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In a conversation with Major General Abd al-Hakim Amer on 8 November 1955, I asked him about the fate of two memoranda I had sent him. The first concerned the military dangers contained in the Johnston Project to divert the waters of the Jordan to the Negev, and the second concerned the request to recruit, arm, and train Palestinians. He replied that he had paid the greatest attention to the first memorandum’s discussion of the military and strategic dangers contained in the Johnston Project and that they had studied the project thoroughly.

Regarding the recruitment of Palestinians, he said: “I would like to affirm that the Palestinian volunteers displayed bravery and manliness in the recent battles that earned our admiration and esteem. We are very interested in recruiting as many Palestinian young men as possible. To date, a full brigade, nearly 3,000 men, has been recruited, and the number will continue to increase.”

This conversation was followed by a memorandum on Arab and Palestinian affairs that the Arab Higher Committee submitted to the Arab governments on 4 Dhu al-Hijjah 1375 (24 July 1955), numbered S/808/289. It included the following two items:

5. Work to train the refugees militarily and arm them.

6. Establish fortified villages on the borders of Palestine for the residence of young refugees who had received military training, as the Jews do on the borders of Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan.

With the passage of time, and as most Arab countries relied on others and neglected the means of strength and power, Jewish attacks worsened and their harm and evil increased along the Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian borders, in addition to the Gaza area, which the enemies used as a field for their military experiments, intending thereby to probe the strength of the defense forces in the Arab countries, especially those neighboring occupied Palestine. The Arab Higher Committee therefore sent a memorandum to the Political Committee of the Arab League explaining the need to adopt means capable of mobilizing the Arab nation throughout all its countries spiritually, militarily, and economically, and to speak frankly to its peoples about the gravity of the situation.

The following is the text of this memorandum, which the Political Committee referred to the Arab League’s General Military Secretariat. It is dated 23 Rabi‘ al-Awwal 1375 (8 November 1955).