Yusuf Abu Durra

Yusuf Abu Durra
يوسف أبو درة
Abu Durra posing with his rifle, 1936
Born1900
Died18 February 1940 (aged 39/40)
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
NationalityPalestinian Arab
Other namesAbu Abed
Citizenship Ottoman Empire
 Mandatory Palestine
Military career
AllegianceArab Revolt Black Hand
Arab Revolt Arab Higher Committee
Battles / wars1936–1939 Palestine revolt Executed

Yusuf Sa'id Abu Durra (Arabic: يوسف سعيد أبو درة, 1900 – 18 February 1940), also known as Abu Abed was one of the chief Palestinian Arab rebel commanders during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine.[1] Abu Durra was a close disciple of the Muslim preacher and rebel Izz ad-Din al-Qassam and one of the few survivors of a shootout between British forces and Qassam, in which the latter was killed. When the revolt broke out, Abu Durra led bands of Qassam's remaining disciples and other armed volunteers in the region between Haifa and Jenin. He also administered a rebel court system in his areas of operation, which prosecuted and executed several Palestinian village headmen suspected of colluding with the British authorities. After experiencing battlefield setbacks, Abu Durra escaped to Transjordan, but was arrested on his way back to Palestine in 1939. He was subsequently tried later that year and executed by the authorities in 1940.

  1. ^ Lachman, Shai (2015), "Qassamites in the Arab Revolt, 1936–39", Zionism and Arabism in Palestine and Israel, Routledge, ISBN 9781317442721