Protocol from the historic meeting initiated by Dr. De Haan between rabbis of the Eida Charedit led by Ga’avad Rabbi Yosef Haim Zonnenfeld and Hussein ibn Ali, the King of Hijaz and his sons—Faisal ibn Hussein of Iraq and Amir Abdallah of Transjordan.
“I, the king of Babylon, know more than anyone else how friendly the relations between the Arabs and the Jews were in the past.”
Background: The historical meeting in Amman between Rabbi Yosef Haim Zonnenfeld and other rabbis of the Eida and Hussein and his sons was the pinnacle of achievement for Dr. Jacob Israel de Haan, a meeting that infuriated the whole secular community of those days, who could not stand to see the ultra-orthodox community taking the initiative and presenting its own orderly change to the problem of the Land of Israel, the relations between Jews and Arabs, and the relations of the Jews among themselves. The meeting led to a wave of incitement which finally led to the murder of Dr. De Haan by the Haganah.
On the Jewish side, Rabbi Yosef Haim Zonnenfeld, Rabbi Baruch Shlomo Jungreis, Rabbi Avraham Haim Na’eh, Rabbi Moshe Leib Bernstein, and Dr. de Haan participated.
In this protocol – which was apparently written by Rabbi Haim Na’eh "Ba’al HaShiurim", who was one of the leaders of the delegation and in the position of Safra d’Dayana of the Court at the time – there appears a first-hand testimony apparently by one of the participants of the assembly and with spicy details from the words of King Faisal and the Emir Abdallah. "We in Babylon have no inclination against the Jews… and the Minister of Finance in my government is a Jew and his name is Sasson…” Later, Dr. De Haan had a long interview with Emir Abdallah, who said that all Arab countries are “completely open for the Jews on the condition that they do not demand exceptional political rights…"
Rare, unique historic item.
21.5x34cm.
Tears with missing parts of the margins of some leaves, tape marks, overall fair to good condition.
