IOR/L/PS/12/2110

This file concerns the British Government's response to the Pan-Arab movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Much of the correspondence refers to the prospect of an Arab federation, although the use of the word 'federation' is noted in some of the correspondence as being a mistranslation of the original Arabic expression, which would be more accurately represented by the words 'unification' or 'unity'.

Significant subjects of discussion include:

• Arab party politics in Palestine.
• Iraqi-Egyptian relations.
• Italian propaganda in the Middle East.
• The future of Palestine.
• Britain's post-war policy in the Middle East.
• Whether the Arab states should be induced to make a wartime declaration in favour of the democracies (i.e. the Allies).
• The formation of the Arab League (also referred to as the Arab Federation in the correspondence).
• Details of the Pact (also referred to as Covenant) of the Arab League, signed in Cairo on 22 March 1945.
• Whether representatives of the Arab League should be present at the Palestine Conference in London, in 1947, in addition to representatives of Arab states.

Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the High Commissioner for Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad; the High Commissioner for Egypt; His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo; the High Commissioner for Palestine; His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Minister of State in the Middle East; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office, the Commonwealth Relations Office, and the Indian Political Service's External Affairs Department; Noury Said [Nūrī al-Sa‘īd], Prime Minister of Iraq; George Antonius, Lebanese-Egyptian author and diplomat.

Also included with the correspondence are the following:

• Extracts from Palestine police summaries dating from 1933 to 1936, produced by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Jerusalem.
• A printed copy of a paper on Arab federation by the Foreign Research and Press Service, dated 20 June 1941.
• Copies of documents produced by the War Cabinet's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East (also referred to as the Middle East (Official) Committee), including minutes of meetings (1941-1942) and a copy of a report on Arab Federation, dated January 1942.
• A copy (in French) of the Protocol of the Preparatory Committee for the Arab Congress, dated 7 October 1944.
• Copies of the Pact/Covenant of the recently formed Arab League (consisting of a printed copy in French, distributed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an English translation of the full Arabic text, which includes a passage that was omitted from the French version).

The French material consists of the aforementioned Protocol and Arab League Pact, plus one item of correspondence and a copy of a newspaper extract.

The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-3).