The Women's Organizations' Petitions to the Emigrants' Convention on the Refugee Question

In our last special issue, Mr. Ahmad Samih al-Khalidi wrote an article in English in which he set forth his own view of the one and only solution to the refugee problem — in substance, that they must be returned to the Arab part of Palestine and to Transjordan. His article, and Mrs. Salma Sayegh's comment on it in her editorial, found an echo among a number of women's organizations in this country and elsewhere, as appears in the following petitions, which were submitted to the committee of the Emigrants' Convention.

From the President of the League of Lebanese Women to the President and Members of the American Syrian & Lebanese Emigrants Association.

I have deeply envied my colleague Mrs. Moumné, who during your farewell banquet at Bhamdoun relayed to you the collective feelings of thirty-four Associations affiliated to our League of Lebanese Women.

The following lines will fully support her words, and will bless you for having fulfilled the dream of a mother country, longing for her long lost children.

The small and wonderful land of your ancestors extends its heartiest thanks to those who bestowed their gifts on their native villages, and comforted the poor. For the sake of truth we cannot hide that the aching heart of Lebanon wishes only for two riches: Maintenance of the spiritual bonds which tie our American sons to us, ties such as those born from a past emblazoned with honor; and your fullest support of our requests in favor of our unhappy Palestinian brethren, torn from their homes while you were fighting for human liberty.

Ladies and Gentlemen: ancient history proves that the barbarian conquerors, leaving behind a trail of barren waste, were less cruel than the modern Huns.

The Jews have suffered greatly by the Hun's insanity, but shifting their burdens on other defenceless people, coldbloodedly, would be even worse.

Your eyes have seen the Palestinian refugees, thrown like cattle, in the Syrian and Lebanese fields. Money compensation is not an answer, for they have lost their homes.

Several nations might have thrown down their barriers, and welcomed the Jewish people into vast untenanted lands, but Palestine already had its own sons, to-day craving for their homes. To call for justice is a human duty, more compelling to you since the United States which has adopted you holds the balance of world power.

Ladies and Gentlemen; the mothers in our League of Women can only speak for humanity and peace, do not resent it if we address you as we would our own children. Remember also that unfortunate Palestine was once part of Syria and of Lebanon and that the rights of Palestinians to be reinstated in their homes are sacred.

Ladies and Gentlemen; believe us, give us your help and let the blessings of the Almighty fulfill the wishes sent to you by our Women's League through

your most sincerely,
Eveline Bustros.

To the honorable President and Members of the Emigrants' Convention:

In the name of the Iraqi Women's Union, which embraces all the women's associations at work in Iraq, I have the honor to present this letter of ours, expressing to you the deep impression your convention has left upon every individual of the Arab homelands. You have opened a new era for the world by your joint visit to the land of your fathers and forefathers. In this step is a singular gesture that will lead us to acquaintance, understanding, and cooperation in the cause of goodness, mercy, and peace in the world. You mentioned all these lofty purposes in the course of your noble speeches, and great was our appreciation of the generous feeling they contained and the sincere desire to serve the causes of the Arab homelands. We were particularly moved by that eloquent sentence in the speech of the President, Mr. Faris, at the opening ceremony, in which he declared the readiness of each one of you to be, in his own person, a living message for our country in the New World.

We have many problems whose solution we strive hard to achieve; but the tragedy, the greatest problem, which has overshadowed all other problems and which today shakes the peace and stability of our lands and our peoples, is without doubt "the refugee question." You have seen with your own eyes, in the encampments pitched in Lebanon, painful scenes that crush the heart. The cause of these people is a vital cause for all the Arab countries; the proof of it is that the most important resolution taken by the Arab League at its recent meetings in Alexandria was a unanimous decision unifying the action of the Arab states at the meeting of the United Nations organization at Lake Success, and an agreement to demand that the question of the return of the refugees to Palestine and the payment of the compensation due to them be placed on the agenda.

Nor shall we conceal from you that the program of action adopted by the General Arab Women's Union at the meeting of the delegates of the Arab countries at the end of July in Lebanon includes a resolution that effort must be continued to influence the men of power and standing in the matter of this cause.

Gentlemen:

Tell the New World, when you leave the original homeland and the heritage of the forefathers, that the blessed spot which was the cradle of prophecy and of the Message has become today a center of misery and homelessness and a wellspring of pains and sorrows. Acquaint your kin and your fellow citizens with the secrets of that tragedy, of which your countries know so little, and strive to form an organized publicity front whose voice will reach the government and all the influential bodies, speaking the principles of justice and mercy. In the name of humanity and honor I appeal to the dear members of the Emigrants' Convention to save our Palestinian brothers from the injustice of homelessness, the shame of beggary, the tyranny of want, the misery of sickness, and the pains of despair... This does not mean that we ask a gift — for all bounty perishes with time, and generosity alone will not end the problem. The United Nations organization will soon meet in your country, and the duty of honor and brotherhood requires you to stand by the delegates of the Arab countries in holding fast to the rights of these unfortunates. You have seen the tragedy with your own eyes, you have heard from us what suffices, and you have grasped that this cause must have a just and speedy solution... We shall leave to you the choice of the best ways of reaching this lofty end, but we hope that the methods of your publicity will embrace everything that will secure support for our point of view with government and people alike. You know best the mentality of your peoples, and know best the methods that will affect them continuously and fruitfully. And how good it would be if every one of your houses over there became a center raising the voice of right and spreading abroad the moaning of the refugees, to waken the conscience of humanity.

This, gentlemen, is our great message to the New World. If you can deliver it as we beg and hope, yours will be the pride of saving your stricken Arab brother and the honor of wiping away the stain of shame which the catastrophe of Palestine has stamped upon the brow of humanity.

May God fulfill our hopes in you.

President of the Iraqi Delegation
Ismat al-Abd

To the President and Members of the 1950 Overseas Convention Committee fothe Syrian and Lebanese American Federation of the Eastern States :

The Feminine Federation of Lebanon, which represents 51 women's Societies, is very anxious to bring to your attention the case of the Palestinian refugees; their situation is getting so acute, the world over must only be but compassionate.

Your Federation does not interfere in politics, but the Palestinian case is much more a humanitarian question than anything else. We have in Lebanon, your forefathers' homeland, over one-hundred and forty thousand of human beings that have been thrown out of their country and are now homeless and penniless.

The «Feminine Federation of Lebanon» most urgently begs your Committee: to expose to the United States Government the pitiful situation of our unhappy brethren who only ask to return to their homeland, at least to that part of Palestine which is still under Arab rule.

We firmly hope that your intervention and success will be the prime realization of your congress, which is the first of its kind.

The whole of Lebanon has approved, most warmly, your resolutions and ideals, you sons and heirs of our dear old land.

Laure G. Tabet
President of the « Federation Feminine du Liban »