Azzam Pasha quotation: Difference between revisions
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The Israeli historian [[Tom Segev]] disputed this interpretation, saying that "Azzam used to talk a lot" and pointing to another statement from May 21, 1948, in which Azzam Pasha declared his desire for "equal citizenship for Jews in Arab Palestine".<ref name=Segev/> |
The Israeli historian [[Tom Segev]] disputed this interpretation, saying that "Azzam used to talk a lot" and pointing to another statement from May 21, 1948, in which Azzam Pasha declared his desire for "equal citizenship for Jews in Arab Palestine".<ref name=Segev/> |
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== The |
== The Quotation == |
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The [[United Nations Special Committee on Palestine]] was set up in May 1947 to develop proposals for [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|the partition of Palestine]]. Recommendations to this effect were made in September of that year. The majority plan proposed a distinct two-state solution, the minority plan foresaw a federal state. The Arab countries were unanimous in their negative reactions to both plans, and openly spoke of taking up arms were either of these proposals enacted.<ref>[[Henry Laurens]], ''La Question de Palestine,'' Fayard, Paris 2002, vol.2 p.593.</ref> For [[Ernest Bevin]], the [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|British Foreign Secretary]], the majority plan would only lead to an outbreak of generalised violence, as clearly unjust to the Arabs, whilst the minority plan was inapplicable since it assumed a prior accord between Jews and Arabs.<ref>Henry Laurens, ''La Question de Palestine,'' p.594</ref> |
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Azzam Pasha, who was held in high esteem by [[David Ben-Gurion]],<ref name=Segev/> |
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met a [[Zionist]] delegation, consisting of [[Abba Eban]], [[Bank of Israel|David Horowitz]], accompanied by the journalist [[Jon Kimche]], in London.<ref name=Segev/> The emissaries stated that there was no doubt that a Jewish state would be established and requested that the Arab states accept the consequences and cooperate. Azzam Pasha, in his capacity as Secretary General of the Arab League, suggested that the Zionist project be abandoned, and that the Jews could integrate themselves into Arab society on the basis of autonomous entities. He argued that it was pointless to appeal to political realism when the whole Zionist project demonstrated the efficacy of will-power. There was no option but war. The Zionists, he argued, would be thrown out in the future, just as the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] had been. His Zionist interlocutors read this statement as a fascist declaration, unable, according to Henry Laurens, to see that, as with the Jews of Europe, emancipation from enslavement for the Arabs was seen as requiring recourse to force.<ref>Laurens, ''La Question,'' p.593.</ref> <ref name=Segev/> |
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In Horowitz's account, Azzam declared, |
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<blockquote>"We shall try to defeat you. I am not sure we'll succeed, but we'll try. We were able to drive out the Crusaders, but on the other hand we lost Spain and Persia. It may be that we shall lose Palestine. But it's too late to talk of peaceful solutions." |
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<ref name=Segev/></blockquote> |
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On being informed of the content of Azzam's declaration, Ben-Gurion synthesized his position in the following words:- |
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<blockquote>As we fought against the Crusaders, we will fight against you, and we will erase you from the earth." <ref name=Segev/></blockquote> |
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At the pan-Arab summit of the 19th September 1947, which convened at [[Saoufar]] in Lebanon, the League decided to employ all available means to ensure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state. |
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{{Quotation|I personally wish that the Jews do not drive us to this war, as this will be a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Tartar massacre or the Crusader wars. I believe that the number of volunteers from outside Palestine will be larger than Palestine's Arab population, for I know that volunteers will be arriving to us from [as far as] India, Afghanistan, and China to win the honor of martyrdom for the sake of Palestine ... You might be surprised to learn that hundreds of Englishmen expressed their wish to volunteer in the Arab armies to fight the Jews.|"A War of Extermination"|Mustafa Amin|Akhbar al-Yom, October 11, 1947}} |
{{Quotation|I personally wish that the Jews do not drive us to this war, as this will be a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Tartar massacre or the Crusader wars. I believe that the number of volunteers from outside Palestine will be larger than Palestine's Arab population, for I know that volunteers will be arriving to us from [as far as] India, Afghanistan, and China to win the honor of martyrdom for the sake of Palestine ... You might be surprised to learn that hundreds of Englishmen expressed their wish to volunteer in the Arab armies to fight the Jews.|"A War of Extermination"|Mustafa Amin|Akhbar al-Yom, October 11, 1947}} |
