At their request, the Secretary this morning received the Ministers in
Washington of four of the Arab countries.
The Egyptian Minister, speaking on behalf of his colleagues, stated that
it did not seem necessary for him to present in detail to the Secretary
[Page 767]
the views of the Arab
countries and peoples with regard to Zionist ambitions affecting
Palestine, including the Zionist demand for mass immigration into that
country. These views had already been expressed to the Department on
several occasions—only recently to Mr. Acheson—and he was sure that they
were known to the Secretary.
The Secretary stated that Mr. Acheson had informed him regarding the
statements made to him by the Arab Ministers during their recent
conversation with the Under Secretary.
The Egyptian Minister said that in order that he and his colleagues would
not take up too much of the Secretary’s time, they had decided to
prepare a brief aide-mémoire summarizing the
attitude of the Arab countries and of the Arab League with regard to the
question of Palestine. He handed this memorandum to the Secretary and
added that the Secretary could read it at his leisure.
The Secretary said that he was glad that the Ministers had called upon
him because it gave him an opportunity to make clear to them that there
had been no change in the policy of the United States with regard to
Palestine. The Government of the United States continued to adhere to
the policy that it would give no support to any change in what it would
consider to be the basic situation in Palestine until after such change
had previously been fully discussed with Arabs and Jews.
[Annex]
The Arab Ministers to
the Secretary of State
Aide-Mémoire
The renewed general interest on the part of many quarters in the
question of Palestine seems to call for a restatement of this
question from the point of view of the Arabs. This restatement
should prove all the more instructive as the Arabs now have formed a
League of Arab States which has, since its foundation, expressed the
strongest interest in the fate of Palestine.
The bare historical facts are quite simple. Ever since the Balfour
Declaration was made known, the Arabs of Palestine and the Near East
have never failed to express by every means at their disposal their
strong disapproval of unrestricted Jewish immigration and sale of
land to the Jews in Palestine. It is unnecessary to recall the
various forms which this expression of disapproval took during the
last twenty years.
It is also significant to note that every independent Arab government
has repeatedly made known its view on this matter. All of them have
evinced the keenest interest in Palestine and regarded themselves
[Page 768]
directly involved in
any settlement of that issue. The Arab League itself finally gave a
more articulate and unified form to this general Arab concern by
incorporating it into Constitution.
The essence of the Arab position is that no change in the status of
Palestine should take place without the consent of the Arabs. The
historical, cultural, religious, political and geographical ties
which bind Palestine to the rest of the Arab world have always made
this world feel Palestine to be a part and parcel of itself, a part
for whose destiny it is directly and unavoidably responsible.
The British White Paper of 1939 recognized this decisive interest of
the Arab world in the affairs of Palestine by stipulating that
beyond the envisaged quota of Jewish immigration until 1944, any
further changes could not be introduced without the consent of the
Arabs, and recognizing the right of Palestine to complete eventual
independence.
The Zionist leaders throughout the world have been proclaiming lately
far and wide that their aim is to transform Palestine into a
sovereign Jewish state. This aim seems to have been attended with
much publicity. This has resulted on the one hand in a great
misunderstanding of the real issue in Palestine on the part of
American public opinion, and on the other in the generation of a
deep feeling of concern throughout the Arab world. In this
connection, it is right to call attention to the fact that the
question of Palestine stirs not only the Arab world, and that
regardless of religion, but also the Moslem world at large, and that
regardless of nationality. To transform a country that has been
non-Jewish for thousands of years and Arab for 1300 years into a
Jewish state is an act that obviously cannot be viewed with
equanimity by the Arabs.
The Arab people and states desire nothing more sincerely than to be
on the best of terms with the people and Government of the United
States. The two great peoples have always enjoyed a background of
happy relations. It is in the highest interest of peace that these
relations be preserved and promoted.
The Arab people have always believed that the United States would not
favor the bringing about of any changes in the status and character
of Palestine without the consent of the Arabs of that land and at
the expense of themselves and the rest of the Arab world. They have
lately been perturbed over reports that this policy may have
changed. But they cannot believe that the United States, famous as
she is in her history and outlook for a very exalted sense of
justice, would favor a course of action which would run counter to
the freely expressed wishes of the Arabs, especially as assurances
have been made by the late and present Presidents that such would
not be the case.
The Arabs sincerely deplore the persecutions inflicted upon the Jews
[Page 769]
in Europe. In this
connection it is instructive to note that one of the most brilliant
pages of Jewish history was written when the Jews shared with the
Arabs the great achievements of their mediaeval culture. Feeling a
sense of complete solidarity with the civilized world, the Arabs
declare their readiness to do their part in helping to solve this
world problem. They are sure Palestine will not solve it; and if it
does, it will be only at the expense of the Arabs. In helping to
shoulder a sacrifice, the Arabs cannot be asked to sacrifice
themselves.
Regarding the peace of the Near East in general, and of the Arab
world in particular, one principle is certain: there obviously can
be no peace in that region by sacrificing Arab interest for the sake
of the Jews. A Zionist political state can be created in Palestine,
but only with the help of force which an artificial the introduction
of further Jewish immigrants into Palestine, is obviously not in the
interests of world peace, nor is it conducive to the development of
the friendliest relations between the Arabs and the external
world.
Washington,
October 12,
1945.
