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in the name of the British high commissioner. The Higher Arab Body had sent a letter to its Palestinian brothers on the occasion of the Committee of Inquiry’s arrival, declaring its determination to make the greatest sacrifices for the safety and defense of the homeland and warning that a general revolt would occur if Britain and the United Nations did not recognize the Palestinians’ demands and legitimate rights in their homeland.

During the days the Committee of Inquiry spent in Palestine, it heard the statements of Jewish organizations and visited Jewish cities and colonies. After completing its mission in Palestine, it visited Amman and then went to Lebanon. In the town of Sofar on 22 July, it met representatives of the Arab states. Lebanon’s foreign minister, Mr. Hamid Frangieh, read to it an extensive memorandum on behalf of all the Arab states containing international and historical documents proving Palestine’s Arab character and the Palestinian people’s right to independence and sovereignty in their homeland, and the falsity of the Jewish claim. The memorandum warned of the consequences of Zionist collaboration and following its falsehood for security in these countries.

On the day the Committee of Inquiry arrived in Sofar, the Higher Arab Body sent the following telegram to the representatives of the Arab states gathered there: Riyad al-Sulh and Hamid Frangieh for Lebanon; Jamil Mardam, Adel Arslan, and Farid Zayn al-Din for Syria; Fadil al-Jamali for Iraq; Fuad Hamzah for Saudi Arabia; Ali al-Muʾayyad for Yemen; and Samir al-Rifaʿi for Jordan:

“The position of the representatives of the Arab states before the Committee will have the greatest effect in serving Palestine. The Higher Arab Body appeals to you, in the name of the Arabs of Palestine, to support their demands for an independent democratic Arab state, to accept as citizens from among the Jews only those who were present before the British occupation, and not to be bound by the London Conference plan as set out in our latest memorandum. The Arabs of Palestine, who are determined to die defending their independence and preserving their existence, hope that the honorable representatives will take a firm position suited to the extremism of the Zionists.”

As for “our latest memorandum,” to which the telegram referred, the Higher Arab Body had sent it to the foreign ministers of the Arab states on 17 July 1947, on the occasion of the Committee of Inquiry’s arrival in Beirut and its meeting with the foreign ministers. The text of the memorandum follows:

Date: 28 Shaʿban 1366 (17 July 1947)

To His Excellency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs...