The Weizmann-Faisal Agreement seems to have fallen through the cracks of history, which is astonishing given that, in 1919, it conferred complete recognition by the governing Arab authority on a future Jewish State in Palestine. The agreement was signed in London, January 3, 1919, by Chaim Weizmann, acting on behalf of the Zionist Organization, and His Royal Highness Emir Faisal Ibn Hussein, acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz and all Arab peoples. After signing the document, an integral part of the Paris Peace Conference that concluded World War I, Emir Faisal would go on to become King of Syria and, from 1921-1933, King of Iraq. This historic document should be viewed as part of international law.
Arab recognition of Palestine, which adopted the name Israel upon independence, was conditional to world recognition of Arab sovereignty in the rest of the Middle East, a condition that has been completely fulfilled. The language of the document is remarkable in its beauty, fairness, and balance. The preamble reads as follows:
"Mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people, and realizing that the surest means of working out the consummation of their national aspirations, is through the closest possible collaboration in the development of the Arab State (Arab Middle East) and Palestine (Israel), and being desirous further of confirming the good understanding which exists between them, have agreed upon the following articles...."
Article I of the agreement calls for the Arab State(s) and Palestine (Israel) to exchange accredited agents (ambassadors) to "be established and maintained in their respective territories," so that "relations and undertakings shall be controlled by the most cordial goodwill and understanding." This attitude typified Arab-Israeli relations before the anti-Jewish Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, launched a pogrom against the Jews in 1920 and started receiving financial aid from the Nazis in the late 1930s, when Adolf Eichmann visited him in Palestine.
Article II calls for "definite boundaries between the Arab State(s) and Palestine (Israel)" to be "determined by a commission to be agreed upon by the parties hereto." This was fulfilled in 1922 with the division of the British Mandate of Palestine along the Jordan River. Arab Palestine, or Transjordan, east of the Jordan, would become the Arab Kingdom of Jordan, ruled by Emir Faisal's descendants to this day, and Jewish Palestine, or Cis-Jordan, west of the Jordan would become Israel.
Article III explicitly recognized the Balfour Declaration of 1917 as valid, which calls for the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. Article IV, astonishingly, states that "All necessary measures will be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive cultivation of the soil. In taking such measures the Arab peasants and tenant farmers shall be protected in their rights, and shall be assisted in forwarding their economic development."
Article V calls for "the free exercise and expression of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference." Israel has largely lived up to this aspect of the agreement, certainly more so than its Arab counterparts, as Christians and Muslims practice their faith unencumbered in Israel and holy sites are kept open to all. Article VI, providing that "Mohammedan Holy Places shall be under Mohammedan control", has been adhered to by Israel, as Islamic authorities control the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Article VII calls for the Zionist Organization (Israel) to "use its best efforts to assist the Arab State in providing the means for developing the natural resources and economic possibilities thereof." Unfortunately, the Arab States never took Israel up on this offer. If they had, perhaps democracy and prosperity would be blossoming across the Arab world today, instead of fanaticism and the breeding of mass murderers.
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Chuck Morse is a talk show host on AM 950 WROL-Boston and author of Thunder out of Boston, Why I??m a Right-Wing Extremist, and The Gramsci Factor.
Arab recognition of Palestine, which adopted the name Israel upon independence, was conditional to world recognition of Arab sovereignty in the rest of the Middle East, a condition that has been completely fulfilled. The language of the document is remarkable in its beauty, fairness, and balance. The preamble reads as follows:
"Mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people, and realizing that the surest means of working out the consummation of their national aspirations, is through the closest possible collaboration in the development of the Arab State (Arab Middle East) and Palestine (Israel), and being desirous further of confirming the good understanding which exists between them, have agreed upon the following articles...."
Article I of the agreement calls for the Arab State(s) and Palestine (Israel) to exchange accredited agents (ambassadors) to "be established and maintained in their respective territories," so that "relations and undertakings shall be controlled by the most cordial goodwill and understanding." This attitude typified Arab-Israeli relations before the anti-Jewish Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, launched a pogrom against the Jews in 1920 and started receiving financial aid from the Nazis in the late 1930s, when Adolf Eichmann visited him in Palestine.
Article II calls for "definite boundaries between the Arab State(s) and Palestine (Israel)" to be "determined by a commission to be agreed upon by the parties hereto." This was fulfilled in 1922 with the division of the British Mandate of Palestine along the Jordan River. Arab Palestine, or Transjordan, east of the Jordan, would become the Arab Kingdom of Jordan, ruled by Emir Faisal's descendants to this day, and Jewish Palestine, or Cis-Jordan, west of the Jordan would become Israel.
Article III explicitly recognized the Balfour Declaration of 1917 as valid, which calls for the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. Article IV, astonishingly, states that "All necessary measures will be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive cultivation of the soil. In taking such measures the Arab peasants and tenant farmers shall be protected in their rights, and shall be assisted in forwarding their economic development."
Article V calls for "the free exercise and expression of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference." Israel has largely lived up to this aspect of the agreement, certainly more so than its Arab counterparts, as Christians and Muslims practice their faith unencumbered in Israel and holy sites are kept open to all. Article VI, providing that "Mohammedan Holy Places shall be under Mohammedan control", has been adhered to by Israel, as Islamic authorities control the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Article VII calls for the Zionist Organization (Israel) to "use its best efforts to assist the Arab State in providing the means for developing the natural resources and economic possibilities thereof." Unfortunately, the Arab States never took Israel up on this offer. If they had, perhaps democracy and prosperity would be blossoming across the Arab world today, instead of fanaticism and the breeding of mass murderers.
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Chuck Morse is a talk show host on AM 950 WROL-Boston and author of Thunder out of Boston, Why I??m a Right-Wing Extremist, and The Gramsci Factor.