Just think what could have been in our region if; "the educated among us" as was explained simply by his Royal Highness Prince Faisal Husseini, king of
Syria and Iraq in his letter of March 3,1919 to Felix Frankfurter had taken steps to cease the hatred and allow the Jews the promised homeland so long denied us.
Faisal had stated to Frankfurter and Weizmann that there "is room in Syria for us both".
He did not claim that there was on place for the Jews as is claimed today.
He even admitted to the importance of educating those; "People less informed and less responsible than our leaders and yours," who are "ignoring the need for co-operation of the Arabs and Zionists" and "have been trying to exploit the local difficulties".
I truly believe here that Emir Feisal was referring to Syrian Islamic Nationalists like those who taught Amir El Hussanei who were staunch anti-Semites who as he says have "misrepresented your aims to the Arab peasantry".
Emir Feisal and his "educated followers" attempted to prevent the rivalry and hatred among his fellow arabs while presenting his willingness to live in peace with the early members of the Yishuv.
Introduction:
During the peace conference following World War I, the Emir Faisal exchanged letters with Justice Felix Frankfurter, professing his support for Zionist aims.
In the light of later history and the current characterization of the Zionist movement, it is significant that Faisal wrote:
We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is national and not imperialist. Our movement is national and not imperialist, and there is room in Syria
A letter from his His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Husseini, king of Syria and Iraq to Felix Frankfurter, associate of Dr. Chaim Weizmann:
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| Letter to Felix Frankfurter written by T. E. Lawrence in the name of Prince Faisal, March 1919 |
DEAR MR. FRANKFURTER: I want to take this opportunity of my first contact with American Zionists to tell you what I have often been able to say to Dr. Weizmann in Arabia and Europe .
We feel that the Arabs and Jews are cousins in having suffered similar oppressions at the hands of powers stronger than themselves, and by a happy coincidence have been able to take the first step towards the attainment of their national ideals together.
We Arabs, especially the educated among us look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist Organization
to Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate proper. We will do our best, in so far as we are concerned, to help them through: we will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home.
With the chiefs of your movement, especially with Dr.
Weizmann, we have had and continue to have the closest relations. He has been a great helper of our cause, and I hope the Arabs may soon be in a position to make the Jews some return for their kindness. We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is national and not imperialist. Our movement is national and not imperialist, and there is room in Syria
for us both. Indeed I think that neither can be a real success without the other.
People less informed and less responsible than our leaders and yours, ignoring the need for co-operation of the Arabs and Zionists have been trying to exploit the local difficulties that must necessarily arise in Palestine in the early stages of our movements. Some of them have, I am afraid, misrepresented your aims to the Arab peasantry, and our aims to the Jewish peasantry, with the result that interested parties have been able to make capital out of what they call our differences.
I wish to give you my firm conviction that these differences are not on questions of principle, but on matters detail such as must inevitably occur in every contact of neighboring peoples, and as are easily adjusted by mutual good will. Indeed nearly all of them will disappear with fuller knowledge.
I look forward, and my people with me look forward, to a future in which we will help you and you will help us, so that the countries in which we are mutually interested may once again take their places in the community of civilized peoples of the world.
Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd.) Feisal. 5th
MARCH, 1919 .
Felix Frankfurter's reply:
ROYAL HIGHNESS:
Allow me, on behalf of the Zionist Organization, to acknowledge your recent letter with deep appreciation.
Those of us who come from the United
States have already been gratified by the friendly relations and the active co-operation maintained between you and the Zionist leaders, particularly Dr. Weizmann. We knew it could not be otherwise; we knew that the aspirations of the Arab and the Jewish peoples were parallel, that each aspired to re-establish its nationality in its own homeland, each
making its own distinctive contribution to civilization, each seeking its own peaceful mode of life.
The Zionist leaders and the Jewish people for whom they speak have watched with satisfaction the spiritual vigor of the Arab movement. Themselves seeking justice, they are anxious that the just national aims of the Arab people be confirmed and safeguarded by the Peace Conference.
