Britain refused Wafd nationalists travel to Paris, then arrested and deported them to Malta

Evidence

Sa`d Zaghlül, an accomplished lawyer in Cairo, seized on this statement of Wilson’s. It had seemed to many nationalists that the British government’s declaration of the protectorate over Egypt had been a wartime necessity, but once the war ended and there was no indication given of lifting the protectorate. Zaghlül and his associates hoped that, as representatives of Egypt, they could travel to Paris for the postwar peace conference to present their country’s case for independence from the British empire. Zaghlül and the other members of the delegation, or Wafd as their party came to be known, asked in late 1918 for permission from the British Resident, Sir Reginald Wingate, to leave for Europe for the conference. Wingate refused to allow them even passports. Zaghlül continued to insist on his suitability as a political representative of Egypt’s interests and met frequently and publicly with prominent politicians and nationalists. Members of the Wafd published thousands of copies of a pamphlet stating its purpose and distributed these throughout the country. On 8 March 1919, Zaghlül and three other members of the Wafd were arrested and deported to Malta. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 819

Categorization

• DEFINE: “Wafd” is introduced here as the name of the Egyptian delegation-turned-party — helpful for tracking the terminology.