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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎245r] (490/1144)

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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. .

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PROPOSAL FOR AN ARAB FEDERATION.
24-S
THE COMMITTEE had before them Notes by the Chairman
(M.E.(0)(41) 5 and 6) y circulating for their consideration an
extract from the minutes of the Ministerial meeting held on 26th
September and a number of other papers bearing on the problem*
Introduction ,,
THE CHAIRMAN drew attention to the reference in Annex I. to
M.E.(0)(41) 5 to a scheme for federation advocated by Sir
Firozkhan Noon® The latter had proposed that Ibn Saud,
King of Saudi Arabia, should be established as the Head of an
Arab Federation, and that the rulers of Iraq, Trans-Jordan, the
Yemen, etc. should be compelled to accept his suzerainty as a
condition of their retention of their present thrones and dignities.
As part of this arrangement King Ibn Saud would be expected to
agree that, on the formation of this Federation, he would enter
into a treaty setting up a Jewish autonomous State in Palestine.
This scheme-had. been felt by the Ministers to be
impracticable if only because we could not compel -the Arab
rulers to .accept the suzerainty of Ibn Saud. The Ministers
were nevertheless anxious that the possibilities of federation
should be explored not only as offering a possible solution of
the Palestine problem, but also as being in itself a desirable
object. ... • y • : - --M l ni
•J..V .j':rr
Essential interests of H a M. Gey or lime nt
He suggested that the Committee should first determine.what
were the essential interests and obligations of His Majesty^
Government in the area: these might be conveniently considered
under the headings (A) Political and (b) Strategic 0
The following is a summary of the main points ..in..the y
discussion under these headings.
A. Political .
(1) The F oreign Office consider that the essential British
interests may "be" summarised as the maintenance of Imperial
communications, the safeguarding of British oil interests,,.and
the exclusion from the area of the influence of any major, power
that might at any time become hostile to us; Apart from these
general desiderata, there are a number of existing commitments, e.g.
(a) The Treaty of Alliance with Iraq:
(b) The Suez Canal Agreement:
(c) The treaties with the independent rulers of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region and of the Aden Protectorate.
Fur t her, a joint Anglo-Fr o o .French guar ant ce had recently been
given to the people of-Syria and the Lebanon and His Majesty f s
Government had recognised the pre-eminent position- : -bf France over
other European countries in these territories.
(2) The Colonia l O ffice are concerned with the
implementation"of past pledges and the conduct of future policy
in Palestine. It has been publicly" stated (White Paper of 1939,
paragraph 10(7)) that in the event of the establishment of an

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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
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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎245r] (490/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229911.0x00005d> [accessed 16 July 2026]

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