Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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From the slopes of Mount Lebanon last week came a sound like the rattling of scimitars. The Council of the seven-nation Arab League, meeting in a resort hotel overlooking Beirut and the Mediterranean, had reached a tactical decision. With eyes on the debate in U.N., they manifestoed: Arab states would "take military precautions on the borders of Palestine." League spokesmen said troops would move up immediately. "Arabs will never accept partition," said Lebanese Premier Riad al-Sulh...
Caves & Camels? At Lake Success, meanwhile, U.N.'s Palestine Committee threshed through preliminary speeches. Then, as the week ended, U.S. Delegate Herschel Vespasian Johnson read to fellow delegates the statement all parties had been waiting for. It brought instant reassurance to Zionists, anger to Arabs. Said Johnson: "The U.S. delegation supports . . . the majority plan [of the U.N. Palestine Commission] which provides for partition and immigration." Johnson cocked a mild eyebrow at Arab threats of force. He blandly added: "We assume there will be Charter observance...
Along the borders of Palestine the Arab threat did not materialize immediately. Associated Pressman Joseph Goodwin flew out on a 300-mile scouting trip, reported: "Unless they were hiding in caves or camouflaged as camels, there were not 1,000 troops within 20 miles on either side of the border, from the Mediterranean to the Dead...
Nevertheless, reports of troop movements increased. This week Palestine watchers said they saw Syrian Arabs, some with armored cars, pitching camp across the border. An "alert" had been sent to Haganah. Somebody (police thought the Arab underground organization, Jihad) tossed a bomb into the compound of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem...
This last fact is important because British motives in Palestine are not above suspicion. In her desire to keep her oil concessions and an effective Middle-East sterling block, Britain has encouraged and may continue to aid Arab aspirations. British officers, upon discharge, are being advised to enlist with Arab forces, and, of even more concern, is the immediate possibility that Britain will rapidly and unexpectedly evacuate, Palestine, leaving arms and instigators behind in the vacuum...