33 Facts About Fawzi al-Qawuqji

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was a Lebanese-born Arab nationalist military figure in the interwar period.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji served briefly in Palestine in 1936 fighting the British Mandatory suppression of the Palestinian Revolt.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was a colonel in the Nazi Wehrmacht during World War II, and served as the Arab Liberation Army field commander during the 1948 Palestine War.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was born in 1890 into a Turkmen family in the city of Tripoli, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was the son of Abd al-Majid al-Qawuqji, who served in the Ottoman Army, and Fatima al-Rifa'i.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was the great-grandson of the Lebanese Muslim scholar and jurist Abu al-Mahasin al-Qawuqji.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji served as a captain in the 12th Ottoman corps garrison in Mosul, and in several battles during the First World War, including at Qurna in Iraq and at Beersheba in Ottoman Palestine.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was decorated with the Ottoman Majidi Medal for his role in these battles.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was awarded the German Iron Cross, second class, for his bravery in the battle around Nabi Samwil.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji became commander of a cavalry squadron in Hama.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji represented the Iraqi Society for the Defense of Palestine, which was separate from forces under the control of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Husseini.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji's title was "Supreme Commander of the Arab Revolution in South-Syrian Palestine".

The military performance of Fawzi al-Qawuqji's troops became hampered by internal dissensions and animosity between him and Grand Mufti Husseini, the Arab Higher Committee, and the Mufti's kinsman Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, who commanded forces that were active in the area around Jerusalem.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji in turn issued an order saying he would personally impose severe penalties on any Arab who opened fire on British soldiers.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was proud of his military achievements in the field, which he considered instrumental in bringing Britain to the negotiating table.

Husseini's group, including, Fawzi al-Qawuqji, played critical roles in the pro-Axis coup.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji's frequently demonstrated prowess won him fame among the Arab population and the esteem of Haj Amin Husseini.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji's popular following was not altogether to the Mufti's liking.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was prominent in the Kingdom of Iraq during the Rashid Ali coup of 1941 and, during the subsequent Anglo-Iraqi War, he again fought against the British.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was known to either execute or mutilate his prisoners.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji remained in Germany for the remainder of World War II, recuperated from his wounds, and married a German woman named Anneliese Muller.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji even had an altercation with an SS officer who proffered threats when al-Qawuqji insisted that Germany first formally acknowledge the Arab's right to independence.

Achcar reports that Fawzi al-Qawuqji was as bewildered by rivalries between competing Arab leaders as by the Axis foot-dragging over support for Arab nationalist goals.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji opposed incorporating Arab units into the Axis armed forces, since he preferred their formation into an independent Arab nationalist army.

In May 1942, after the Axis powers signed secret documents to support the Arab nationalists, Fawzi al-Qawuqji expressed dissatisfaction with the results, commenting that they were "just symbolic and not an agreement".

Fawzi al-Qawuqji was awarded the rank of a colonel of the Wehrmacht, and given a captain to act as his aide, along with a chauffeured car, and an apartment near the clinic at Hansa.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji's expenses were paid by Wehrmacht High Command and by Rashid Ali's Foreign Minister.

In Germany, Fawzi al-Qawuqji continued to oppose the Allies in cooperation with other Arabs who were allied with the Axis powers, including the two competing leaders of the pro-Nazi Arab factions, Grand Mufti Husseini and former Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani.

In July 1941, Fawzi al-Qawuqji wrote a memorandum addressed to General Felmy.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji consistently campaigned for the formation of an independent Arab nationalist army that would fight as German allies, rather than incorporate Arabs under the German command structure.

In early March 1948, Fawzi al-Qawuqji moved some of his forces from the Damascus area and crossed into Palestine over the Allenby Bridge on March 6 and 7, leading hundreds of Arab and Bosnian volunteers in a column of twenty-five trucks.

Inside Mandatory Palestine, Fawzi al-Qawuqji commanded a few thousand armed men who had infiltrated the area.

Shortly thereafter the last of the ALA forces were driven out of Galilee, and Fawzi al-Qawuqji escaped to Lebanon.