Wajih Al Madani
Birth nameWajih Husayn Al Madani
Born1921
Acre, Mandatory Palestine
Died1991 (aged 69–70)
Allegiance
RankMajor General
Battles/warsSix-Day War

Wajih Al Madani (Arabic: وجيه المدني; 1921–1991) was a Palestinian major general who was the first commander-in-chief of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA). He also served as the commander of the Kuwaiti security forces and director of the Kuwait Armed Forces.

Biography

Al Madani was born in Acre in 1921.[1] He was a corporal in an Arab force during World War II under British mandate.[1][2] After the war he attended the Sarafand British Military College in Palestine graduating as a second lieutenant in 1946.[1] He was tasked to train the Saudi Arabian army from 1946 to 1947.[1] He also trained 85 Palestinians together with Hazim Khalidi, and this group led the defense of Palestine against the Zionists in 1948.[1]

Al Madani settled in Kuwait in 1952 where he trained the Kuwaiti army and was involved in the establishment of its units.[1][3] He also served as an officer for the Kuwaiti Royal Guard and became a major general.[4][5]

Al Madani was appointed the commander-in-chief of the PLA on 24 September 1964 when it was established by the Palestine Liberation Organization.[1][4] He was a lieutenant colonel before his appointment and became a lieutenant general with his new post.[5] In the initial period the PLA was based in Cairo.[5] Al Madani was also head of a military group called Heroes of Return which started an armed struggle in October 1966.[1][6] This group was attached to the PLA.[7] He served as the commander-in-chief of the PLA until 1969 when he resigned from the post.[1][7] His resignation partly occurred as a result of the Syrians interference on the PLA activities.[7] During his term as the PLA commander Al Madani was also subject to the pressure of the Egyptian chief-of-staff Muhammad Fawzi.[5] Al Madani was replaced by Abd al Razzaq Yahya in the post a few months after his resignation.[7]

Al Madani returned to Kuwait and was named as the commander of the Kuwaiti security forces in 1970. He was later appointed director of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces.[4] His tenure in the Kuwaiti army lasted until his retirement in 1984.[1][3]

Al Madani died in 1991.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Shafeeq N. Ghabra (October 2020). "Palestinians in Kuwait". This Week in Palestine (270): 20.
  2. ↑ Laurie Brand (1988). "Palestinians in Syria: The Politics of Integration". Middle Eastern Studies. 42 (4): 624. JSTOR 4327836.
  3. 1 2 Ido Zelkovitz (2014). "A Paradise Lost? The Rise and Fall of the Palestinian Community in Kuwait". Middle Eastern Studies. 50 (1): 89. doi:10.1080/00263206.2013.849695. S2CID 144103829.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Al Madani, Wajih (1921-1991)". Passia. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Yezid Sayigh (1998). "Escalation or Containment? Egypt and the Palestine Liberation Army, 1964-67". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 30 (1): 100–101. JSTOR 164206.
  6. ↑ William B. Quandt; Fuad Jabber; Ann Mosley Lesch (1973). The Politics of Palestinian Nationalism. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA; London: University of California Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-520-02372-7.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Yezid Sayigh (1992). "Turning Defeat into Opportunity: The Palestinian Guerrillas after the June 1967 War". The Middle East Journal. 46 (2): 263. JSTOR 4328432.
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