A historic US document confirming Saudi support for the Palestine
By : Marwa Mahmoud
The US History office, the official body responsible for publishing official documents of US foreign policy, published a historic document containing a memorandum of dialogue between King Abdulaziz Al Saud and President Roosevelt held aboard the Quincy 5 aircraft carrier, on February 14 of 1945.
At the beginning of the dialogue included in the first part of the document, the American President asked King Abdulaziz for advice on the problem of the Jewish refugees who were expelled from their homes in Europe.
The king then expressed his opinion that these people would return to live in the lands, from which they were expelled, but those whose homes were destroyed have no opportunities living in their home countries, they must be given a place to live in the pillar powers that persecuted them.
King Abdulaziz also presented at the meeting the issue of Arabs and their legitimate rights in their lands, stressing that Arabs and Jews cannot cooperate, neither in Palestine nor in any other country,
He pointed to the increasing threat to the existence of the Arabs, as well as to the crisis that resulted from the continued Jewish immigration and Jews’ purchase of lands.
The king said that the Arabs would choose to die rather than hand over their lands to the Jews, indicating their hope for American support for their cause.
On the other hand, the American President responded to assure King Abdulaziz that he would not help Jews against the Arabs, and that he would not take any hostile step, but at the same time, he affirmed the impossibility of preventing his speeches and decisions issued by Congress or any opinions of the press on any issue.
In the second part of the document, King Abdulaziz expressed his concern about the problem of Lebanon and Syria’s independence, and asked the US president about America’s position on this issue
Roosevelt replied that France gave him an official book guaranteeing the independence of Syria and Lebanon.
As for the third part, the American President talked about his interest in agriculture. He also expressed the development of these aspects after the end of the war, including the Arab countries.