Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎41r] (81/544)

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which His Highness had caused to be forwarded to the High Com
missioner and the Turkish Commander in Syria messages to Emir
Keisal and to Giaffer Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , that the Turkish policy was evidently
to sow distrust between the Arabs and the Powers of the Entente
by suggesting to the former that the Entente Powers desired Arab
territory, and to the latter that the Arabs could be diverted from
their purpose of self-liberation ; but that the words of intriguers
were powerless to cause dissension between those whose minds were
bent on a single purpose; that His Majesty’s Government with their
Allies stood for the cause of the liberation of oppressed nations, and
were determined to stand by the Arab peoples in their attempt to
reconstruct an Arab world in which Ottoman violence should once
again be replaced by law, and unity substituted for the disastrous
* rivalries which Turkish ofticinls promoted; and that His Majestys
Government reaffirmed their former pledges to His Highness in
regard to tlie freeing of the Arab peoples.
Sir Mark Sykes said that he was quite sure that the King of
the Hedjaz had, some months back, been fully informed of the
Sykes-Picot Agreement, and that he had now read it again in good
Arabic and had feigned indignation. As regards the suggestion
that the French were out for annexations, this had already been
disavowed by M. Gout, speaking on behalt of the french Govern
ment.
The Committee decided —
That the Foreign Office should be asked to send a further reply
to Sir Reginald Wingate m the following sense :
(a.) That the Government approved of the instructions
he had given to King Hussein s agent;
(b.) That the Government's instructions and policy had
already been clearly indicated in the Foreign
Office telegram to him of the Wi February;
(c.) That the larger issue could only be decided after
consultation with the French Government.
Policy in regard 2. Sir Mark Sykes said that it appeared from a memorandum
to Mohammedan which had been written by Colonel Jacob and a recent telegram from
Religion. General Clayton that the authorities in Egypt were inclined to
proceed on the wrong lines in regard to policy in respect of the
Mohammedan religion. There were also proposals afoot^to start a
Moslem Bureau. He had discussed the matter with Sir Ronald
Graham, who agreed with him that it was desirable to get things on
the right lines. He accordingly prepared a draft telegram, which he
thought should be sent, if the Committee approved, to Sn R.
©
W ingate.
Mr. Montagu doubted whether it were really necessary. It
might have a bad effect on the Mohammedans in India, who at
present were going through a rather bad time. All Colonel Jacob
had urged in his memorandum was a more sympathetic treatment of
Mohammedanism, and that, as Turkey was bound to survive uhe war,
we should not shape our policy on the lines of too uncompromising
hostility. The suggested reply indicated a complete religious tolera
tion and a complete religious detachment, and any Mohammedan who
saw it would regard it as most unsympathetic. •
General Smuts said that, although the document might be
perfectly right from a Western point of view, was it so from an
Oriental’s?
Mr. Montagu said this was exactly his point. „
Mr. Balfour said that Colonel Jacob had “started a hare'’ of
his own without provocation, and he saw no reason why we should
pursue it.