ثورة فلسطين - أسبابها ونتائجها
The Palestine Revolt: Its Causes and Consequencesby Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā

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بأي شكل من الأشكال فلا وسيلة عندهم لمقاومته إلا تأليف العصابات المسلحة من البدو وغيرهم لمقاومة هذا الاعتداء على بلادهم بكل ما يمكن من وسائل المقاومة المعهودة عند الشعوب الأخرى في أوربة بإغراء دولها الكبرى وإرشادها، وأنه خير لليهود إذا كانوا يريدون أن يكثروا في البلاد العربية (فلسطين وغيرها) ويكونوا فيها أحرارًا آمنين متمتعين بما يتمتع به سائر أهلها من الحقوق المدنية والشخصية أن يتفقوا مع زعماء العرب أنفسهم على ذلك من وسائل ومقاصد، وأرى أن ذلك ممكن ... ولما فصلت له هذا الرأي أعجبه وبلَّغه لجمعيتهم وظهر له أثر في مؤتمر (بال) الصهيوني إذ صرح بعض أعضائه بالخطر الوحيد الذي يستقبلهم من قبائل العرب البدوية.

ثم ذاكرت في هذا الموضع زعيم الصهيونية الكبير الدكتور (وايزمن) بعد الحرب العالمية والشروع في تنفيذ عهد بلفور في إثر مذكرات أخرى مع بعض رجال الجمعية في مصر والقدس وقف هو على تفاصيلها كلها، وكان يريد المجيء إلى مصر قبل الحرب للبحث فيه معي، ومما قاله لي أن رأيي في اتفاق العرب مع أبناء عمهم العبرانيين ممكن غير خيالي بشرط أن يرضى به أمراء العرب وحكامهم المستقلون ... ثم انقطعت المذاكرة في هذه المسألة لاعتماد الصهيونيين على قوة الإنكليز في إعادة مُلك إسرائيل لهم، وكل منهما يمكر بالآخر.

خلاصة القول في قوة اليهود وضعفهم

خلاصة القول في اليهود أنهم شعب من أعظم شعوب البشر يمتازون بخصائص في العلم والعمل والاقتصاد والاتحاد والتكافل والتعاون والحزم والعزم ونظام خاص في عمل البر والمعروف والمكر والدهاء والصبر والثبات واحتمال المكاره وعدم اليأس من مقصدهم الأسمى - وهو المُلك - وإن تعذرت أسبابه وعظمت صعابه، وإذا كانوا لم ييأسوا في أشد العصور إذلالاً لهم، وأعتى الأعاصير في تمزيق شملهم، فكيف ييأسون في هذا العصر وهم سدنة هيكل المعبود الأكبر للأمم والدول العظمى وهو المال، وهم الذين استعبدوهم له، وما لهم بهذا المال في العالم المدني من النفوذ والصحف والقدرة على الدعاية التي تقلب الحقائق، وتلبس الحق بالباطل؟

English
translation

in any form, their only way to resist it would be to form armed bands of Bedouins and others to oppose this attack on their country by every means of resistance known among other peoples in Europe, with the encouragement and guidance of their great powers. I said it would be better for Jews, if they wanted to grow in number in Arab lands, including Palestine, and live there freely and securely with the same civil and personal rights as other inhabitants, to reach agreement with Arab leaders themselves on the means and aims. I believed that possible. When I explained this position, the representative liked it and conveyed it to his association. Its effect appeared at the Zionist congress in Basel, where some members spoke of the one danger facing them from the Bedouin Arab tribes.

I later discussed this matter with the prominent Zionist leader Dr. Weizmann, after the world war and the start of the Balfour pledge's implementation. This followed other discussions with men of the association in Egypt and Jerusalem, whose details he knew. He had wanted to come to Egypt before the war to discuss the matter with me. He told me, among other things, that my idea of an agreement between Arabs and their Hebrew cousins was possible, not fanciful, provided the independent Arab princes and rulers accepted it. The discussions then ceased because Zionists relied on English power to restore the kingdom of Israel to them, while each party plotted against the other.

Summary of the Jews' strength and weakness

In sum, the Jews are one of humanity's greatest peoples. They are distinguished in learning, work, economy, unity, mutual support, cooperation, firmness, resolve, and their particular system of charity and good works, as well as cunning, resourcefulness, patience, endurance, tolerance of hardship, and refusal to despair of their highest goal, which is sovereignty, however difficult its means and formidable its obstacles. If they did not despair in the ages when they were most humiliated and most violently scattered, how could they despair in this age? They are keepers of the temple of the greatest object of worship among peoples and great powers: money. They have enslaved those powers to it. With money they hold influence and newspapers across the civilized world and the power of propaganda that reverses facts and mixes truth with falsehood.

Analysis

Riḍā says he warned a Zionist representative that Arab leaders might form armed groups if the proposed purchase went ahead. He also says he discussed Arab and Jewish agreement with Weizmann after the war. This is direct evidence that Riḍā publicly described those conversations and an armed response; it is not independent proof of what the representatives said or what Arab leaders had decided. His closing summary combines praise for Jewish discipline with a collective charge that Jews use money and propaganda to control others. That summary continues on p. 393.

Eliezer Tauber's archival study confirms meetings in Cairo in March and April 1922 between Riḍā and other Arab activists and Zionist representatives David Eder, Asher Sapir, and Felix de Menasce. It also reports that Eder sent Weizmann the minutes, and that Weizmann approved continuing the contacts by telegram. This independently supports the negotiations and Weizmann's involvement, but the study does not report a direct Riḍā-Weizmann meeting or confirm the exact words Riḍā gives him here.