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{{Quotation|... The "practical and effective means" contrived and advocated by the Arab States were never envisaged as being limited by the provisions of the Charter; indeed, the Secretary-General of the Arab League was thinking in terms which are quite remote from the lofty sentiments of San Francisco. "This war," he said, "will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongol massacres and the Crusades."<ref name="karsh"/>|Jewish Agency memorandum|February 2, 1948}} |
{{Quotation|... The "practical and effective means" contrived and advocated by the Arab States were never envisaged as being limited by the provisions of the Charter; indeed, the Secretary-General of the Arab League was thinking in terms which are quite remote from the lofty sentiments of San Francisco. "This war," he said, "will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongol massacres and the Crusades."<ref name="karsh"/>|Jewish Agency memorandum|February 2, 1948}} |
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== The uses to which the quotation was put == |
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At the time of the utterance, according to Segev, the Arab-Israeli conflict was raging also in the media of the day, as either side sought to show the other side was agitating for war. Azzam had, he concludes, 'supplied the Zionists with a [[sound bite]] that serves Israeli propaganda to this very day,' and some 395 books, and roughly 13,000 websites cite this excerpt to this day.<ref name=Segev/> |
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| ⚫ | Azzam's quoted first sentence, without its initial caveat, appeared in English in a [[Jewish Agency]] memorandum to the United Nations Palestine Commission in February 1948.<ref>Jewish Agency for Palestine, Memorandum on acts of Arab aggression to alter by force the settlement on the future government of Palestine approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, Submitted to the United Nations Palestine Commission. Lake Success, New York. February 2, 1948. A copy appears in [http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/710 UN document S/710].</ref> During the next few years, the same partial sentence appeared in its correct 1947 setting in several books.<ref>{{cite book | author = Isidor Feinstein Stone | title = This is Israel | publisher = Boni and Gaer | year = 1948 | page = 21}} {{cite book | author = Konni Zilliacus | title = I choose peace | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 1949 | page = 259}}</ref> However, by 1952, many publications, including one published by the Israeli government, had moved its date to 1948 |
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<blockquote> "Whatever the outcome, the Arabs will stick to their offer of equal citizenship for Jews in Arab Palestine and let them be as Jewish as they like." <ref name=Segev/></blockquote> |
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== Quotation source and authenticity debate == |
== Quotation source and authenticity debate == |
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Until 2010, the source of the quotation has been commonly claimed to be a press conference in Cairo in May 15, 1948, one day before the first day of [[Israel]]i independence, which some versions say was broadcast by the [[BBC]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre |year = |
Until 2010, the source of the quotation has been commonly claimed to be a press conference in Cairo in May 15, 1948, one day before the first day of [[Israel]]i independence, which some versions say was broadcast by the [[BBC]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre | year = 1972 | title = O Jerusalem! | publisher = Grafton Books}} {{cite book | author = Efraim Karsh | title = Palestine Betrayed | page = 209}} {{cite book | author = Benny Morris | title = Righteous Victims | year = 1999 | page = 219}}</ref> |
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An Egyptian writer in 1961 maintained that the quotation was "completely out of context". He wrote that "Azzam actually said that he feared that if the people of Palestine were to be forcibly and against all right dispossessed, a tragedy comparable to the Mongol invasions and the Crusades might not be avoidable. ... The reference to the Crusaders and the Mongols aptly describes the view of the foreign Zionist invaders shared by most Arabs."<ref>{{cite journal | title = The Toynbee-Herzog debate | journal = The Egyptian Economic & Political Review | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | month = March | year = 1961 | pages = 6–9, 20–30}}</ref> |
An Egyptian writer in 1961 maintained that the quotation was "completely out of context". He wrote that "Azzam actually said that he feared that if the people of Palestine were to be forcibly and against all right dispossessed, a tragedy comparable to the Mongol invasions and the Crusades might not be avoidable. ... The reference to the Crusaders and the Mongols aptly describes the view of the foreign Zionist invaders shared by most Arabs."<ref>{{cite journal | title = The Toynbee-Herzog debate | journal = The Egyptian Economic & Political Review | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | month = March | year = 1961 | pages = 6–9, 20–30}}</ref> |
