|
|
Letter written by Eliahu Sasson, high-ranking Israeli diplomat, to Azzam Pacha, Secretary General of the Arab League, December 5, 1947 (Note: This letter was sent only a few days after the Partition of Palestine into two states, voted by the United Nations in November 11, 1947) Dear Azzam Pacha, We are not drunk with victory, dear Azzam Pacha, despite the fact that the majority of the international community has recognized the justness of our cause a cause that survived after the most difficult political fight we have ever had to endure and the most exhaustive scrutiny. We know that, for us, a formidable task still lies ahead. It is an effort without precedent in the history of humanity. We must overcome obstacles that no other people in the world have had to face. And even though we are not wallowing in triumph, we are also not afraid. Our faith in the ultimate victory of our cause does not rest with our material strength as you suggested this week in the headquarters of your organization. It is not because of our material strength that our people were able to resist so many aggressors over the centuries: the power of Rome, the Spanish Inquisition, the despotism of Russian Czarists and the iron fist of Hitler. Our material wealth has always been used against us. We have survived solely because of our spiritual strength. A people, who after 18 centuries of exile and incessant persecutions, is not one who can be treated with contempt. It is not certainly a people one can make disappear by brutal force as some of your friends are inclined to believe. That does not mean that we are underestimating the sufferings and wrongs that brutal force can inflict upon us. There is no people in the world that has paid such a terrible price as we have in order to survive. We have carefully considered our future and recognize the dangers that lie ahead. We are not thinking in terms of weeks or months. We are thinking in terms ofyears or even decades. But we also know that no matter how bitter and long our struggle, we will succeed because our cause is one of the spirit. Never before in human history has such a cause been crushed by force. In this matter we have no choice. Our absolute necessity forces us to follow this path and its the only way we have to insure the survival of our people. The choice is in your hands. It is up to you to decide whether you will hinder or facilitate our reintegration into the Middle East. U Unfortunately, I know that there are some among you who are still inclined to opt for the former. Over the last decade, you have successfully achieved your liberty and independence, but many among you are not willing to give to others the same right to live and be free. Consider that the same forces that allowed you to be free are also the ones that are working to insure our own liberty. In trying to thwart our goal of national liberation by brutal force, you are placing yourselves in exactly the same position as those who opposed your efforts for independence. I have too much respect for the political savvy of Arabs -- among whom I grew up and lived all my life -- to dare suggest political advice. But no one endowed with imagination can fail to see that these leaders are leading you to the brink of disaster. They are placing your people against those very ideas from which your own national liberation movement drew its strength and success. As I said earlier, we are not underestimating your strength, but I also humbly ask that you not underestimate ours either. I repeat: our strength has its roots in the power of our faith and in the necessity because we have to of our actions, which also are able to mobilize military power. We may not be many in number, but our courage is huge. We also have another significant factor in our favor the stunning majority at the United Nations. We may suffer some reversals, but our people here and elsewhere will not give up the fight. And, if the struggles continue for long, it will inevitably lead to forces that will threaten not only our independence, but yours too. Peace and liberty are indivisible. Let no one imagine that the liberty of our neighbors can survive by suppressing ours. Let no one imagine that Palestine could be drenched in blood while its neighbors continue to live in security.
But, unfortunately, some of your leaders told the Arab people that we constitute a menace to your security -- that Palestine is, for us, only a stepping stone from which we will conquer the rest of the Middle East. They have repeated it so often that, in my opinion, there are now many among them who sincerely believe it. However, as sincere as their convictions may be, their fears are completely absurd. The Jews did not return to Palestine to conquer or remove others but to make a home in the only place that can offer them such a home in the only country where they are connected historically by a chain which has never been broken and which is impossible to crush. The Jews want a home in Palestine and nowhere else. Syria, Iraq and the others are as foreign to us as are Africa and South America. When one examines this matter, once again, from a practical point of view, one asks what is it that creates such fears? Do you think that the establishment of a Jewish state in a part of Palestine will be an easy task? The number of Jews who will establish themselves in Palestine is not large enough to constitute an even faint threat to the 40 million Arabs in the Middle East and whose numbers are growing year after year and who possess vast territories and unlimited resources. One must be nearly mad to wave the fan of a Jewish conquest of the Middle East. This might be a good slogan to excite a fanatical crowd. But it would be laughed at in the presence of responsible world leaders. We find ourselves, you and I, at the crossroads of history. Everything depends on you. Will you block our efforts or will you accept us as we are asking as children of the Middle East returning to the land of our fathers after centuries of forced exile? I will not make any prophecies but I wish to tell you you who has a sense of history that the return of the children of Israel can constitute a blessing to the Middle East, in general. They were chased into exile against their will, but in the process, contributed greatly to the progress in their adopted countries. Today, they are returning home bringing with them their wealth of experience, gained from the Western world by people of the East, to find here what no other land can offer them: roots in the soil, peace, security and a home. Their efforts will focus on these tasks alone and on this land. Their success will inevitably have a beneficial impact on their neighbors and contribute to a general Renaissance of the Middle East upon which rests the peace, security and prosperity of all who live here. This, in any case, is our hope to which we are attached to despite all we were subjected to in recent days. During the last week, in the face of deliberate efforts to drag us into a conflict and to provoke us to retaliate, our people has shown self control and our leaders continued to offer a hand of peace and cooperation to our Arab neighbors. Our work to build Israel will continue whether our neighbors like it or not. And the role that our new community will play in the renaissance of the Middle East will depend on them alone. The choice is in their hands. I will end my letter by quoting our Holy Bible: PUBLISHED BY GUEDALIA YOGUEV, JERUSALEM 1947 |