Sami Taha

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Sami Taha (1916-1947) was an Arab labour leader in Palestine. He was born in Arrabah, near Jenin, and moved to Haifa in the early 1930s.

Taha joined the Palestine Arab Workers Society where he was employed as a low level clerk. He worked his way up the organization and in 1937, he was appointed its general-secretary.^[1].

He had completed primary school but, through independent study, he became fluent in English and acquired a good knowledge of labour law. He became a powerful labour leader and Jamal al-Husayni appointed him as the labour representative of the Arab Higher Committee.

Taha was killed on September 12, 1947. On September 13, thousands of Arab workers formed a funeral procession for Taha and the British authorities detained two Jewish women regarding the murder, although it is widely believed today that the murder was committed by agents of Haj Amin al-Husayni.