The note was handed to me on December 6, 1938 by Sheikh Fawzan Es
Sabek, Saudi Arabian Chargé d’Affaires in Cairo, who called at the
Legation for the purpose accompanied by Mohamed Reda, his First
Secretary. The Sheikh did not allude to the contents of the note in
any way in the course of the conversation that took place during his
call, but merely asked me to transmit it. I agreed to do this and
said that it would be accompanied by an English translation made by
my staff.
The Legation has made a longhand copy of the Arabic original for its
files.
[Enclosure—Translation]
The King of Saudi Arabia (Abdul Es Saud)
to President Roosevelt
Mr. President: We have been informed of
what has been published regarding the position of the Government
of the United States of America concerning support of the Jews
in Palestine. In view of our confidence in your love of right
and justice, and the attachment of the free American People to
the fundamental democratic traditions based upon the maintenance
of right and justice and succor for defeated peoples, and in
view of the friendly relations existing between our Kingdom and
the Government of the United States, we wish to draw your
attention, Mr. President, to the cause of the Arabs in Palestine
and their legitimate rights, and we have full confidence that
our statement will make clear to you and the American People the
just cause of the Arabs in those Holy Lands.
[Page 995]
It has appeared to us from the account which has been published
of the American position that the case of Palestine has been
considered from a single point of view: the point of view of the
Zionist Jews; and the Arab points of view have been neglected.
We have observed as one of the effects of the widespread Jewish
propaganda that the democratic American People has been grossly
misled, and it has resulted in considering support for the Jews
in crushing the Arabs in Palestine as an act of humanity.
Although such an action is a wrong directed against a peaceful
people dwelling in their country, they have not ceased to have
confidence in the fairness of general democratic opinion in the
world at large and in America particularly. I am confident that
if the rights of the Arabs in Palestine were clear to you, Mr.
President, and to the American People, you would give them full
support.
The argument on which the Jews depend in their claims regarding
Palestine is that they settled there for a time in the olden
days and that they have wandered in various countries of the
world, and that they wish to create a gathering-place for
themselves in Palestine where they may live freely. And for
their action they rely upon a promise they received from the
British Government, namely: the Balfour Declaration.
As for the historical claim of the Jews, there is nothing to
justify it, because Palestine was and has not ceased to be
occupied by the Arabs through all the periods and progression of
history, and its sovereign was their sovereign. If we except the
interval when the Jews were established there, and a second
period when the Roman Empire ruled there, the ruler of the Arabs
has been the ruler of Palestine from the oldest times to our own
day. The Arabs, through the entire course of their existence
have been the keepers of the Holy Places, the magnifiers of
their situation, the respecters of their sanctity, maintaining
their affairs with all faithfulness and devotion. When the
Ottoman Government extended over Palestine, Arab influence was
dominant, and the Arabs never felt that the Turks were a
colonizing power in their country, owing to:
- 1.
- The oneness of the religious bond;
- 2.
- The feeling of the Arabs that they were partners of
the Turks in government;
- 3.
- The local administration of government being in the
hands of the sons of the land itself.
From the foregoing it is seen that the Jewish claim of rights in
Palestine in so far as it rests upon history has no reality, for
if the Jews dwelt in Palestine for a certain period as
possessors, surely the Arabs have dwelt there a far longer time,
and it is impossible to consider the annexation of a country by
a people as a natural right justifying their claim thereto. If
this principle be now held in esteem,
[Page 996]
then it is the right of every people to
reclaim the country it formerly occupied by force for a certain
time. This would bring about astonishing changes in the map of
the world, and would be irreconcilable with right, with justice,
or with equity.
Now regarding the other claim of the Jews, they take unto
themselves the sympathy of the world because they are scattered
and persecuted in various countries, and they would like to find
a place in which to take shelter in order to be safe from the
injustice they encounter in many countries.
The important thing in this matter is to discriminate between the
cause of Judaism and Islam [anti-Semitism] in the world, as contrasted with the cause
of political Zionism. The intention was sympathy for scattered
Jews. But Palestine is a small country. It has already received
such a great number of them as to exceed comparison with any
country in the world, taking account of the limited area of
Palestine as compared with the lands of the earth where the Jews
dwell. There is no power to remedy the straitness of Palestine
in order to make room for all the Jews of the world, even
supposing it were empty of its inhabitants, the Arabs (as Mr.
Malcolm MacDonald said in a speech which he delivered recently
in the British House of Commons). If the principle be accepted
that the Jews now in Palestine are to remain there, then that
little country has already performed a greater human justice
than any other. You will see, Mr. President, that it is not just
that the governments of the world—including the United
States—have closed their doors against the immigration of the
Jews and impose on Palestine, a small Arab country, the task of
sustaining them.
