the congress party and the yishuv 45its stance on Palestine? Finally, how did the Zionists view the Indian na-
tionalist cause and its usefulness for their enterprise in Palestine?
In the early twentieth century, two Middle Eastern developments
caught the attention of the Congress Party, namely, the Khilafat struggle
and the Palestine question. Toward the closing stages of World War I, the
Indian nationalists joined with their Muslim brethren, who were con-
cerned about Eu ro pe an powers undermining the offi ce of the caliph. As
discussed elsewhere, the Khilafat movement dominated the Indian po-
liti cal atmosphere between 1919 and 1924. In 1922, the Congress Party
declared that “eff ective guardianship of Islam and the Jazirat al- Arab [be]
free[d] from all non- Muslim control.”^1 Capturing the central argument,
its president, Mohamed Ali, observed that it would be “a sad day indeed
for us when any part of it goes out of the hands of the Muslims, for then
we would have betrayed a divine trust. Muslims will never acquiesce in
any arrangements that permitted any form of control being exercised by
a non- Muslim power over any part of Jazirat al- Arab.”^2
As the Khilafat issue faded from po liti cal scene, Palestine became the
major INC preoccupation in the Middle East.^3 The fi rst direct reference
to Palestine came in 1923, when Mohammed Ali, the INC president,
urged Indians to make common cause with the Palestinians.^4 In January
1928, the Congress Party adopted its fi rst formal resolution on Palestine.
Coming in the wake of the Brussels Congress on Oppressed Nationali-
ties, the party sent its “warm greetings to the people of Egypt, Syria, Pal-
estine, and Iraq and its assurance of full sympathy with them in their
struggle for emancipation from the grip of Western Imperialism.”^5 For
the next eight years, there were no references to Palestine in the delibera-
tions of the Congress Party.
In 1936, the Wardha Session of the Congress Working Committee
(CWC) adopted a resolution on Arabs in Palestine. This came in the
midst of the disturbances and violence in Palestine commonly known as
the Arab Revolt (1936– 1939). Without discussing the background, the
Congress Party conveyed its greetings and sympathy “to the Arabs of
Palestine in their struggle for in de pen dence against British Imperial-
ism.”^6 This was also the fi rst exclusive INC resolution on Palestine. Sub-
sequently, Palestine became its only concern in the Middle East. As the
problem drew more attention from the Muslim League, the Congress
Party declared September 27, 1936, as Palestine Day. Meetings were held
in diff erent parts of the country to express solidarity with the Arabs.