was established in Gaza by the Arab League on 22 September, 1948, towards the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Prime Minister was Ahmed Hildi Abd al-Baqi and the Foreign Minister was Jamal al-Husayni. The government was little more than a facade under Egyptian control and had negligible influence or funding. It was conceived partly as an Arab League move to limit the influence of Transjordan over the Palestinian issue.
With effect from October 1, an independent Palestinian state in all of Palestine was declared, with Jerusalem as its capital. This government was recognised by Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but not by Transjordan or any non-Arab country. Avi Shlaim writes:
The decision to form the Government of All-Palestine in Gaza, and the feeble attempt to create armed forces under its control, furnished the members of the Arab League with the means of divesting themselves of direct responsibility for the prosecution of the war and of withdrawing their armies from Palestine with some protection against popular outcry. Whatever the long-term future of the Arab government of Palestine, its immediate purpose, as conceived by its Egyptian sponsors, was to provide a focal point of opposition to Abdullah and serve as an instrument for frustrating his ambition to federate the Arab regions with Transjordan. (Shlaim, 2001, p. 97)
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip or Egypt were issued with All-Palestine passports until 1959, when Gamal Abdul Nasser, president of Egypt, annulled the All-Palestine government by decree.
- Shlaim, Avi (1990). The rise and fall of the All-Palestine Government in Gaza. Journal of Palestine Studies. 20: 37-53.
- Shlaim, Avi (2001). Israel and the Arab Coalition. In Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.). The War for Palestine (pp. 79-103). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-79476-5