Bloudan Conference of 1937
Pan-Arab summit rejecting the Peel Commission's partition plan.
The Bloudan Conference of 1937 was a pan-Arab summit convened in Bloudan, Syria, on 8 September 1937. Called by the Arab Higher Committee, it responded to the Peel Commission's recommendation to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The conference is notable as an early expression of collective Arab opposition to the Zionist movement.
Quick Facts
- Date
- 8 September 1937
- Location
- Bloudan, Syria
- Convened by
- Arab Higher Committee
- Chairman
- Naji al-Suwaidi
- Vice-chairmen
- Shakib Arslan
- Mohammed Alluba Pasha
- Ali Hurayki
- Delegates from syria
- 115
- Delegates from palestine
- 97
Facts from the source article.
Goals and participation
The Arab Higher Committee first asked the British Mandate authorities to host the gathering in Jerusalem, but permission was denied, so the small town of Bloudan was chosen instead. Hundreds of delegates, mainly from the eastern Arab world, came together to determine what Arabs in their own countries should do and to coordinate effective opposition to Zionist threats. The conference passed resolutions rejecting both the proposed partition of Palestine and the creation of a Jewish state, and declared Palestine an inseparable part of the Arab world. Several committees were set up to explore ways to fight partition. Naji al-Suwaidi, a former Iraqi prime minister, presided over the conference, with vice-chairs including Lebanese intellectual Shakib Arslan, former Egyptian education minister Mohammed Alluba Pasha, and the Greek Orthodox bishop of Homs, Ali Hurayki. Although Syria did not officially take part because of Anglo-French pressure, it sent the largest delegation with 115 representatives. Palestine sent 97 delegates, Lebanon 59 led by Riad al-Solh, Transjordan 29, Iraq 9, Egypt 2, and Tripolitania 1. Messages of support arrived from Ahmad al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, and from Islamic groups in several Egyptian cities, as well as from Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Following the main conference, a largely secret meeting called the Conference of Nationalist Youth took place in Damascus, where more activist delegates called for stronger unity among Arab youth and set up a preparatory committee to organize a larger follow-up conference in Europe. A pamphlet handed out at the conference, titled "Islam and Jewry," has been called the first text to promote pure Jew-hatred within an Islamic framework by blending selected anti-Jewish stories from Muhammad’s life with claims about Jewish wickedness in the 20th century.
Reactions
The French Mandate government of Lebanon opposed Lebanese participation, with a pro-government newspaper stating it was in the country's interests not to antagonize Jews or Arabs. Lebanese delegates favored a resolution condemning Lebanese neutrality in the Palestine conflict, but it was rejected due to opposition from many Syrian delegates and al-Suwaidi, who feared a rift with the Lebanese government. The British Consulate in Damascus expressed alarm, stating there was little doubt that the deliberations over Palestine were reviving the pan-Arab phoenix from the ashes of local jealousies. The consul described the pamphlet "Islam and Jewry" as a startlingly inflammatory pamphlet indicating the passions the organizers hoped to arouse; his informant called it a violently anti-Jewish pamphlet given to each attendee. Delegate Fu'ad Mufarrij viewed the conference as an expression of Arab aspirations and a major step toward developing programs to achieve those aims. Lebanese historian Raghid al-Solh, however, believed the conference and subsequent pan-Arab gatherings focused narrowly on Palestine and sought to consolidate the political status quo, with Iraq and Transjordan leaning toward a Hashemite vision of limited federal union, while Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt held their own initiatives, largely ignoring pan-Arab unity and liberation from European colonialism.
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