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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [263r] (526/1144)
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.
"federation** followed (op* paragraph 8 of the Memorandum)*
"We then", to. continue quotation from my note* ’’reverted
to the question of the memorandum, or statement of policy,
alluded to earlier in the conversation* Mr# Antonius
said that instead of this "being compiled, e*g* in the
Foreign Office, he suggested he might compile it himself
and that it might be then sent to His Majesty’s Government s
representatives in various Arab States* He asked my
advice about this* I said that until I knew what would
"be its contents I could not say how His Majesty's Government
would regard it or what they would do with it* Did
Mr* Antonius envisage a memorandum as from himself
individually, or one compiled in collaboration with others?
He said that the latter would involve consultations with
people in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, etc*, which would mean
squabbles and delays* He thought in terms of a memorandum
under his own name. I said that I felt sure the
Secretary of State would welcome any contribution from him
if it avoided too much controversial recrimination, and was
directed to constructive purposes* Whether it would be
circulated to His Majesty's representatives and, if so, with
what instructions as to the use to be made of it, I could not
say, but I thought that a really thoughtful constructive
essay of the kind he'had in mind, would almost certainly
be utilised, and might even form the basis for some
authoritative statement* I went on to say that I would
gladly do anything I properly cobld to help Mr. Antoniua
unofficially in the preparation of his memorandum, e.g*
by suggesting corrections in matters of fact that might be
within my knowledge, or in warning him off lines which
might cause offence, if he cared to show me what he had
written in draft; and he would of course be as entirely free
to accept or reject my advice as I should be to make any
comments in forwarding the document* He expressed his
gratitude for this offer and said he would get to work at
once as he had plenty of time on his hands and a strong
inclination to do something helpful** •
4. The present Memorandum was brought to me in draft
form by Mr. Ajitonlus on October 2nd and I went through it
with him in the course of an interview lasting an hour and
a half that evening. As a result he made a few minor
alterations, to which I will allude, and sent the
Memorandum to me in its present final form the next day,
5* (a) My first criticism had been that it v/as not
quite clear whether the opinions expressed in paragraphs 2 to
4 were shared by himself or represented an objective
description of the opinions of others. He said the latter
was the case; but he avoided any 'disasoociation of himself
from them. He has now, in the second part of paragraph 2,
replaced "at heart equally imperialistic” by "from our
point of view equally imperialistic”, and "Arab rights’* by
"our rights".
(b) Since I queried the likelihood of Germany
being content with "economic privileges" (see third part of
paragraph
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' [263r] (526/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229911.0x000081> [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