867N.01/10–2945: Telegram
The Chargé in Saudi Arabia ( Sands ) to the Secretary of State 98
[Received October 29—10:23 p.m.]
383. ReDepts 311, October 18.99 Following note dated 27th from Foreign Minister:
“Monsieur Le Chargé d’Affaires: It is my pleasure to acknowledge your note number 268 dated October 20, 1945 that contains the text of the statement made in Washington by His Excellency Mr. James F. Byrnes, Secretary of State, in which there was stated the policy of the Government of the United States of America in regard to Palestine and His Excellency’s confirmation that no final decision that will effect the basic situation in Palestine will be taken before consultation with both Arabs and Jews and that the discussions between His Excellency President Truman and the British Prime Minister, Mr. Attlee, were exploratory in order to find a solution for the problem of the Jews who have been displaced from their homes and the possibility of Palestine as a shelter for some of them.
His Majesty’s Government appreciates the value of this declaration and avails itself of this opportunity to thank His Excellency President Truman and the Secretary of State, Mr. Byrnes, for their good will toward the Arabs and perceives that Mr. Byrnes’ statement is positive proof that the American Government has adhered to the promise officially given in President Roosevelt’s letter to His Majesty the King which has recently been published.1 The promise is that no decision in regard to the basic situation in Palestine will be made before full consultation with the Arabs and that the American Government will not take any action that will prove hostile to the Arab people.
It is also my pleasure and duty to call the attention of the friendly American Government to the fact that the subject to which His Excellency the Secretary of State has referred about the interest of President Truman in finding a shelter for oppressed Jews, the search for such shelter for these oppressed people, is admitted by the Government of Saudi Arabia and all to be a humane act, but one which should be completely separate from the question of political Zionism. In the interest of justice in distribution oppressed Jews over the world it should be noted that Palestine has already borne the greatest share of these refugees and that the avowed purpose of the Zionists in crowding the greatest possible numbers of Jews in Palestine is not based or [Page 803] humane principles but rather on a determination to alter the “basic situation” in Palestine and to lodge a Jewish majority there in order to disturb the Arabs and expel them from their homes and that this is what the friendly American Government has guaranteed that it will not do, according to its promise not to effect any basic change or to take any unfriendly step against the Arab in Palestine. All over the world there are wide lands for Jews where they can live prosperously instead of being crowded in this narrow land (Palestine) that has borne from them and from the crimes of the Zionists a great burden that has not been supported by any other country in the world. All the committees that have been sent by the British Government to study the situation in Palestine have confessed this fact and the British Government was obliged to express it in the white paper. Therefore, to add any number of refugees whatsoever without consultation with the Arabs is a change in the basic situation, a step which the Government of the United States has guaranteed that it will not take. Such action will increase the danger of the Palestinian question and will be a menace to the peace of the Middle East in general and of the Arab countries in particular.
The Government of Saudi Arabia asks the Government of the United States, that is tied to this country by the strongest bonds of friendship, not to take any step that will be a menace to peace in the Middle East, revoke the principles drawn up by the United Nations and violate the guarantees given by President Roosevelt to His Majesty the King and declared in writing.
The Government of Saudi Arabia as it submits this request to the Government of the United States of America has the fullest confidence that it will receive due consideration as it is a request calling for confirmation of high principles and guaranteed promises.
Please accept the assurances of my high respect. For the Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed Yusuf Yassin.”