Hashim al-Atassi
In 1928 al-Haffar, along with a number of nationalist leaders, founded the National Bloc in Beirut. The Bloc, under the leadership of Hashim al-Atassi, became the central umbrella group for political resistance against the French occupation. Al-Haffar was elected to the national constitutional assembly in 1928, which was tasked with drafting Syria's first republican constitution.