Arabs in Conference
The Arab League has ended its seven-days sittings at Alexandria without the split that would undoubtedly have resulted if the motion for the expulsion of Jordan from the League consequent on her annexation of Arabian Palestine had been pressed. It was not pressed, and exactly what happened to the motion has not been disclosed. Its presence on the agenda kept Jordan away from the conference altogether, and that State consequently did not sign the new collective security pact which must be regarded as the principal outcome of the week's discussions. It follows the customary lines, but includes only five of the seven members of the League, Iraq preferring to wait and see what view the absent Jordan takes of the agreement, which is not confined to the military sphere, but provides for economic co-operation and the establishment of a Central Arab Bank ; along these lines useful progress might be achieved. Much less must be said of the rather querulous discus- sion about the recent decision of the British, American and French Governments regarding the supply of arms to the Arab States and to Israel. The assumption that the decision implies neither inter- ference with the internal affairs of the Arab States, nor the stereotyping of the present frontiers of Israel, is sag, but clearly the Arab States are perfectly free to decline the proffered arms if they choose. Altogether the conference can hardly, in the absence of Jordan, which is resolutely going its independent way, be held to have confirmed the predominance of Egypt. But differences have been papered over, there has been a certain amount of face-saving, and by the time the League holds its next conference in October, various problems, notably the Jordan- Palestine problem, may have solved themselves.
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