Arab-Jewish Dialogue
DOCUMENT IN CONTEXT
One of the most intriguing, if ultimately fruitless, documents of the World War I era
is an agreement signed by World Zionist Organization president Chaim Weizmann
and Amir Faisal ibn Hussein, a leader of the British-inspired “Arab revolt” against the
Ottoman Empire.
At the instigation of the British, Weizmann traveled to Faisal’s desert camp near
Aqaba, on the Gulf of Aqaba, in June 1918. The two men exchanged pleasantries and
appeared to agree on the need for cooperation between Arabs and Jews, including on
the question of Jewish immigration to Palestine. They met again in January 1919 in
Paris, at the international conference to draft the terms of peace formally ending World
War I. Weizmann was in Paris to press negotiators to recognize Zionist claims to Pales-
tine, while Faisal sought recognition of his claim, on behalf of the Arabs, to Syria.
In Paris, the two men signed a document with many of the features of a formal
agreement between two governments. Now known alternately as the Faisal-Weizmann
Agreement or the Weizmann-Faisal Agreement, the document committed each side to
recognizing some of the demands of the other. For his part, Faisal agreed to recognize
the Balfour Declaration and to accept increased Jewish immigration to Palestine. In
return, Weizmann committed the World Zionist Organization to sending a commis-
sion of experts to Palestine to examine prospects for economic development, appar-
ently including for its Arab residents. On its face, the agreement did not commit Faisal
to supporting any form of a Jewish political entity in Palestine, although numerous
Zionist commentators over the years have insisted that it did.
Faisal added a stipulation stating that his concurrence depended on the Arabs
obtaining “independence,” which he demanded in a separate memorandum to Britain
dated January 4, 1919. If the Arabs were not granted independence, Faisal asserted,
his agreement with Weizmann would be deemed “void and of no account or valid-
ity... .” Years later, Faisal insisted that he had no recollection of signing the agree-
ment with Weizmann.
The exact date of this agreement has been the subject of some dispute. Most
accounts contend that it was signed on January 3, 1919, but Faisal’s stipulation
referred to his January 4 memorandum, leading some observers to argue that the entire
agreement, or at least Faisal’s stipulation, dates to January 4 or later. The agreement
was not made public at the time, but versions were subsequently published.
Fourteen months later, in March 1920, Faisal was crowned king of Syria, a terri-
tory that he and other Arab leaders considered to include Palestine. Faisal’s rule from
Damascus lasted only four months. On July 24, 1920, a French army unit took con-
trol of Damascus, and Faisal fled into exile. In August 1921, the British government
installed Faisal as king of the new country of Iraq.
In terms of historical significance, the Weizmann-Faisal Agreement stands primarily
as a curiosity, and for some observers, is one of the great “what ifs” in Middle Eastern his-
tory. Whether the agreement, if adhered to by Arabs and Jews, could have led to any
FOUNDATIONS OF THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST 17