Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-01

counselor to King Saud Of
Saudi Arabia, who for some
months has been living in
New York, was commenting
privately to me on Egyptian
Syrian developments.
Abdul Rahman Azzam is a
sort Of "gray eminence" Of
Arab politics. Now IS years
old, he was born in CHA, in
the shadow of the Egyptian
pyramids. and was educated
in the University of Cairo and
London University. He was
the "Pasha" who first adj
vised the revolutionary
Egyptian government to abol-
ish titles. including, of course,
his own.
He has been politically &C
tive for over 80 years. He was
a deputy in Parliament of
the then powerful WAFD
Party, was Minister of Social
Affairs, and of the depart
ment dealing with admin
istration of religious prop
critics, and later as a diplo-
mat was Minister to Irau,
Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi
Arabia.
The Arab League was Or
ganized in 1945 to promote
all-Arab interests, and DR..
Azzam became its first sec
rotary general. In one sense
it was remarkable that an
Egyptian should be chosen.
For although DR.. Azzam.
since his youth, has been a
pan-Arabist, envisioning and
working for an Arab Com
monwealth from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Turkish from
tier, the least pan-Arabic of
the Arab peoples has been,
he recalls. Egypt.
I'm 1891" he recalls.
there was a MoSlem con-
ference in Jerusalem to which
I went as a representative of
Egypt. 1t met to oppose any
further encroachment into
the Middle East by Jewish
colonization of Palestine. But
behind the scenes there was
a secret meeting of delegates
from the Arab countries to
discuss plans for achieving
unity and to draw up and
sign a pact pledging Coop
Grafton to that end.
THE delegates from the
otiler Arab states shut me out
on The ground that Egypt was
not an integral part of the
Arab w2S.d.
Finally, but only in defer
ence to the known fact that
I had worked as hard as or
harder than anyone for the
aims of the pact, they per-
mltted me to sign-for my
self only. In fact 1 could
not sign for Egypt. / was the
only deputy in my party who
was committed to Arab uni
flcation.
The Egyptian people," he
continued. have always in
the past been isolationist.
They are conscious of a thou
sands of years old culture
dating long before they were
Arahized. They tend to look
down, however kindly, upon
non-Egyptian Arabs. I have
known poor, indebted peas
ants who would not allow
their daughters to marry
rich Syrians."
I interrupted to comment
that, a year ago, President
Nasser had confirmed this.
The hardest paragraph in
our new constitution to get
accepted" he had said, was
the first one stating that
Egypt is an integral part of
the Arab world. The Egyptian
people have always been iso-
lationist."
But you see," said DR..
Azzam, history often con-
POUNDS our anticipations. II
no too-impulsive and ILL
considered moves are made: if
there is no attempt of one
Arab state or its leader to
dictate to the others, an in
tegrated Arab community will
emerge within the next IL
years. Nothing can stop it
except internal errors. The
Arab people will never, for
instance. accept an Arab
Napoleon. But even mistakes
will not stop the movement
toward unity. They will only
trouble and postpone its
realization"
ApropoS mistakes in the
mast mr. A1vot,a raa0tloI -