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At this point, when I am presenting pages from the history of the Palestinian national movement, reporting its facts, and recording its events, I find it appropriate to mention the deceased man’s readiness for sacrifice, a quality I wish all our noble young men, the pillars of the homeland and the nation’s reserve in times of hardship, would possess.

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Caption: Commanders of the Holy War Army in the field

In the Jaffa, Lydda, and Ramle area, the martyred commander Sheikh Hasan Salama, “Abu Ali,” Abd al-Qadir’s comrade and companion in jihad, bore a great burden. He directed the battles with courage, competence, knowledge, and rare devotion. He was one of the prominent commanders produced by the successive Palestinian revolts, with a record of struggle and distinguished deeds in the 1936 revolt and the 1937–1939 revolt.

He was among the Palestinian fighters who received a military training course in Iraq when we were there in 1939–1940. He then traveled secretly through Turkey to Europe after the end of the Iraqi-British war and received military training in Germany, specially prepared to train Palestinian and Arab youths in military arts, guerrilla warfare, commando operations, and parachuting.

When the Jews began their terrible terrorist acts against the Arabs during the Second World War, we chose Hasan Salama and some of his comrades to send to Palestine to prepare the revolt against English colonialism and the Zionist presence. He accepted that difficult and dangerous mission, may God have mercy on him, accompanied by his comrade Dhul-Kifl Abd al-Latif and three German officers.