Palestine: A Modern History (ص 24)

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Palestine: A Modern History (ص 24)

المحتوى

Xv
‘50 ~=—- Polarisation: The Military Administration 1917-1920
Southern Palestine, may be regarded as being the most represent-
ative arab leaders in the occugied part of Palestine.
v
On the following day Weizmann paid a visit to Ismail Husseini,
where his cousin the Mufti Kamel Husseini was also present. Weizmann
tried to allay the fears of his hosts on various questions which have
caused alarm among the Palestinians and
touched upon, the question which agitates most closely the minds
of Arab leaders, viz, the Land Question, He assured his hosts that
expropriation or the driving out from Palestine by economic means
of the Arab proprietors or Arab fellaheen was the last thing he
desired.”
Ormsby-Gore reported that the two Arab notables were guarded in
their replies. His report, however, overlooked an important incident,
which reflected the political mood in Palestine,..that took place in
Jerusalem during the Commission’s visit to the Holy City.
‘The incident has three known versions. The Palestine News which
was issued by the British in Cairo towards the end of the War, reported,
in its issue of 25 April the following item:
A group of Muslim literary figures in Jerusalem presented, on the
11th and 12th of April, ayplay ‘The Maid of Adnan and Arab
Chivalry’ at the ‘Rashidiah School Club. A big map of Palestine was
conspicuously ‘displayed in a prominent place in the club with the
following lines of poetry inscribed under it:
The Blessed Land of Palestine
Is the Land of the sons of Ya‘rub
O the best land of all do not despair oe
Lhave no other love but you, '
We shall sacrifice our souls for your sake
And you shall soar to great heights
Until you become like the sun in its zenith
‘Giving light to East and West. **
An agitated Weizmann provided a more animated account of the
same incident, which took place on the 11 April, in a report to
Ormsby-Gore on‘the political situation in Palestine:
Polarisation: The Military Administration 1917-1920 5}
..-Both speakers used the kind of language which would be
appropriate if an attempt were on foot to enslave and ruin the
Arabs of Palestine. They called on the Nation to awake from its
torpor, and to rise up in defence of its land,-of its liberty, of its
sacred places against those who were coming to rob it of everything.
One speaker adjured his hearers not to sell a single inch of land. Nor
is that all. Both speakers took it for granted that Palestine was and
must remain a purely Arab country. In fact, a map of Palestine,
bearing the inscription ‘La Palestine Arabe’ was prominently
displayed, and the speeches concluded with the expressions ‘Vive La
Nation Arabe’>
In .contradistinction to the Arab attitude, Weizmann described a
Jewish meeting where a warm tribute of gratitude was paid to the
British Government for Balfour’s Declaration. In view of these consid-
erations, Weizmann concluded that the British should authoritatively
explain to the Arabs the exact meaning and scope of the Balfour
Declaration and then proceed to tell them ‘that it is their duty to
conform to it’.
A week after Weizmann submitted his report to Ormsby-Gore,
Storrs retorted with a strongly worded’ rejoinder in which he described
Weizmann’s account as misleading and blamed the Zionists for the
prevailing tension in Palestine. He also criticised the Zionist Commission
for refraining from making public announcements of a nature that
would ‘dispel the pardonable anxieties of the Arab population of
Palestine’?” '
An Intelligence Report filed during‘ the third week of April pro-
vided ,‘a good. idea of, the angle from which the man in the street
regards the whole business’:
{
The political effect of the visit of the Commission is not a favourable
one so far... -Christians and Moslems do not feel any easier in their
minds about their future, and are still fearful of their rights being
interfered with in case of the realisation of what they imagine are
the Zignists’ aspiration; they are going ahead in forming Committees
to look after their own interests.3%
7
In a revealing letter to,Judge Brandeis, a leading American Zionist,
Weizmann confirmed the above report of the situation:
The non-Jewish Community, especially the Arabs, both Mohammedan

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

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