Syrian–Palestinian Congress

The Syrian–Palestinian Congress, also known as the Syria-Palestine Congress or the Syro-Palestinian Congress was an organisation founded on 25 August 1921 in Geneva by a group of Syrian and Palestinian exiles under the auspices of the Syrian Unity Party. The main aim of the congress was to try to influence the terms of the proposed League of Nations mandate over the region. It was one of a number of congresses held by Arab nationists following the Arab Congress of 1913.

Syro-Palestinian Interim Conference in Geneva, 1921

31 August 1921 New York Times article describing the work of the "deputation of Syrian and Palestinian notables"

The formation of the congress followed the July 1919 "Pan-Syrian" Syrian National Congress. The addition of Palestine to the name followed the Franco-British boundary agreement of December 1920 which formally defined the territory of Palestine out of the region viewed by the Pan-Syrian nationalists as Greater Syria.

On 21 September, after twenty-six days of discussion, the joint congress issued a public statement to the League of Nations demanding:

1) Recognition of the independence and national rule (al-Sultan al-Qawmi) of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine

2) Recognition of the right of these countries to unite in the framework of a civilian government, responsible to a parliament elected by the people, and in association with the other Arab lands;

3) Immediate annulment of the Mandate;

4) The departure of the French and British forces from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine;

5) The annulment of the Balfour Declaration.[1]