![Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎358r] (716/1144)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000288/IOR_L_PS_12_2110_00720.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎358r] (716/1144)")
Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [358r] (716/1144)
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.
120
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
EASTERN (General).
May 27, 1936.
CONFIDENTIAL.
P. z
Section 1.
[E 3039/381/65]
Copy No.
(No. 46.)
Sir,
Damascus, May 15, 1936.
I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith a short memorandum on
pan-Arabism. I have made these notes largely with a view to clarifying my own
mind on this very confused question. There is no doubt of the existence of an
Arab movement, but there is considerable doubt regarding its potentialities.
BEFORE attempting a brief examination of the Arab movement, a quotation
from Meredith Townsend’s essays Asia and Euroye, written at the end of the last
century, may not be out of place, for that
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
possessed undoubted qualifications
as a student of the East. He wrote :—
None but those who have lived among Asiatics can understand how an
oriental mind can brood over an idea. It is perhaps the most marked
distinction between him and the Western man : the European thinks, the
oriental only reflects, and if left to himself the idea turned over and over
endlessly in his mind hardens into the consistency of steel.”
It is difficult to think of a description that would better depict the attitude of
the Arab towards the idea of pan-Arabism, which has been put before him by a
small body of his own intellectuals. The idea bears no close investigation, yet it
cannot be questioned but that it is deep-seated in the Arab mind and" only
questioned when individual interests become involved.
The Arab leaders themselves seem to find much of their inspiration in a per
verted history of the past and ignore, or pretend to do, the reasons that led to the
rapid decay of the Arab-Berber civilisation that seemed so glorious 1,000 years
ago. These leaders preach that all the obstacles to the re-establishment of
Caliphate Arabia can be surmounted by intellectual processes and passive
resistance, and they encourage their followers in this fascinating exercise of self-
deception.
It may here be added, parenthetically, although it does not alter the general
question so far as Great Britain and France are concerned, that pan-Arabism or
Arab nationalism has never flourished otherwise than as a subversive movement
finding its chief stimulus in a revolt against law and order, which the Arab has
ever found irksome, especially when established by foreign rule. It has thrived
only under what is thought to be oppression, and has always died in liberty. So
to-day the pan-Arab movement is most lively in the mandated territories, where
the mandatories are the “oppressors,” and yet are inhibited from employing
“ the old Tartar method of stamping out ” the revolt against their rule. Since the
war, the viper kept alive abroad to bite the Turk now finds in the bosom of its
protectors a softer flesh for its fangs.
Strictly speaking, the Arab movement concerns the group of States that were
carved out of the Ottoman dominions conquered by the Allies. They fall naturally
into four divisions, as follows : — 1
(1) Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Moslem and Christian Palestine, and Trans
jordan.
[706 dd—1] n
I have, &c.
GILBERT MACKERETH.
Enclosure.
Memorandum respecting Pan-Arabism.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [358r] (716/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229912.0x000077> [accessed 26 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100047229912.0x000077
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100047229912.0x000077">Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [‎358r] (716/1144)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100047229912.0x000077"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000288/IOR_L_PS_12_2110_00720.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000288/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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