with Hitler in November 1941 rarely fi gures in Indian discourses on the
Middle East. Besides the leaders of the Congress Party, the mufti suc-
ceeded in establishing personal contacts with important Muslim leaders
such as Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali. He met the Ali brothers, the
leaders of the Khilafat movement, in Mecca during the hajj pilgrimages
of 1924 and 1926.^73 Mohammed Ali visited Palestine in 1928, and in the
following year the Indian Muslims sent a delegation to the International
Wailing Wall Commission, where Ali delivered “one of the three closing
speeches for the Muslim side before the Commission.”^74
The mufti’s close association with the Ali brothers bolstered his stand-
ing among the Arabs. He could present himself as someone who was
courted, consulted, and listened to by Muslim leaders beyond Palestine;
this in turn enhanced his prestige among the Palestinians. Through his
off er in Januar y 1931 to bur y Mohammad Ali’s body in Harem al- Sharif, in
the precincts of the Islam’s third- holiest shrine, the mufti received the
admiration, appreciation, and gratitude of Indian Muslims. Later that
year, Shaukat Ali played a key role in the Jerusalem Islamic Conference
or ga nized by the mufti.^75
India thus provided the mufti with signifi cant po liti cal, religious, and
even fi nancial support and raised the stakes of the Palestinian gambit.
These eff orts proved successful when the Muslim League commemo-
rated May 16, 1930, as the fi rst Palestine Day.^76 The popularity of this oc-
casion compelled the Congress Party to adopt this practice: September
27, 1936, was again declared as Palestine Day.^77 The mufti’s growing in-
volvement with India’s Muslim community rang alarms in Zionist cir-
cles. They feared that any active Indian involvement in Palestine would
be detrimental to their cause. The Arab opposition to aliya was already
causing concern in London, and active Indian involvement could only ag-
gravate the situation. Therefore, a denial of Indian support, the Zionists
felt, might help curtail the mufti’s eff orts and his ability to “Islamize” the
confl ict in Palestine.
With this objective in mind, in the 1930s the Zionists made contacts
with Indian leaders.
Zionist Contacts
The Zionists sought and established wide- ranging contacts with
the Indian nationalists and various segments of the Indian society. Such
the congress party and the yishuv 61