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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [51r] (102/1144)
The record is made up of 1 file (570 folios). It was created in 21 Dec 1932-5 Mar 1948. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
CZlf
0 -
Middle East as a counter-weight to +^1 ^th a weak
we should be settling up our affairs in Palestine n
Arab Federation, still in need of outside-help if its auunori^
is to be maintained; and should be nn ]v villain
best as the bringer of peace, and atthe worst as y .349
No.2, instead of facing the full music by ourselves m iy
18. Conceding the "difficulty" of General deGauile'a
Government it would still seem possible ^f^Lgome
conference table, if we can accompany °ur invitation by i e , g
face-saving relaxation of our present military meas _ • u;
probable that we should find considerable
has shown clear signs of a preference f?r a +ute her
tion with the Mediterranean Arab countries. These
outlet to the Mediterranean and would f s ? Provide her w^n™
support necessary to prevent Egyptian domination 3
Arab federation^
19 We need not be unduly apprehensive of res ^ 3 ^^ c ® PQ
Ibn Saud^a consolidation of bF ohe "fertile, crescent’ countries^.
He would not exactly welcome a union of Syria Palestine^
the Hashimites: but such a union would not be nprtninlv
* actual Hashimiie rule in those two countries, ^ the
must not forget that the father of ohe Regent^Abd pwi r
King Ali whom Ibn Sand evicted from theHeiaz^andtheEmir
Abdullah still emits an occasional snarl at the Saudi King.
But Ibn Baud has little to^fear from them mlitari y
economically with Great Britain and the U.S.A., as a P >
vying to support him, and witn vast wealth lying und ^
surface of his country e He has not latterly seemed to take
veryseriously the possibility of one of his sons succeeding to
the^Syrian throne and has probably more or less dropped the idea.
on a consolidation of the Mediterranean Arab countries, vi£.
the old Ottomn vilayets of Syria, Aleppo and Beirut would Have
certain definite advantages. The Jewish ^d Maromte problems
would fall more into perspective;.Palestinian fT^bs would welcome
the accession of support from their fellow Muslims of Syria ad
Transioraan: while uhe position of the Jews and Lebanese could
be 1 safeguarded by some measure of local autonomy within the new
State, Is was enjoyed by the sanjaq of Lebanon under the Turks.
The Druzes might possibly receive some similar treatment. .The
onat of overnment would obviously be considerably reduced,
while thf neV^tateToGld have little to fear from a confderation
with Iraq, with which she would be sufficiently equal a partner.
21. If this can be achieved by.joint Anglo-French action now
to terminate the mandates, there is n ° re ® son .^y ba y
strategic treaty should not concurrently be signed.by the Arabs
with both the ex-mandatory powers. In any case, with the range
of modern weapons, it is.no longer sufficient to hole Palestine
*n nvrl pv 1*n ^pcurc tii6 air^routG and th.0 Sugz Canal, oiiir
strltegczonemistexolnd to the Turkish and Persian frontiers.
22. The suggestion therefore is that our promised support of
Arab Federation should be in three stages:-
Stage,
Unite up the Mediterranean Arab countries;
keen France in the ring; terminate the
mandates and get our strategic requirements
bv treaty.
About this item
- Content
This file concerns the British Government's response to the Pan-Arab movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Much of the correspondence refers to the prospect of an Arab federation, although the use of the word 'federation' is noted in some of the correspondence as being a mistranslation of the original Arabic expression, which would be more accurately represented by the words 'unification' or 'unity'.
Significant subjects of discussion include:
- Arab party politics in Palestine.
- Iraqi-Egyptian relations.
- Italian propaganda in the Middle East.
- The future of Palestine.
- Britain's post-war policy in the Middle East.
- Whether the Arab states should be induced to make a wartime declaration in favour of the democracies (i.e. the Allies).
- The formation of the Arab League (also referred to as the Arab Federation in the correspondence).
- Details of the Pact (also referred to as Covenant) of the Arab League, signed in Cairo on 22 March 1945.
- Whether representatives of the Arab League should be present at the Palestine Conference in London, in 1947, in addition to representatives of Arab states.
Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the High Commissioner for Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad; the High Commissioner for Egypt; His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo; the High Commissioner for Palestine; His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Minister of State in the Middle East; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , the Commonwealth Relations Office, and the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. 's External Affairs Department; Noury Said [Nūrī al-Sa‘īd], Prime Minister of Iraq; George Antonius, Lebanese-Egyptian author and diplomat.
Also included with the correspondence are the following:
- Extracts from Palestine police summaries dating from 1933 to 1936, produced by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Jerusalem.
- A printed copy of a paper on Arab federation by the Foreign Research and Press Service, dated 20 June 1941.
- Copies of documents produced by the War Cabinet's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East (also referred to as the Middle East (Official) Committee), including minutes of meetings (1941-1942) and a copy of a report on Arab Federation, dated January 1942.
- A copy (in French) of the Protocol of the Preparatory Committee for the Arab Congress, dated 7 October 1944.
- Copies of the Pact/Covenant of the recently formed Arab League (consisting of a printed copy in French, distributed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an English translation of the full Arabic text, which includes a passage that was omitted from the French version).
The French material consists of the aforementioned Protocol and Arab League Pact, plus one item of correspondence and a copy of a newspaper extract.
The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-3).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (570 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 571; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Two previous foliation sequences, which are also circled, have been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [51r] (102/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229909.0x000069> [accessed 14 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2110
- Title
- Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:6v, 9r:24v, 27r:59v, 61r:62v, 73r:78v, 82r:93v, 95r:103v, 105r:106v, 111r:111v, 113r:115v, 118r:120v, 122r:132v, 134r:152v, 158r:199v, 201r:265v, 273r:354v, 356r:381v, 384r:394v, 398r:407v, 410r:516v, 518r:565v, 567r:571v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence