The Hikmat Sulayman‐Bakir Sidqi government in Iraq, 1936–37, and the Palestine question

Abstract

Preoccupation with the Palestine question began to penetrate the domestic and foreign policy of Iraq in the late 1920s, and principally in the early 1930s. The awareness of the Palestine question in Baghdad, both among politicians and as part of political public opinion, was related to the antiBritish feelings aroused by nationalist elements, as well as to the increased Iraqi activity in Syria initiated in the early 1930s by King Feisal I and the pan-Arabist politicians. Identification with the Arabs of Palestine, and the Palestine question in general, became the concrete expression of the pan-Arab facet of antiBritish nationalism in Iraq. The strike and the Arab revolt of 1936 in Palestine increased the awareness of the Palestine question, both among the efendya, in Baghdad, and among those politicians of the ruling elite who supported the pan-Arab ideology or used it to strengthen their political position by enlisting the support of the new middle class. Despite the fact that public identification with the Arabs of Palestine and their claims rapidly became a yardstick used by politicians and nationalist segments of the middle class to measure nationalism, awareness of and sympathy toward the Palestine question remained characteristic of a relatively limited stratum in Baghdad and the other large cities. Most of those who favored pan-Arabism and identified with the Arabs of Palestine were, in fact, members of the middle class, concentrated in Baghdad, and comprised but a small minority compared with the largely tribaVrural population of Iraq. At the same time, the pan-Arabists were noted for their political consciousness and involvement, and their place in Iraqi society and politics soon made them extremely influential, due to their role in education, administration, the military, and the press. The politicians of the ruling elite used pan-Arab, anti-British nationalist slogans in their efforts to enlist the support of the efendyas, in order both to strengthen their own position and to undermine that of their rivals, in the framework of the personal power struggles. This enlistment of support by means of pan-Arab slogans, in addition to the influence exerted by panArab activists on the education system and the press, made the Palestine question something of a fixture in Iraqi politics. The Arab strike and revolt in Palestine in 1936 marked a turning point in the nature of the JewishArab conflict in Palestine, and in the involvement of the Arab world in events taking place in that country. In 1936, the government was headed by Yasin al-Hashimi, considered a heroic leader in pan-Arab circles, and expected to become the Bismarck of the Arab world. In fact, however, al-Hashimi, despite his nationalist, anti-British image, did his best to stay on good terms with Britain and to