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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [285r] (570/1144)
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.
9 =
Jewish Influence-and power, whatever the de ®-i?"^unIfled
would be facilitated by the provision oi a single unilieo
field for their operation^
7. The "Arabs" are perfectly alive to the aepiratione
of the Jews, and to whatever extent unification,
whatever name, is favoured by the Jews j.t fj ow
something of its original attractionin Arab ey ,
then, it may be asked, does it come about that so many
irabs still regard unification with favour?
8, The answer must, I think, be given under several
heads:
(a) There is, in fact, a marked decline in the Arab
enthusiasm for unification for the reason stated in my
preceding paragraphs
It la true that when, towards the close of the
London discussions of 1939, it was proposed b y ^ia Majesty s
Government to insert the words "possibly of a federal nature
in clause 10(l) of the White Paper, the representatives or
the Arab States, then in Cairo (.the Palestine dele gat.
having already dispersed), objected and asked that the words
should be omitted; but the form of federation reierivd to
at the time was the "cantonal" form mentioned under U)
in my first paragraph*
The words were duly omitted in the,White paper
but in defending it subsequently (23rd Kay 1939) in'the ,
House of Lords the Government spokesman specifically aaaea
as the Colonial Secretary had warned the Arab States that
he would « ’’There is nothing in the White Paper to rule •
out the possibility of a federal solution”, and it appears
from the debate that ’’federation” by now was being understood
in its wider sense ((b) of paragraph 1), and it was ^
advocated in that sense by Lord Samuel* Lord heading ana the
archbishop of Canterbury* Similarly in the discussions
held at Geneva in June* 1939, with the Permanent Mandates
Commission it became clear that, though it was only in the
narrower sense that ’’federation” had been discussed with
the ”rirabs” in London, the wider conception was not by
any means to be ruled out of consideration^
(b) Many ’’Arabs” - I refer of course to the political
intelligentsia - may feel that some unification is possible,
and that it can be made an instrument for the of
Jews, in spite of Jewish designs to make use of it for their
own ends^
(c) A proportion of these same ’’.vrabe” do not
altogether dislike the idea of Jewish permeation, because
they^are shrewd enough to see that without it there will
be less money in their several countries and less
opportunities for profiteering in land values* ’^ hile
reconciled to economic pemeation they draw the line at
political domination, and thus, to whatever extent they
continue to accord favour to uitfication it must
understood that the term relates only in their mind to
cultural and economic mattersc
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' [285r] (570/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229911.0x0000ad> [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