Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎154r] (308/1144)

the same law applied. The habits and customs of the inhabitants in these areas
were the same, whether they were Muslim or Christian, as, indeed, were their
food and their general outlook.
Although in Syt'ia and Palestine considerable numbers of Christians are to
be found, they are mainly Arab in origin, and their customs, their language, their
way of life are much the same as those of their Moslem neighbours. In the past
^4he Christian denominations have frequently been more hostile towards each
eher than towards the Moslems, who treated all denominations alike.
The only Christian community which had a special position was that of the
Maronites. In 1864, following disturbances between the Maronites and the
Druzes of the Lebanon, this province was “ placed under a privileged regime
based on a large measure of autonomy which allowed the Maronites to have their
own system of local government under a Christian Governor." This special form
of administration rested on an international guarantee.
As under the old Ottoman Empire there existed various “ Millets " with
special rights, the idea of semi-autonomous communities within the State is
familiar to all Arabs of the succession States and generally accepted as a fair
and sensible policy. This privileged regime of the Maronites deserves careful
study, as it can be the model for a semi-autonomous Jewish province in Palestine,
as will be explained later.
These Arabs of the Near and Middle East have for nearly a century been
struggling to secure their natural right to independence, so that they may be able
to unite; to recreate their ancient glory and to progress in the path of civilisation
in freedom and peace. But, so far, political factors, external rather than internal,
have obstructed their way and stood between them and their legitimate goal.
When the Arabs lost their independence several centuries ago, some of their
countries fell to the Ottoman Empire and others were later seized by European
countries and treated as colonies. Yet all this did not destroy the idea of indepen
dence in the Arab mind. Although Arab aspirations were suppressed for many
years, the desire for independence eventually revived, stronger and mightier than
ever.
In the Ottoman Empire Arabs as Moslems were regarded as partners of the
Turks. They shared with the Turks both rights and responsibilities without any
racial distinctions. The higher appointments in the State, whether military or
civil, were open to the Arabs; they were represented in both the Upper and the
Lower Houses of the Ottoman Parliament. Many Arabs became Prime Ministers.
Sheikhs al Islam, generals and Walis, and Arabs were always to be found in all
ranks of the State services.
• When the decline of the Ottoman Empire began and the Party of Union and
Progress started the Pan-Turkish Movement, the Arabs preferred to separate
from that Empire; they launched a campaign for the defence of their rights,
thereby paving the way for the independence of their countries.
At the beginning of the first Great War in 1914 the Arabs realised that a
gloomy future awaited them owing to the sinister behaviour of the Party of
Union and Progress, which had thrown itself into the arms of the Germans and
joined them in the war against the Allies. So King Husain bin ’Ali (who was
then the Sharif and Prince of Mecca) approached Great Britain, who definitely
pledged herself to secure for the Arabs their independence. Relying on those
promises, King Husain proclaimed in 1916 the separation of the Arabs from the
Ottoman Empire and joined the Allies, who were then pressing through the most
critical and dangerous stage of the war. The Arabs in all their countries
welcomed the step taken by King Husain and supported him, in the hope that
they would find in the pledges of the Allies the realisation of their national
aspirations. In consequence, Arabs in Turkish territory were subjected to
indescribable persecution and atrocities. But they fought the Turks on the side
of the Allies and shared in the conquest of Palestine and Syria.
In spite of the doubts raised in their minds when the Turks made public the
terms of the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement and when the Balfour Declaration
was published, the Arabs continued to trust in the repeated pledges given by
Great Britain to King Husain and to the Arabs of Syria and Iraq generally, in
various proclamations, that ‘ ‘ the future government of these territories should
be based on the principle of the consent of the governed.” This confidence
became a certainty in Arab minds when, in his famous Fourteen Points, President
Wilson laid down that: £< The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire
should be secured a sure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now
under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an
absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development.”