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In early December Azzam told a rally of students in Cairo that "The Arabs conquered the Tartars and the Crusaders and they are now ready to defeat the new enemy," echoing sentiments he had expressed to a journalist the previous day.<ref>{{Cite news| title = British Institute Gutted; Demonstration near Cairo | newspaper = The Times of India | date = December 3, 1947 | page = 5}} {{Cite news| author =Margaret Pope | title = "Will Fight to Finish," Says League Official | newspaper = The Scotsman | date = December 1, 1947 | page = 2}}</ref> |
In early December Azzam told a rally of students in Cairo that "The Arabs conquered the Tartars and the Crusaders and they are now ready to defeat the new enemy," echoing sentiments he had expressed to a journalist the previous day.<ref>{{Cite news| title = British Institute Gutted; Demonstration near Cairo | newspaper = The Times of India | date = December 3, 1947 | page = 5}} {{Cite news| author =Margaret Pope | title = "Will Fight to Finish," Says League Official | newspaper = The Scotsman | date = December 1, 1947 | page = 2}}</ref> |
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== The quotation in English literature == |
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| ⚫ | Azzam's quoted first sentence, without its initial caveat, appeared in English in a [[Jewish Agency]] memorandum to the United Nations Palestine Commission in February 1948.<ref>Jewish Agency for Palestine, Memorandum on acts of Arab aggression to alter by force the settlement on the future government of Palestine approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, Submitted to the United Nations Palestine Commission. Lake Success, New York. February 2, 1948. A copy appears in [http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/710 UN document S/710].</ref> During the next few years, the same partial sentence appeared in its correct 1947 setting in several books.<ref>{{cite book | author = Isidor Feinstein Stone | title = This is Israel | publisher = Boni and Gaer | year = 1948 | page = 21}} {{cite book | author = Konni Zilliacus | title = I choose peace | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 1949 | page = 259}}</ref> However, by 1952, many publications, including one published by the Israeli government, had moved its date to 1948.<ref>{{cite book | author = Harry Levin | title = I saw the Battle of Jerusalem | publisher = Schoken Books | year = 1950 | pages = 164–165}} {{cite book | author = John Roy Carlson | title = Cairo to Damascus | publisher = Alfred A. Knopf | year = 1951 | page = 266}} {{cite book | author = Rufus Learsi | title = Fulfillment: the epic story of Zionism | publisher = World Publishing Company | year = 1951 | page = 384}} {{cite book | author = Joseph Schechtman | title = The Arab Refugee Problem | publisher = Philosophical Society | year = 1952 | page = 6}} {{cite book | author = Israel Office of Information | title = The Arabs in Israel | month = January | year = 1952}}</ref> In this incorrect setting, it has appeared in hundreds of books and thousands of websites.<ref name=Segev/> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 06:59, 20 June 2012
The Azzam Pasha quotation refers to a statement made by Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam, the Secretary-General of the Arab League from 1945 to 1952, in which he declared in 1947 that, were a war to take place with the proposed establishment of a Jewish state, it would lead to "a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the Crusades." [1] The source of the quote was traced by the Computer Scientist Brendan McKay to an October 11, 1947 article in the Egyptian newspaper Akhbar al-Yom, titled "A War of Extermination", which included the quote, with the added words "Personally, I hope the Jews do not force us into this war, because it would be a war of extermination and momentous massacre ...".[1][2] The historian Efraim Karsh considers this quote a "Genocidal threat".[1]
The Israeli historian Tom Segev disputed this interpretation, saying that "Azzam used to talk a lot" and pointing to another statement from May 21, 1948, in which Azzam Pasha declared his desire for "equal citizenship for Jews in Arab Palestine".[2]
The Quotation
An October 11, 1947 report on the pan-Arab summit, by Akhbar al-Yom's editor Mustafa Amin, contained an interview he held with Azzam Pasha. Titled, "A War of Extermination," the interview contained the following words.[1]
I personally wish that the Jews do not drive us to this war, as this will be a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Tartar massacre or the Crusader wars. I believe that the number of volunteers from outside Palestine will be larger than Palestine's Arab population, for I know that volunteers will be arriving to us from [as far as] India, Afghanistan, and China to win the honor of martyrdom for the sake of Palestine ... You might be surprised to learn that hundreds of Englishmen expressed their wish to volunteer in the Arab armies to fight the Jews.
— "A War of Extermination", Mustafa Amin, Akhbar al-Yom, October 11, 1947
Jewish Agency Memorandum
A Jewish Agency memorandum, submitted on February 2, 1948, to the U.N. Palestine Commission, tasked with the implementation of the partition resolution, and yet again to the U.N. secretary-general on March 29, 1948, referred to the Azzam Pasha quotation, citing the October 11, 1947 article in Akhbar al-Yom.
