784.02/4–2450
The Consul General at Jerusalem (Gibson) to the Department of State 1
Subject: Remarks Made by King Abdullah on April 19, 1950 Regarding the Future Status of Jerusalem
The April 21, 1950 issue of the Arab Jerusalem paper, Falastin, carried the following statement reported to have been said by King Abdullah on April 19 regarding the future status of Arab-held Jerusalem:
“Pointing across the window overlooking the mosque area H.M. said: this is El Aqsa mosque which God has blessed. The mosque is an Islamic legacy embodying the holiness and grandeur of Islam. Am I to surrender it, whilst it is a pledge binding my neck and a point I defended with the blood of my soldiers, to a foreign administration called internationalization? No—No—I shall not do so and if I did I should not be Abdullah ibn Hussein. Should I surrender it so that the remaining part of Palestine will be lost? No, emphatically, no. But why do certain Arab parties and presses ignore these facts or attempt Precognition by taking a negative course in this case.”
- This despatch was repeated to Amman and Tel Aviv.↩