Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali

Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali (محمد فاضل الجمالي) (April 20, 1903 – May 24, 1997) was an Iraqi politician, Iraqi foreign minister, and prime minister of Iraq from 1953 to 1954.

He obtained the degree of Professor of Arts in Education from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1930, after which he obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1934, and the topic of the thesis he submitted for obtaining his doctorate was called "New Iraq", then Columbia University awarded him an honorary doctorate in law in 1954.

In 1943, under the orders of Nuri al-Said, al-Jamali was appointed the Director General of Foreign Affairs because al-Said saw him as qualified for the role.

This did not please al-Jamali at first but grew to the role.

At the time, he was one of the only educated Iraqis with overseas experiences which further supported this career switch although there were rumors that al-Jamali had Axis leanings.

Nevertheless, al-Jamali spared no opportunity to urge the need for the independence of Lebanon and Syria from the French mandates.

Following the fall of Vichy France, Lebanon and Syria gained their independence.

Al-Jamali would later describe the habits and attitudes he learned in Childhood which he had to overcome later in life as he grew up, these included: "'A negative attitude toward Sunni Muslims, believing that God would send them to Hell; the feeling that he had to go daily to Kadhimiya Mosque to pray; that he must not look at women's faces or even listen to their voices except for members of his own family; the obligation to pay respect to great religious personalities, kissing their right hands on meeting; a negative attitude toward government officials, believing that, since they were Sunnis, they could not be honest people.'"In 1944, he joined the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Later he served as Director General of Education.

Although he was a Shi'a Muslim, he promoted harmony and educational equality with the minority Sunni Muslims when he was Director General of Education.

He also undermined the power of the ancient Shi'a in the shrine cities of Kadhimiya, Najaf and Karbala.

Due to being an Arab nationalist, he constantly urged Sunni Muslims and Shi'a Muslims to identify themselves with Iraq rather than with sectarian communities or tribes.

But it was noted that he appointed many more Shi'a teachers than Sunni teachers.

In 1945, al-Jamali, as Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed the United Nations Charter on behalf of his country.

Al-Jamali is considered one of the most prominent figures in politics and education in Iraq and the Arab World along with being one of the most notable and well-known prime ministers during the Monarchy Era of Iraq, his academic excellence qualified him to obtain the most prestigious scientific degrees in the most prestigious universities in the world despite his upbringing in a conservative and religious environment.

Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali was born in Kadhimiya, near Baghdad, the son of a Shi'a Muslim cleric, Sheikh Abbas al-Jamali.

He belongs to a religious family that participates in the custodianship of the shrine of al-Kadhimiya Mosque and originally came from Bani Shaiba.

His early education was a religious one, attending the religious seminary of Sheikh Mehdi Al-Khalissi.

He used to go to the Alliance School every Friday to acquire French books and learn the French language.

He practiced the profession of teaching in Iraqi schools for four years.

After graduating from the American University in Beirut, and Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City, he taught for some time in Iraq before entering public life.

He was chosen by the Iraqi government to sign the United Nations Charter in the name of Iraq and became the representative of Iraq at the founding ceremony of the United Nations Organization in 1945.

He also participated in the maintenance of the International Charter through his participation in two important committees of the conference, namely the committee that drafted the Security Council.

Because of the communist threat from the Soviet Union along Iraq's northeastern border, he advocated for a strong affiliation with the United States and the United Kingdom, at a time when the United States of America seemed to be a good ally for the Arab world, but he later confessed his disappointment at the way America treated his country, the Arab world, and the problems in the middle east in general.

Al-Jamali contributed to the development of modern national education in Iraq, as he prompted the Iraqi government to bring in the "Dabul Monroe Committee" from Columbia University in order to study the reality of education in Iraq.

Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali was known for defending Palestine in his speeches, writing, articles, and international forums.

Whenever he was at a United Nations conference, he would mention Palestinians and their struggles, and spoke highly of their heritage.

He was a member of both houses of the old Iraqi Parliament and was Minister of Foreign Affairs eight times in six ministries between 1946 and 1953.

In a speech at the General Assembly Hall at Flushing Meadow, New York, on Friday, 28 November 1947, Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali included the following statement on the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine:"Partition imposed against the will of the majority of the people will jeopardize peace and harmony in the Middle East. Not only the uprising of the Arabs of Palestine is to be expected, but the masses in the Arab world cannot be restrained. The Arab-Jewish relationship in the Arab world will greatly deteriorate. There are more Jews in the Arab world outside of Palestine than there are in Palestine. In Iraq alone, we have about one hundred and fifty thousand Jews who share with Muslims and Christians all the advantages of political and economic rights. Harmony prevails among Muslims, Christians and Jews. But any injustice imposed upon the Arabs of Palestine will disturb the harmony among Jews and non-Jews in Iraq; it will breed inter-religious prejudice and hatred."

He was twice the president of the Chamber of Deputies between October 1950 and September 1953.

On September 17, 1953, King Faisal II of Iraq entrusted Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali with the task of forming a new government.

Al-Jamali appointed mainly young officials, including people who had already proposed land reform, social security, and the organization of the government itself.

Al-Jamali also intended to improve state structures and increase their authority.

More than half of the ministers were Shi'a Muslims, and the interior ministry was taken over by a Kurd.

The new cabinet was received positively as until than, most of the Iraqi elite was dominated by Sunni Muslims.

He was further supported by Nuri al-Said who hoped that al-Jamali would promote the development of the country and stop the development of the Iraqi Communist Party.

That same month, al-Jamali abolished press censorship and ended the state of emergency in the country which was introduced a year earlier, lifting restrictions on the activities of political parties.

Al-Jamali made sure to control the Iraqi Communist Party and trade unions.

He declared a state of emergency in the provenance of Basra when oil workers working in Basra declared a strike.

Boston University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1956.