CAIRO: Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General of the Arab League, declared here today [Nov 29] that the United Nations’ decision in favour of partition of Palestine “could mean only one thing for the Arabs — war against the Jews”. Azzam Pasha was interviewed on his arrival from Saudi Arabia, where he saw King Ibn Saud after his six weeks tour of Arab League countries. He explained that he was speaking “on the assumption that the United Nations’ General Assembly will vote in favour of the partition of Palestine”.

Such a decision would mean the end of the first phase of the Arab struggle to make Palestine an Independent Arab State he said. “The second phase of the struggle will now begin, and you can tell the world that the Arabs will in the long run be victorious, even if it takes us till 1950 or 1960. We have justice, time and numbers on our side. We have everything except arms, but we shall get even arms. Tribes in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq [are] already itching to fight. … There is no question of Arab countries leaving the United Nations or severing diplomatic relations with nations who voted for partition.” — News agencies

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2022