We knew from your acts and your past utterances that the Zionist movement-in other words the national aim of the Jewish people-had your support and the support of the Arab people for whom you speak. These aims are now before the Peace Conference as definite proposals by the Zionist Organization. We are happy indeed that you consider these proposals "moderate and proper," and that we have in you a staunch supporter for their realization. For both the Arab and the Jewish peoples there are difficulties
ahead-difficulties that challenge the united statesmanship of Arab and Jewish leaders. For it is no easy task to rebuild two great civilizations that have been suffering oppression and misrule for centuries. We each have our difficulties we shall work out as friends, friends who are animated by similar purposes, seeking a free and full development for the two neighboring peoples. The Arabs and Jews are neighbors in territory; we cannot but live side by side as friends.
Very respectfully,
(Sgd.) Felix Frankfurter.
Agreement between Emir Faisal and Dr. Weizmann
Following the First World War, Emir Faisal, son of Mecca , and the leader of the Arab movement, met in Aqaba with Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the head of the Zionist Commission to Palestine . Later, at the Paris Peace Conference, the two negotiated and signed the following agreement, which spoke of full cooperation
in the development of the independent Arab state in present-day Syria and Iraq (as promised by the British to Faisal) and the Jewish home in Palestine (from the Balfour Declaration), and encouraging "the immigration of Jews
into Palestine on a large scale".
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| Emir Faisal and the Arab Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference 1919 |
Emir Faisal's Delegation at Versailles, during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. At the centre, from left to right: Rustum Haidar, Nuri as-Said, Prince Faisal, Captain Pisani (behind Faisal) T. E. Lawrence, Faisal's assistant (name unknown), Captain Tahsin Qadri.
Photo on upper right is of the cover of the; Book of the Independence of Syria,8 March 1920, showing the declared borders of Faisal's Arab Kingdom of Syria, including "Palestine".
Here is the historic agreement negated by the Machiavellian maneuvers of the French and the British.
Agreement Between Emir Faisal and Dr. Weizmann
His Royal Highness the Emir Faisal, representing and acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Dr. Chaim Weizmann, 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 realizing that the surest means of working out the consummation of their natural 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 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 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 guarantees for carrying into effect the British Government's Declaration of the 2nd of November, 1917 . ( the Balfour Declaration
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 the Arab peasant and tenant farmers shall be protected in their rights and shall be assisted in forwarding their economic development.
Article V
No regulation or law shall be made prohibiting or interfering in any way with the free exercise of religion; and further, the
free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall 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.
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| Signature page of the agreement, showing Faisal's caveat in Arabic. Faisal could not read English. |
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
Organization will place the aforementioned Commission at the disposal of the Arab
State Arab
State Arab State
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 may arise between the
contracting parties hall be referred to the British Government for arbitration.
Given under our hand at London ,
England
Chaim Weizmann Faisal Ibn-Hussein
Regretfully, the agreement of course was not carried out, mostly due to the Machiavellian change in Allied policy regarding the Arab State
Reservation by the Emir Faisal
"If the Arabs are established as I have asked in my manifesto of 4 January, addressed to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, I will carry out what is written in this agreement. If changes are made, I cannot be answerable for failing to carry out this agreement."As to the failure of the agreement please refer to the exchange of letters between the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn bin Ali, and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, from the 14 July 1915 to 30 January 1916 during World War I known as the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence. This was an exchange of letters letters in which the Arabs declared that they would revolt in alliance with the United Kingdom, and in return the UK would recognize Arab independence, concerning the political status of lands under the Ottoman Empire.
The Arabs did not obtain their independence and the Faisal-Weizmann agreement survived only a few months. The decision of the peace conference itself refused independence for the vast Arab-inhabited lands that Faisal desired, mainly because the British and French had struck their own secret Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 dividing the Middle East between their own spheres of influence.
Just think for one moment and consider the impact of how this last part of the statement by Emir Faisal: "I cannot be answerable for failing to carry out this agreement", changed history forever and condemned thousands if not a millions people to death and agony!
One wonders just how many lives would have been saved had the Machiavellian maneuvers of the French and the British had not played out.
It will take brave and courageous men and women who are driven to work together to bring about a miracle of peace for one and all.
This is a very important piece of history.
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