Iraq's Minister Weighs a Public Protest over Palestine Resolutions

Calls to admit Jewish refugees to Palestine came amid the Nazi destruction of European Jewry. In December 1942 the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and other Allies had publicly condemned the systematic extermination. Palestine remained under British administration, and Britain's 1939 policy restricted Jewish immigration. Proposals for unrestricted admission thus joined an urgent need for refuge to the unresolved struggle over the territory's political future. [2] [3]

Eight American state legislatures had adopted resolutions favoring unrestricted immigration of Jewish refugees into Palestine when Iraqi minister Ali Jawdat brought a proposed reply to the State Department on 25 August 1943. His draft sharply criticized the resolutions. Before releasing it to the press, he asked American officials for advice. [1]

Wallace Murray answered informally that a public exchange could become acrimonious. State legislatures had no authority to determine American foreign policy, he said, and their resolutions did not establish the federal government's position. [1]

Murray suggested that Iraq could instead address the secretary of state and ask him to convey its views to the governors concerned. He also warned that even this approach might attract accusations of foreign interference. [1]

Related Diplomats

1. Ali Jawdat al-Ayyubi [1]

Related Reading

• Iraq and the United States
• Republic of Iraq