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Statement of the Arab National Conference

Statement of the Arab National Conference

Jerusalem, 13 December 1931

All those who have taken part in, or followed the course of, the various phases of the Arab movement realize what noble efforts have for long been exerted by the Arab leaders, thinkers and young men, particularly after the promulgation of the Ottoman Constitution, in order to reconstruct a general Arab cause aiming at the realization of an independent Arab entity that comprises the various Arab countries, and to achieve for the Arab nation the independence enjoyed by all free nations of the world. The political struggle of the Arabs had a sacred objective, the effects of which were reflected in the activities of the societies and clubs, and the congresses which they used to hold. Then came the great Arab Revolt during which the Arabs were promised the achievement of their noble purpose. For this sacred cause of independence the Arabs, during the Great World War, gave (much) precious blood and (made many) costly sacrifices.

However, as soon as the War was over, the Arabs began to encounter, on the part of the colonial ambitions of states, denial of their rights and of their struggle, as well as ingratitude for their sacrifices. They beheld their (erstwhile) allies viciously placing obstacles in their way to independence. The outcome of this was that the Allies openly came out with their plots, when before they had secretly engineered them in order to dismember the Arab homeland and to stab the Arab cause, itself one of the greatest national causes in the world, representing one of the greatest nations on earth, (famous for its) glories, civilization and history a nation comprising today no less than 70 million people and situated in the world's most favoured regions of Asia and Africa.

One of the features of this infamous plot, and also one of the means of ensuring its success, was the separation of the inhabitants of each Arab country from their brethren in the others by (encouraging their preoccupation) with artificial regional is-sues, diminutive local problems and diverse tribulations. (The aim of this) was to limit the scope of (Arab) efforts and prevent these efforts from extending to wider horizons, to a level at which the (various) Arab problems could converge in a closely knit and integrated form, in line with the natural course of the renascence of nations and the progress of peoples.

These contrived preoccupations consumed the time of the citizens of each country. In fact, every faction amongst the Arabs was immersed in them; so much so that the imperialists almost achieved the object of their conspiracies, that of making the Arabs divided and without a great cause. (But the Arabs have a cause) for which their leaders and their societies have worked and for which (they have made) sacrifices and lost martyrs. The primary object of (this cause) is to achieve the unity and inde-pendence of the Arabs, and so revive their ancient prosperous civilization, a civili-zation whose constructive accomplishment is well known in history and to which the world succumbed, and which filled the whole universe with knowledge, prosperity and enlightenment.

This is what led some Arab leaders, well known for their contributions to the Arab movement, to invite a number of the representatives of the Arab countries, who had attended the General Islamic Conference held in Jerusalem, to a conference which they held on Monday evening, Sha'ban 4, 1350 A.H., corresponding to January 13, 1931.

They discussed what should be done to guard against the imperialistic catast-rophes which had befallen their countries and the local problems with which the im-perialists had flooded them.

They adopted the following points as a sacred covenant, which shall be the objective of the Arabs, in their various countries, and the target and goal of their efforts, as well as the torch by (whose light) they will resume their struggle for (their) cherished independence. They will follow the principles of (this covenant) so that God may help them attain (their) objective and fully realize their wishes. The text of the covenant is as follows:

Article 1. The Arab countries constitute an indivisible unit; the (Arab) nation does not acquiesce in any sense to the fragmentation which it has been undergoing.

Article 2. The efforts of all the Arab countries shall be directed towards one objective, namely their complete independence and unity, and the combatting of every idea which aims at restricting (Arab) efforts to local and provincial policies.

Article 3. As imperialism, in all its forms and types, is diametrically opposed to the dignity and great objective of the Arab nation, the Arab nation will reject it and resist it with all its might.

The conference has also considered it necessary to convene a general Arab conference, (to be held) in one of the Arab capitals, for the purpose of discussing the means of publicizing and maintaining the covenant, as well as the course that should be followed for its fulfilment.

We, the undersigned, have been deputed (to act) as an executive committee for publicizing this covenant in the Arab world, and for making preparations, for the conference, as well as to act as a liaison for correspondence between the various Arab countries on matters relating to this task.

We have started this task, with the assistance of God Almighty, motivated by that living and generous spirit which manifested itself at (our recent) important meet-ing, and which appears time and again in the (various Arab) countries. This spirit has ever strongly and violently protested against the imperialist despotism, which has oppressed and exhausted the Arabs, torn down their solidarity by artificially-created local problems, and obstructed their progressive efforts towards the attainment of success for (the Arab) cause in accordance with this covenant.

May God give support to our purpose.

Signed by 'Awni 'Abd al-Hadi, Khayr ad-Din az-Zirikli, Subhi al-Khadra, Ajaj Nuwayhid, As'ad Daghir, 'Izzat Darwaza as members of the Executive Committee of the Congress [Conference].

It has also been signed by: Rashid Rida, Muhammad Bahjat al-Athari, Ibrahim al-Wa'iz, Khayr ad-Din az-Zirikli, Subhi al-Khadra, Ibrahim al-Khatib, 'Ali 'Ubayd, Muhammad Ishaq Darwish, 'Ali Nasir ad-Din, Salah 'Uthman Bayhum, Muhammad al-'Afifi, Riyad as-Sulh, Shukri al-Quwwatly, Raghib Abu as-Sa'ud ad-Dajani, Ahmad Hilmi, Salim al-Hindawi 'Izzat Darwaza, 'Awni 'Abd al-Hadi, Muhammad Tahir al-Juqqa, 'Umar at-Tibi, Muhammad 'Ali Bayhum, Mu'in al-Madi, Nabih al-'Azma, Salih al-'Awran, Mustafa al-Ghalayini, Husayn at-Tarawna, Ahmad al-Imam, Muhammad 'Ali at-Tahir, 'Awni al-Ka'ki, 'Ajaj Nuwayhid, 'Abdullah ad-Dawud, Muhammad Tariq, Khalil at-Talhuni, Sami as-Sarraj, Muhammad Bannuna, Sa'id Thabit, Bashir as-Sa'dawi, Sulayman as-Sudi, Muhammad Husayn ad-Dabbagh al-Makki, Kamil ad-Dajani.

 

Source: Muhammad Khalil. The Arab States and the Arab League: A Documentary Record. Vol II Beirut: Khayat’s, 1962, p. 7-9.

 

* Translated by the Editor [Muhammad Khalil] from the original (Arabic) text as it appears in M. 'Izzat Darwaza: Hawl al-Haraka al-'Arabiyya al-Haditha (Concerning the Modern Arab Movement), vol. 3 (Sidon, Lebanon)1951, pp. 301-303.