But if we look at the matter from the standpoint of political
Zionism this point of view resembles [represents] a wrong and unjust way. Its aim is to ruin
a peaceable and tranquil people and to drive them from their
country by various means, and to feed the political greed and
personal ambition of a few Zionists. As to the reliance of the
Jews upon the Balfour Declaration, surely that Declaration has
brought the limit of oppression and iniquity to a peaceful and
tranquil country. It was given by a government which at the time
of the gift did not possess the right to impose it upon
Palestine. Similarly, the opinion of the Arabs of Palestine was
not taken in this regard nor with regard to the arrangement of
the Mandate which was imposed upon them, as has been made clear
also by Malcohn MacDonald, British Minister of Colonies, and
this in spite of promises given by the Allies, including
America, that they would have the right of self-determination.
It is important for us to mention that Balfour’s promise was
preceded by another promise from the British Government with the
knowledge of the Allies regarding the rights of the Arabs in
Palestine and in other Arab countries.
[Page 997]
From this it will be clear to you, Mr. President, that the
historical pretext of the Jews is unjust and it is impossible to
consider it. Their plea from the standpoint of humanity has been
fulfilled more by Palestine than by any other country, and
Balfour’s promise on which they depend is contrary to right and
justice and inconsistent with the principle of
self-determination. The ambition of the Zionists renders the
Arabs in all countries apprehensive, and causes them to resist
it.
The rights of the Arabs in Palestine do not admit of discussion
because Palestine has been their country since the oldest times,
and they did not leave it nor did others drive them out. Places
flourished there, Arab in civilization, to an extent calling for
admiration, for the reason that they were Arab in origin, in
language, in situation, in culture; and of this there is no
uncertainty or doubt. The history of the Arabs is full of just
laws and useful works.
When the World War broke out, the Arabs sided with the Allies
hoping to obtain their independence, and they were wholly
confident that they would achieve it after the World War for the
following reasons:
- 1.
- Because they participated in the War by action, and
sacrificed their lives and property;
- 2.
- Because it was promised them by the British Government
through notes exchanged between its representative at
the time, Sir Henry McMahon, and the Sherif
Hussein;14
- 3.
- Because of your predecessor, the Great President
Wilson who decided upon the participation of the United
States of America in the War on the side of the Allies
in support of high human principles, of which the most
important was the right of self-determination;
- 4.
- Because the Allies declared in November 1919 [1918],15 following their
occupation of the countries, that they entered them in
order to free them and to give the people their liberty
and independence.
Mr. President, if you will refer to the report16 submitted by the
Commission of Investigation which your predecessor, President
Wilson, sent to the Near East in 1919, you will find the demands
which the Arabs in Palestine and Syria made when they were
questioned as to what future they asked for themselves.
But unfortunately the Arabs found after the War that they were
abandoned, and the assurances given did not materialize. Their
lands have been divided and distributed unjustly. Artificial
frontiers resulted from these divisions which are not justified
by the facts of geography, nationality, or religion. In addition
to this, they found
[Page 998]
themselves facing a very great danger: the incursion upon them
of the Zionists, who became the possessors of their best
lands.
The Arabs protested strongly when they learned of the Balfour
Declaration, and they protested against the organization of the
Mandate. They announced their rejection and their non-acceptance
from the first day. The stream of Jewish immigration from
various countries to Palestine has caused the Arabs to fear for
their lives and their destiny; consequently numerous outbreaks
and disturbances in Palestine took place in 1920, 1921, and
1929, but the most important outbreak was that of 1936, and its
fire has not ceased to blaze to this hour.
Mr. President, the Arabs of Palestine and behind them the rest of
the Arabs—or rather, the rest of the Islamic World—demand their
rights, and they defend their lands against those who intrude
upon them and their territories. It is impossible to establish
peace in Palestine unless the Arabs obtain their rights, and
unless they are sure that their countries will not be given to
an alien people whose principles, aims and customs differ from
theirs in every way. Therefore we beseech and adjure you Mr.
President, in the name of Justice and Freedom and help for weak
peoples for which the noble American People is celebrated, to
have the goodness to consider the cause of the Arabs of
Palestine, and to support those who live in peace and quiet
despite attack from these homeless groups from all parts of the
world. For it is not just that the Jews be sent away from all
the various countries of the world and that weak, conquered
Palestine should, against its will, suffer this whole people. We
do not doubt that the high principles to which the American
People adhere, will cause them to yield to right and grant
support for justice and fair play.
Written in our
Palace at Ar
Riad on the seventh
day of the month of Shawal, in the year 1357 of the
Hejira, corresponding to November 29, 1938, A.
D.
Abdul
Aziz Es Saud
