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עמוד:73
4 . General Beynet to General de Gaulle on collaboration with the Zionist movement , end of June , 1945 General Delegation in the Levant Beirut , end of June , 1945 Mon G é n é ral , In the recent crisis , public opinion in the Middle East has been against us . Only the Jews of Palestine are an exception . Their concern in seeing the danger France faces in the Levant has created a consensus among them that even they themselves consider exceptional . The parallelism between a Jewish homeland in Palestine and a Christian homeland in Lebanon , which has always been advocated by the Jewish Agency , has now become everyone ' s leitmotif . My collaborators have been approached by the various sides , who offer their services . I have given orders for contacts to be maintained and that we consider collaborating with the Jewish Agency on a propaganda campaign , which it desires . It appears that , at least initially , working together can only be to our benefit . It will be enough if we give a verbal reassurance , not necessarily to support the Zionist movement and its demands , but to refrain from adopting a hostile attitude , especially when it comes to the question of immigration to Palestine . The injustices and suffering of the French Jews under German occupation makes it difficult for us to take any other stand . Moreover , we could benefit on the global scale from the excellent network of information , propaganda and even political activities that the Jewish Agencies , Jewish press groups and pro - Zionist parliamentary groups are involved in . This propaganda wouldn ' t , at the moment , appear to be in France ' s interests , but in the interests of the Christians of the East . It wouldn ' t seek to maintain the balance of the Powers , but the rights of the minorities . We will benefit from it no less . 'France s actions , interests and goals will be less obvious . In these conditions , I do not consider the contradiction , which I don ' t underestimate , between a Christian policy in the Middle East and an Islamic policy in North Africa , to be an obstacle . Representatives of the Jewish Agency who are here now confirm that in the United States , Dorothy Thompson , Freda Kirchwey , Albert Einstein and Frantz Werfel will agree to plead the cause of the Christian minorities in the Middle East , and that Mr . Spellman , Mr . Laguardia , Mr . Lehmann and Mr . Myron Taylor will support them . In Great Britain , the support of Lord Strabolgi , Miss Dugdale , Miss Rathbone , M . P . and Sir Wyndham Deedes will be obtained . We can no doubt verify this through our embassies in London and Washington . In any case , I don ' t think it would be a bad idea for very close contacts to be maintained between our representatives and the Jewish Agency representatives in these two capitals : Mr . Zaslani and Mr . Linton , Dr . Weizmann ' s secretary , in Great Britain , and Mr . Nahum Goldman and Mr . Eliyahu Epstein in the United States . Furthermore , M . Shertok , who is in charge of the Jewish Agency ' s external affairs , will shortly be going to London . I know that he would very much like to be invited to Paris . This would be an opportunity for the French government to go into more detail regarding the various points raised in this letter . I didn ' t want to commit myself to collaborating even in a propaganda campaign with the Zionist movement before consulting with the Prime Minister . It is , in fact , a matter of general policy , on which I can only give my opinion as France ' s representative in the Levant : I am in favor , but I lack the necessary details in order to determine whether the disadvantages might outweigh the advantages that I outlined above . Signed : Beynet 'Author s note : The letter was read by de Gaulle 5 . King Ibn Sa ' ud to President Quwatli , September 15 , 1945 Secret From King Ibn Sa ' ud Correspondence in code sent through the intermediary of the Saudi Legation in Damascus to H . E . the President of the Syrian Republic Nuri al - Sa ' id ' s activities are beginning to take a serious turn . We are unable to allow Abdullah ' s plots . By God , your attitude is strange . People are working for your death and you do not move . I learnt that in Damascus Abdullah ' s propagandists are exerting themselves as much as possible . What are you waiting for ? We know , as you do , who supports and controls them . Why don ' t you speak ? God has ordered us not to be quiet when it is a matter of right , and has called someone who does not speak out a demon .
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