... The "practical and effective means" contrived and advocated by the Arab States were never envisaged as being limited by the provisions of the Charter; indeed, the Secretary-General of the Arab League was thinking in terms which are quite remote from the lofty sentiments of San Francisco. "This war," he said, "will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongol massacres and the Crusades."[1]
— Jewish Agency memorandum, February 2, 1948
Quotation source and authenticity debate
Until 2010, the source of the quotation has been commonly claimed to be a press conference in Cairo in May 15, 1948, one day before the first day of Israeli independence, which some versions say was broadcast by the BBC.[3]
An Egyptian writer in 1961 maintained that the quotation was "completely out of context". He wrote that "Azzam actually said that he feared that if the people of Palestine were to be forcibly and against all right dispossessed, a tragedy comparable to the Mongol invasions and the Crusades might not be avoidable. ... The reference to the Crusaders and the Mongols aptly describes the view of the foreign Zionist invaders shared by most Arabs."[4]
In 2010, doubt over the provenance of the quotation was voiced by Joffe and Romirowsky[5] and by Morris.[6]
In 2010, the source of the quote was traced by the Computer Scientist Brendan McKay to an October 11, 1947 article in the Egyptian newspaper Akhbar al-Yom, titled "A War of Extermination", which included the quote, with the added words "Personally, I hope the Jews do not force us into this war, because it would be a war of extermination and momentous massacre ...".[1] [2]
Interpretation debate
The Israeli historian Efraim Karsh and the English author David Barnett consider the Azzam Pasha quotation a "Genocidal threat".[1]
The Israeli historian Tom Segev disputed this interpretation, saying that "Azzam used to talk a lot" and pointing to another statement from May 21, 1948, in which Azzam Pasha declared his desire for "equal citizenship for Jews in Arab Palestine".[2]
Translation
According to a 2011 translation by Brendan McKay, a Professor in the Research School of Computer Science at the Australian National University:
- "Personally I hope the Jews do not force us into this war because it will be a war of elimination and it will be a dangerous massacre which history will record similarly to the Mongol massacre or the wars of the Crusades."[7]
Azzam did not mention the regular Arab armies, but instead predicted Palestine would be entered by large numbers of Muslim volunteers from many countries.[7]
Azzam said that the fight would have three dimensions: faith, looting, and unstoppability, and argued that the Arabs knew how to carry on after a defeat, whereas, according to the interview, the Jews did not.[7]
He concluded,
- "In the end I understand the consequence of this bloody war, I see in front of me its horrible battles, I can imagine its victims but I have a clear conscience since we were called to fight as defenders and not attackers."[7]
In early December Azzam told a rally of students in Cairo that "The Arabs conquered the Tartars and the Crusaders and they are now ready to defeat the new enemy," echoing sentiments he had expressed to a journalist the previous day.[8]
The quotation in English literature
Azzam's quoted first sentence, without its initial caveat, appeared in English in a Jewish Agency memorandum to the United Nations Palestine Commission in February 1948.[9] During the next few years, the same partial sentence appeared in its correct 1947 setting in several books.[10] However, by 1952, many publications, including one published by the Israeli government, had moved its date to 1948.[11] In this incorrect setting, it has appeared in hundreds of books and thousands of websites.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g David Barnett and Efraim Karsh (2011). "Azzam's genocidal threat". Middle East Quarterly. 18 (4): 85–88.
- ^ a b c d e Tom Segev (Oct 21, 2011). "The makings of history / The blind misleading the blind". Haaretz.
- ^ Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre (1972). O Jerusalem!. Grafton Books. Efraim Karsh. Palestine Betrayed. p. 209. Benny Morris (1999). Righteous Victims. p. 219.
- ^ "The Toynbee-Herzog debate". The Egyptian Economic & Political Review. 7 (3): 6–9, 20–30. 1961.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ AH Joffe and A Romirowsky (2010). "A Tale of Two Galloways: Notes on the Early History of UNRWA and Zionist Historiography". Middle Eastern Studies. 46 (5): 655–675. doi:10.1080/00263206.2010.504554.
- ^ Benny Morris (2010). "Revisionism on the West Bank". The National Interest: 73–81.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d Akhbar el-Yom, October 11, 2011, p9. The literal English translation is somewhat ambiguous, however the overall meaning is that the coming Arab defeat of the Jews will be remembered in the same way as the past Arab defeats of the Mongols and Crusaders are remembered. Full translation and scan at Middle East Yabber.
- ^ "British Institute Gutted; Demonstration near Cairo". The Times of India. December 3, 1947. p. 5. Margaret Pope (December 1, 1947). ""Will Fight to Finish," Says League Official". The Scotsman. p. 2.
- ^ Jewish Agency for Palestine, Memorandum on acts of Arab aggression to alter by force the settlement on the future government of Palestine approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, Submitted to the United Nations Palestine Commission. Lake Success, New York. February 2, 1948. A copy appears in UN document S/710.
- ^ Isidor Feinstein Stone (1948). This is Israel. Boni and Gaer. p. 21. Konni Zilliacus (1949). I choose peace. Penguin Books. p. 259.
- ^ Harry Levin (1950). I saw the Battle of Jerusalem. Schoken Books. pp. 164–165. John Roy Carlson (1951). Cairo to Damascus. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 266. Rufus Learsi (1951). Fulfillment: the epic story of Zionism. World Publishing Company. p. 384. Joseph Schechtman (1952). The Arab Refugee Problem. Philosophical Society. p. 6. Israel Office of Information (1952). The Arabs in Israel.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)