Palestine: A Modern History (ص 45)

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Palestine: A Modern History (ص 45)

المحتوى

92 Deadlock: 1920-1923
arrival of Churchill in Jerusalem the deputation — headed by Musa
Kazem ~ left Palestine 12 March and returned two weeks later.
Churchill, reluctantly, received the deputation but refused to discus
political questions on that occasion but said he would be pleased to see
them in Jerusalem on 28 March. During their stay in Egypt the
Palestinian leaders were invited by Syrian-Lebanese political figures to
banquets and gatherings where speeches in favour of Arab unity were
delivered :
On the evening of the 19th the Syrian Union Party held a meeting
where the possibility of joining forces with the Arab Palestinians
-was discussed in the interests of the complete independence of
Syria.*® ,
While in Cairo Muza Kazem saw Dr Ismail Bey Sidki, of the Watani
Party, who advised him to form a national party in Palestine to work
for complete independence. Muza Kazem’s reported reply revealed the
basic strategy of the Muslim-Christian Association’s leadership at that
stage:
Musa Kazem said that the intentions of the Palestine Delegation
included complete independence, but they desire, if this Were not
possible, that the real power should be with the English and not with
the Jews; they desired also their own parliament.*”
When Churchill visited Palestine, he found that the Palestinians were
eager to convey to’him théir strong feelings against Zionism wherevey
he went. Although no official intimation of the hour of the arrival of
the special train bringing the Colonial Secretary and the High Commis-
sioner to Gaza had been received,
Large and expectant trowds of people assembled and many persons
came in from outlying villages.
During the visit cries of ‘Long-Live the High Commissioner and
Mr. Churchill’, ‘Down with Balfour’, and ‘we won’t have the Jews’
were heard.*® t
ef °
When the Governor of Haifa prohibited démonstrations on 25 March
and issued warttings regarding the'risks and penalties ‘attendant’upon
joining in a demonstration forbidden by the Government, the
demonstrators defied his orders arid a collision occured with the’ police,
Deadlock: 1920-1923 93
one Christian boy and a Muslim were killed, one Christian injured by a
bullet wound, and ten Jews injured by knives or stones and five police-
men were slightly injured.
Three days later the Governor of Jaffa refused ta grant permission
for a peaceful demonstration. As a consequence all Muslim shops were
closed in protest. On the same day in Jerusalem, a large but orderly
demonstration was held to protest against the Balfour Declaration.
On 28 March, the deputation of the Executive Committee of the
Haifa Congress met Churchill at Government House, Jerusalem. A
comprehensive memorandum, which Churchill described as a ‘very able
‘paper’, on Palestinian Arab grievances and demands was presented to
the Colonial Secretary. The memorandum accused the British Govern-
ment of creating the national home idea and of putting lifeinto it and
carrying it into execution even before the ratification of the Mandate
by the League of Nations. It dealt with the Palestine problem from
légal, historical, moral, economic and political points of view and
concluded by putting forth five Palestinian Arab demands calling for
the abolition -of the JNH, stoppage of immigration and land sales, the
establishment of a national Palestinian government, responsible to a
parliament, and the non-separation of Palestine from her sister states 2?
In his treply Churchill informed the Palestinian leaders that it was not
in his’ péwer to repudiate the Balfour Declaration and to veto Jewish
immigration to Palestine, which the JNH policy inevitably involved.
The Balfour Declaration was a fait accompli brought about by the War
that the Arabs in Palestine could do nothing about but accept.”
He assured his visitors that the Government fully intended to stand
by the second part of the Balfour Declaration which in fact imposed a
dual obligation on the Government, ‘if one promise stands so does the
other’.*! .
In the light of Churchill’s offhand treatment of the Palestinian
leaders, it was not surprising that the Monthly Political Report for April
should have. started by stating that ‘The visit of the Secretary of State
gave satisfaction to the Jews and brought disappointment to the
Arabs’.*? .
Captain Brunton of the General Staff Intelligence in Palestine
reported that Churchill’s visit had added to the anxiety of the
Palestinians because the Colonial Secretary ‘upheld the Zionist cause
and treated the Arab demands like those of a negligible opposition to
be put off by a few political phrases and theated like.bad children’.
The heavy-handedness of the troops and the killings that took place
during the Haifa demonstrations on 28 March increased hostility to the

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

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