I assure the people that I
feel the injustice done to the Arabs as keenly as anybody else
who understands the situation in the Near
East. I have no doubt that the British people can still be
awakened to the fulfilment of the pledges given to the Arabs in
the name of England. The British Parliament, I am glad to say,
have in the recent Parliamentary debates [left] the question of
partition open. This decision affords an excellent opportunity to
the Muslims of the world emphatically to declare that the problem
which the British statesmen are tackling is not one of Palestine
only, but seriously affects the entire Muslim world.
The problem, studied in its historical perspective, is purely a
Muslim problem. In the light of the history of Israel, Palestine
ceased to be a Jewish problem long before the entry of Caliph
‘Umar into Jerusalem more than 1300 years ago. Their dispersion,
as Professor Hockings has pointed out, was perfectly voluntary and
their scriptures were for the most part written outside Palestine.
Nor was it ever a Christian problem. Modern historical research
has doubted even the existence of Peter the Hermit. Even if we
assume that the Crusades were an attempt to make Palestine a
Christian problem, this attempt was defeated by the victories of
Salah-ud-Din. I, therefore, regard Palestine as a purely Muslim
problem.
Never were the motives of British imperialism, as regard to the
Muslim people of the Near East, so completely unmasked as in the
Report of the Royal Commission. The idea of a national home for
the Jews in Palestine was only a device. In fact, British
imperialism sought a home for itself in the form of a permanent
mandate in the religious home of the Muslims. This is indeed a
dangerous experiment, as a member of British Parliament has
rightly described it, and can never lead to a solution of the
British problem in the Mediterranean. Far from being a solution of
the British problem in the Mediterranean, it is really the
beginning of the future difficulties of British imperialism. The
sale of the Holy Land including the Mosque of ‘Umar, inflicted on
the Arabs with the threat of martial law and softened by an appeal
to their generosity, reveals bankruptcy of statesmanship rather
than its achievement. The offer of a piece of rich land to the
Jews and the rocky desert plus cash to the Arabs is no political
wisdom. It is a low transaction unworthy of and damaging to the
honour of a great people in whose name definite promises of
liberty and confederation were made to the Arabs.
It is impossible for me to discuss the details of the Palestine
Report in this short statement. There are, however, in recent
history, important lessons which Muslims of Asia ought to take to
heart. Experience has made it abundantly clear that the political
integrity of the peoples of the Near East lies in the immediate
reunion of the Turks and the Arabs. The policy of isolating the
Turks from the rest of the Muslim world is still in action. We
hear now and then that the Turks are repudiating Islam. A greater
lie was never told. Only those who have no idea of the history of
the concepts of Islamic jurisprudence fall an easy prey to this
sort of mischievous propaganda.
The Arabs, whose religious consciousness gave birth to Islam
(which united the various races of Asia with remarkable success),
must never forget the consequences arising out of their deserting
the Turks in their hour of trial.
Secondly, the Arab people must further remember they cannot
afford to reply on the advice of those Arab kings who are not in a
position to arrive at an independent judgment in the matter of
Palestine with an independent conscience. Whatever they decide
they should decide on their own initiative after a full
understanding of the problem before them.
Thirdly, the present moment is also a moment of trial for the
Muslim statesmen of the free non-Arab Muslim countries of Asia,
for since the abolition of the Caliphate this is the first serious
international problem of both a religious and political nature
which historical forces are compelling them to face. The
possibilities of the Palestine problem may eventually compel them
seriously to consider their position as members of that
Anglo-French institution miscalled the "League of Nations" and to
explore practical means for the formation of an Eastern League of
Nations.