Posted on 05/26/2004 7:04:47 PM PDT by abu afak
Agreement Between Emir Feisal and Dr. Weizmann
3 January, 1919
Introduction
Following the First World War, Emir Feisal, son of Sherif Hussein (Husayn) 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 Feisal) and the Jewish home in Palestine (from the Balfour Declaration), and encouraging "the immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale".
The agreement was not carried out, mostly due to the change in Allied policy regarding the Arab State which Feisal had planned to establish.
Agreement Between Emir Feisal and Dr. Weizmann 3 January, 1919
His Royal Highness the Emir Feisal, 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 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 guarantees 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 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.
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 Organization will place the aforementioned Commission 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 may arise between the contracting parties hall 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 nineteen Chaim Weizmann Feisal Ibn-Hussein
Reservation by the Emir Feisal 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.
What was the January 4 memo about? With that "reservation" Faisal is giving himself the classic Muslim 'out' of any treaty.
I'm not sure what the Jan 4 Agreement was,
The Main Point here Being What The Arabs thought of Palestine in 1919.
It was a tiny part of the land Just liberated by the British From the Ottomans.
There were no "Palestinians' then.. just a few Arabs who might have to move a few miles and join other Arabs in the vast majority of the Liberated Territory which became all the Arab states.
If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
How do you reconcile that statement regarding a 1919 document with the 1917 Balfour Declaration? Who where the people in the "existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" if not Palestinians?
The Balfour Declaration
Dear Lord Rithchild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Signed: Arthur James Balfour
Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public body for the purpose of advising and cooperating with the Administration of Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration to assist and take part in the development of the country.
The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognised as such agency. It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty's Government to secure the cooperation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the establishment of the Jewish national home.
The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.
The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine.
As to a particular type of Arab, a "palestinian", I'll take the PLOs definition, since they coined it.
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism."
PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein on March 31, 1977
Arabs, Turks, Beduin and Druze. Palestinian is a regional geographic moniker, like "New Englander" which includes all the people living there. It was not an ethnic or national identifier.
There were some indogenes.. many of them transients, tenant farmers, bedouins; Though Palestine in the 19th Century, by ALL Accounts was Desolate, fully able, indeed in need of a Population.
MANY Links on this available if you are interested
Under what conditions would it be correct to say "There were no "New Englanders" then"?
Under what conditions would it be correct to say "There were no "Palestinians" then"?
Palestine is a historical region of southwest Asia at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and roughly coextensive with modern Israel and the West Bank. Occupied since prehistoric times, it has been ruled by Hebrews, Egyptians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Turks.
The earliest known inhabitants of Palestine were of the same group as the Neanderthal inhabitants of Europe. By the 4th millennium B.C. Palestine was inhabited by herders and farmers. It was in the 3d millennium that most of the towns known in historical times came into existence. They became centers of trade for Egyptian and Babylonian goods. During the 2d millennium, Palestine was ruled by the Hyksos and by the Egyptians. Toward the end of this period Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt, across the Sinai, and into Palestine.
In the Bible, Palestine is called Canaan before the invasion of Joshua. Palestine is the Holy Land of Jews, having been promised to them by God; of Christians because it was the scene of Jesus' life; and of Muslims because they consider Islam to be the heir of Judaism and Christianity and because Jerusalem is the site, according to Muslim tradition, of Muhammad's ascent to heaven.
The Holy Land derives its special character from being a place of pilgrimage. Shrines, shared in common by several religions, cluster most numerously in and about Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Hebron.
To know the history of Palestine is to know the history of the world. It is sad that there are uninformed people who dismiss the peoples of that land by claiming they never existed. As a a person from "Dixie" might say to those uninformed people; "you can put your boots in the oven but that won't make'em biscuits", unless of course one asserts that Dixie never existed.
No one is saying there was no Geographic Area called Palestine.. or no people in it (tho it was sparse).
What is being said is Palestine, as an independent Political Entity, Or as a distinct people, Did not exist.
Nor did Arabs living in what was that territory call themselves 'Palestinians'. The Term 'Palestinian' as applied to Arabs did not start until the Mid-1960's until then they were just 'Arabs'.. over the centuries wandering in and out of that land. Palestine reaching perhaps it's emptiest point in the Mid-19th century.
See "Zionist Impact on Palestine"
http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_palestine_zionists_impact.php
There hasn't been a Self-ruling Palestine, a politcial Palestine, a Palestinian people, from the time the Romans defeated the Jews until the Jews Re-established Israel in 1948.
(As a side note.. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran and was Not where Mohammed ascended to heaven.
The Koran talks of 'Al Aqsa', the 'Farthest Mosque'.
At the time the Koran was revealed (app 620 AD) there were no Mosques, Muslims, or Islam in Jerusalem. The reference was to another site.
Subsequent to the Moslem Conquest of Jerusalem 70 years later they built a Mosque in Jeruslam and named it 'al-aqsa', and it's holiness has varied over time.. but has jealously regained importance since the Jews arrived.)
See Pipes: http://www.danielpipes.org/article/84
The term Palestinian as it is used today is a political choice not a national name. We all know that when you say Palestinian you mean the Arabs of Palestine. You do not mean Jews, Romans, Turks, Druze or any of the other people of Palestine, because when you refer to them you call them by names other than Palestinian.
So please drop the charade and deal with the reality.
I did not say that there are no people in Palestinian now or then, but they are not and never were a homogenous group or a distinct nation. They are ethnically diverse. The Arabs of Palestine speak the same language, share the same customs and history, and even the same genetics, of the Arabs of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. They are not a national group either in the political or ethnic sense, although they may become a nation in the political sense some day if they attain political sovereignty and autonomy.
The dispute today is between the two largest groups - the Jews and the Arabs - of Palestine. They are both "Palestinian" because they both live on Palestine lands and in a sense they are fighting a civil war over the land.
Palestine is just one name for this land. Other people who lived on it have called it other names over the millenia. So to pretend that this land is only called "Palestine" and that the Arabs of Palestine are "the Palestinians" as if this gives them some exclusive and uncontroversial title over the land is to reinforce being 'uninformed'. Indeed, it is to play the part of a propagandist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.