Sasson to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on his conversation with Kamil Riyad

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Sasson to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on his conversation with Kamil Riyad, Farouk's special envoy in Paris, September 23, 1948 At this point of the conversation, he went into detail on the "nasty deeds" of the British. If it wasn't for their misleading information, if it wasn't for their encouragement and promises - he said - the Arab states wouldn't have gone to war against Israel. The British had purchased, he said, most of the press in Egypt, Iraq and Syria, etc., and influenced public opinion in the direction they wanted. In many instances, they had put in the mouths of the leaders things that they hadn't said, or declarations they hadn't made, and prevented them from correcting them or denying them. They also conveyed information on Jewish "plots" which later proved to be baseless. In addition, the British planted the seeds of ambition in the hearts of the Arab kings and leaders. They explained to Shukri al-Quwatly in Damascus that the war against the Zionists would not only put an end to the plan for a Greater Syria, but it would also lead to the extension of Syria's borders to include Israel's Galilee region. They told Farouk that that he could become an Arab emperor, etc., and told Abdullah that he would probably succeed in adding all of Israel to his country, not just the Arab part. They opened the British coffers to the secretary of the Arab League Azzam Pasha and other influential Arab leaders.