The first meeting of the General Refugee Congress (GRC) occurred on 17 March 1949 in Ramallah where al-Hawari was elected as President with Yahya Hammuda and ‘Aziz Shihada as deputies.Avi Plascov (1981), "The Palestinian refugees in Jordan 1948-1957" Routledge , p. 20 The Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) hoping to gain a degree of independent Palestinian representation, invited Al-Hawari to come and appear before the PCC.Ilan Pappé (1992) “The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1947-1951” I B Tauris , p. 223
