Feisal-Weizmann Agreement Regarding
"The Arab State and Palestine"
Feisal Hussein, King of Iraq and Syria agreed
to Jewish National Home according to British Mandate (Israel and Jordan)
in 1919. King of Iraq from 1921; eldest son of Hussein, sherif of
Mecca. He led the Arab intifada against Turkey (1916-1918) and was
designated king of Syria. Feisal was at first sympathetic to a Jewish
Homeland from which he hoped to receive aid in building his future kingdom.
He met Dr. Weizmann in Jordan (1918) and Paris (1919) where they reached
an agreement on mutual aid, conditional on the implementation of British
promises to the Arabs. Later, owing to his expulsion from Syira by
the French (1920) and the influence of other Arab leaders, his attitude
later became hostile.
By the mid-19th century, up to 100,000
people lived in Palestine, including a high percentage of Jews, whose forebears
had lived there for thousands of years. In 1882, roughly 200,000 Muslims
lived in all of Western Palestine.1
By 1918, the situation had not changed much: That was why Hussein ibn-Ali,
Sherif of Mecca, and his son, King Faisal of Iraq, both endorsed and extolled
the Balfour Declaration
2
Hussein wrote in Mecca's Al Qibla,
in 1918, "The resources of the country are still virgin soil and will be
developed by the Jewish immigrants. One of the most amazing things until
recent times was that the Palestinian used to leave his country, wandering
over the high seas in every direction. His native soil could not retain
a hold on him.... At the same time, we have seen the Jews from foreign
countries streaming to Palestine from Russia, Germany, Austria, Spain,
and America. The cause of causes could not escape those who had a gift
of deeper insight. They knew that the country was for its original sons
[abna'ihi-l-asliyin], for all their differences, a sacred and beloved
homeland. The return of these exiles [jaliya] to their homeland
will prove materially and spiritually an experimental school for their
brethren who are with them in the fields, factories, trades and all things
connected to the land."
3
In early 1919, King Faisal, then the only
recognized Arab leader in the world, executed a treaty with Chaim Weizmann
adopting the understanding of the Balfour Declaration. It outlined relations
between Palestine and the Arab state, recognizing the former as a National
Home for the Jews, in which they should quickly settle. He wrote, "We Arabs,
especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the
Zionist movement. Our delegation here in Paris is fully acquainted with
the proposals submitted yesterday to the Zionist organization to the Peace
Conference, and we regard them as moderate and proper." (emphasis
added) 4
The 1919 Faisal-Weizmann treaty provided
a firm foundation for League of Nations ratification of the Balfour Declaration
at the San Remo Conference in 1920. The proposals covered Palestine - from
the Mediterranean through the entire Galilee, up to the Litany River, hundreds
of miles east of the Jordan River through all of current day Jordan, and
into part of the Sinai. The League assigned Palestine Mandate administration
to Britain, entrusting it to establish the National Home for the Jews.
5
His Royal Highness the Emir FEISAL, representing and acting
on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Dr. CHAIM WIEZMANN, representing
and acting on behalf of the Zionist Organization.
mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the
Arabs and the Jewish people, and realising that the surest means of working
out the consumation of their national aspirations is through the closest
possible collaboration in the development of the Arab State and Palestine,
and being desirous further of confirming the good understanding which exists
between them,
have agreed upon the following Articles;-
ARTICLE I
The Arab State and Palestine in all their relations and undertakings
shall be controlled by the most cordial goodwill and understanding and
to this end Arab and Jewish duly accredited agents shall be established
and maintained in the respective territories.
ARTICLE II
Immediately following the completion of the deliberations of the Peace
Conference, the definite boundaries between the Arab State and Palestine
shall be determined by a Commission to be agreed upon by the parties hereto.
ARTICLE III
In the establishment of the Constitution and Administration of Palestine
all such measures shall be adopted as will afford the fullest guarantee
for carrying into effect the British Government's Declaration of the 2nd
of November, 1917.
ARTICLE IV
All necessary measures shall be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration
of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to
settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive
cultivation of the soil. In taking such measures measures the Arab
peasant and tenant farmes shall be protected in their rights and shall
be assisted in forwaxiiing their economic development.
ARTICLE V.
No regulation nor Iaw shall be made prohibiting or interfering in any
way with the free exercise of religion; and further the free excercise
and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discimimtion
or preference shell forever be allowed. No religious test shall ever be
required for the exercise of civil or political rights.
ARTICLE VI
The Mohammedan Holy Places shall be under Mohammedan control.
ARTICLE VII
The Zionist Organization proposes to send to Palestine a Commission
of experts to make a survey of the economic possibilities of the country,
and to report upon the best means for its development. The Zionist Organisation
will place the aforementioned Comission at the disposal of the Arab State
for the purpose of a survey of the economic possibilities of the Arab State
and to report upon the best means for its development. The Zionist Organization
will use Its best efforts to assist the Arab State in providing the means
for developing the natural resources and economic possibilities thereof.
ARTICLE VIII.
The parties hereto agree to act in complete accord and harmony on all
matters embraced herein before the Peace congress.
ARTICLE IX
Any matters of dispute which my arise between the contracting parties
shall be referred to the British Government for arbitration.
Given under our hand at LONDON.
ENGLAND, the THIRD day of
JANUARY, ONE THOUSAND NINE
HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN.
1 Katz,
Battleground, pp. 90-115 (citing De Haas, Jacob, History of Palestine:
The
Last Two Thousand Years, New York: Macmillan, 1934), 123-127; Peters,
Joan, From Time Immemorial, pp. 244-245, citing Dr. Carl Herman
Voss, The Palestine Problem Today, Israel and Its Neighbors (Boston:
Beacon Press, 1953), p. 13. Western Palestine (also then called Southern
Syria) was considerably larger than the area that later became Israel.
It is very misleading to cite their populations interchangeably, as Peters
details.
[6]
Katz, Samuel, Battlegound: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine, 123-127.
[7]
Katz, Battleground, pp. 125-127
[8]
Katz, Battleground, pp.125-127
Source: "By the mid-19th
century..for the Jewish state" quoted from Mourning
for Peace by Alyssa A. Lappen
This page was produced by Joseph
E. Katz
Middle Eastern Political and Religious
History Analyst
Brooklyn, New York
E-mail
to a friend
Source: "From Time Immemorial" by Joan
Peters, 1984, a national
bestseller, WorldNetDaily.com
distributers, just reprinted!!! and available at
http://www.dxmarket.com/worldnetdaily/products/B0062.html
|