Summary
The authority quoted twice in the United Nations study from his writing of 1968: on the Husain-McMahon correspondence, that Palestine had not been excepted from the area of pledged Arab independence, and, closing the study’s argument, on Jewish immigration imposed on the Palestinian Arabs by British military power (Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1947 (Part I), lines 151-153, 1333-1335).
Details
- The study introduces him first as “Professor Arnold J. Toynbee, who dealt with the Palestine question as a member of the British Foreign Office at the time of the Peace Conference”, writing in 1968: “Palestine had not been excepted by the British Government from the area in which they had pledged themselves to King Hussein to recognize and support Arab independence”, and the Palestinian Arabs could reasonably assume Britain was pledged to prepare Palestine for becoming an independent Arab state (lines 151-153; the study’s note 8 cites Robert John and Sami Hadawi, The Palestine Diary, vol. I, p. xiv).
- At the close of the study he is described as one “who, before becoming recognized as an eminent world historian had dealt directly with the Palestine Mandate in the British Foreign Office”, again writing in 1968 (line 1333).
- His verdict as quoted closes the study’s main text: for 30 years Jewish immigration was “imposed on the Palestinian Arabs by British military power” until the immigrants were sufficiently numerous and well-armed to fend for themselves, and “The tragedy in Palestine is not just a local one; it is a tragedy for the world, because it is an injustice that is a menace to the world’s peace” (line 1335; the study’s note 147 cites Robert John and Sami Hadawi, pp. xiv-xv).
Related pages
McMahon–Hussein correspondence, Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1947 (Part I)