This is what made us realize the extent of Jewish influence in the Netherlands.
Although Jewish and colonial influence at that time prevented us from sending our delegation to Indonesia, our contact with the Indonesians continued. We remained closely connected with their young men and students in Cairo and elsewhere. I met a select group of Indonesian leaders who attended the First Islamic Conference held in Mecca in 1345 AH, 1926 CE. They were a delegation headed by the late Sukarno Aminoto, president of the Islamic Union organization, one of the oldest Islamic organizations. A number of Indonesians also participated in the Islamic Conference we held in Jerusalem in 1931.
One resolution of that conference was to undertake tours of the Islamic countries for the sake of the Palestine cause. In the spring of 1933, I therefore made a tour with a delegation consisting of Muhammad Ali Pasha Alawiyya and Sayyid Ali Muhyi al-Din al-Husayni. We visited Jordan, Iraq, India, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Iran. We traveled by ship from Basra on the outward journey, and Sayyid Ali al-Husayni and I returned by car from India to Jerusalem. The entire journey lasted seven months. When I returned to Jerusalem, the British High Commissioner, Arthur Wauchope, informed me of the British government’s reproach, displeasure, and deep concern over the propaganda that had spread in the countries we visited against its policy and its bias toward the Jews.
I had scarcely settled in Jerusalem after returning from that long journey when the Japanese ambassador resident in Cairo surprised me by visiting me in Jerusalem. He asked me with great interest about the reasons for the journey, what I had seen during it, and the impressions it had left on me. This ambassador’s visit was our first contact with the Japanese.
When we moved to Iraq after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, our connection with some official Japanese figures who visited me in Baghdad during those years of the war was renewed. The connection then became closer in Iran when I hid for some time in the Japanese embassy in Tehran after the British–Russian occupation of Iran. I received great care and a warm welcome from the Japanese ambassador there, Mr. Ichi Kawa.
I remained hidden until Marshal Wavell announced a reward of twenty-five thousand pounds sterling for anyone who informed on me or handed me over alive or dead. The Japanese embassy was then surrounded by a number of police from the British and Russian armies, so I risked leaving Iran for Turkey.
A dangerous incident happened to me on the Iranian–Turkish border between Tabriz and Erzurum. The director of Russian intelligence suspected the Iranian passport I was carrying and detained me under guard by Russian soldiers for several hours. But the Japanese embassy counselor, Mr. Asta Oka, came to my aid and assured him that my passport was valid, so he released me. I crossed the Turkish border and reached Istanbul, then resumed my journey from there through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Italy until I reached Germany.
When I met the Japanese ambassador, General Hiroshi Oshima, in Berlin, he treated me with care and welcomed me because of prior instructions from his government to care for me. At the first private meeting, I took the opportunity to tell him that Japan had to prove the truth of its statements by administering justice among the peoples of Asia, and that its statements should not contradict its actions, like England, which concluded a treaty with the Arabs in 1916 for Arab independence, then broke it after the war and gave Palestine to the Jews. He agreed with what I said and promised his support. General Oshima was one of the most influential Japanese figures in Japan. I therefore sent a telegram to the Japanese foreign minister, Shigenori Togo, asking him to recognize the independence of the Indonesian people, in keeping with the statements of Japanese officials about helping the peoples of Asia and because this would have the best effect among all the Islamic countries. I sent the telegram in my capacity as president of the World Islamic Congress, through Ambassador Oshima, with his endorsement.