When the British won control over Arab Palestine in 1917 and tried to turn it into a Jewish state, anyone could have guessed that the act would lead to conflict. By 1936, thirty percent of the population in Palestine was Jewish, due to the rise of Nazi Germany. Palestinian Arabs feared they would soon turn into a minority in their own country, and soon revolutions broke out against the British. They often turned to us for help, and in response we tried to assist them to the best of our abilities, politically and economically more than militarily. As we became more involved in the Palestine question, many Egyptians began to view themselves as Arabs for the first time. Nationalist ideas against Britain and the Zionists soon broke out and we decided to hold an Arab unity conference along with other Arab nations that took place in Alexandria, Egypt, in October of 1944. It was this conference that made me realize that something must be done. The Arab nations had to join together to form a larger power to support Palestine and keep foreign nations out.
I remember when the League was officially formed. Its original members were Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. I became the first secretary-general of the Arab League, and from then on, I became a proud spokesperson for pan-Arabism and Palestinian rights to self-determination. I was also a strong believer that “The Arabs are [were] the nation of the future.” [1] The League was formed first and foremost to prevent a Jewish Palestine and create closer ties between Arab nations. The Pact written by the members of the Arab league in 1945, even include a “special annex” regarding Palestine, “Her international existence and independence in the legal sense cannot, therefore, be questioned, any more than could the independence of the other Arab countries.”[2] But rivalries and tensions among league members weakened the body and often made it impossible for the league to adopt common policies. Unable to effectively resist the growing Zionism in Palestine, the league came under the dominance of an Egypt struggling to free itself from French and British colonial past and for this reason, did not become the ally for which Britain had hoped. Instead, we used the league to develop and common Arab front against the continued British and French military in the Middle East as well as against Zionism. It is still my dream to have one united Arab nation of which Palestine was an included part.
A huge turnover took place at the end of World War II, when Great Britain was no longer able economically, politically, or militarily, control Palestine. The British withdrew from Palestine just over a year ago, in May 1948. War immediately broke out as Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the independent state of Israel. Israeli forces got ready for the approaching war against Arab states and the Palestinians. They were well organized and trained with a unified chain of command and a plan for securing all territory set aside for the new state, and numbered about 60,000. On the other hand, our Arab forces numbered about 40,000 and the Palestinian population remained crushed from their earlier defeat by the British after the revolts from 1936-1939. Our armies also suffered from inferior weapons and corrupt leadership, and we had not created an effective plan for military victory.
It is needless to say that we still had a chance at one point, for on the very first day that Israeli was formally created; some Arab nations sent forces into the new country and seized territory in southern and eastern Palestine. If only we had been more prepared for the war, for it was here that the strong-minded Israeli army became determined to halt our advance. Early this year, the Israelis succeeded in pushing back their invaders. The United Nations secured a four-week truce in June, but in July fighting had started up again. Periods of truce and war alternated throughout the year. Israel started seeking peace with us beginning in February of this year, and by July, agreements had been concluded Egypt, Syria, and Transjordan. To my dismay, Israel ended the conflict with its territory increased by half and in control of most of the controversial areas of Palestine. As more Jews immigrated into Israel, around 700,000 Arab Palestinians have fled into Transjordan, where Israelis seized their property.
The fighting has stopped for now, but no one would be right to say that the conflict is over. In fact, I must admit that the Middle East problem has just begun. I cannot say what will happen next, but I do know that I will never give up on the power of the Arab nations, and I’m sure that many other Arabians feel the same.
[1] Abd al Rahman Azzam, “The Arabs are the Nation of the Future,” al-Arab (1932).
[2] Syria, Transjordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and Yemen. "Pact of the Arab League." In Axelrod, Alan, and Charles L. Phillips. Encyclopedia of Historical Treaties and Alliances: From the 1930s to the Present, vol. 2. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2006.
