was named king by a great majority.
Feisal’s attitude toward Zionism as it affected his dream of a Pan-Arab federation to include Palestine, Syria, the Hejaz and Transjordania, was always a subject of considerable question.
In 1930, in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, King Feisal said: “I have come to Geneva this time solely in the interests of my own country,” referring to the admission of Iraq to the League of Nations in 1932. Several questions, including that of Zionism, were discussed.
In an official statement issued at the close of the interview, the Arab ruler declared: “During the Peace conference, I represented my father (ex-King Hussein of the Hejaz) and owing to this position, I came into contact with delegates of all nations, meeting also several of the Zionist leaders.
“I had several interviews with Dr. Weizmann, and exchanged with him letters which were of a purely personal nature.
“At that time I wanted to find a means of arriving at a rapprochement, but events prevented a continuation of these efforts. Since then, I understand that Zionist policy underwent a change after the Peace Conference.”
Asked about his letter to Professor Felix Frankfurter, which prominently figured in the proceedings of the Shaw Inquiry into the 1929 Palestine uprisings, King Feisal said, “I exchanged letters with many people, but I cannot recall such a letter.”
In the Frankfurter letter, Feisal expressed deepest sympathy with the Zionist movement and declared it was necessary for the success of the Arab national movement. The letter was written March 1, 1919, during the Peace Conference.
“I want to take this opportunity of my first contact with American Zionists to tell you what I have often been able to say to Dr. Weiznann in Arabia and Europe,” King Feisal wrote Professor Frankfurter. “We Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist Organization to the Peace Conference and we regard them as moderate and proper. We will do our best, so far as we are concerned, to help them through; we will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home.
“With the chiefs of your movement, especially with Dr. Weizmann, we have had and continue to have the closest relations. He has been a great helper to our cause and I hope the Arabs may soon be in a position to make the Jews some return for their kindness.
“We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another”.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
