The Arabs never knew about Britain’s conspiracy with France or about the Balfour Declaration and remained loyal and committed to Britain during rhe whole of the war. At the same time, Schneer closely analyses the relationship between Britain and its wartime ally France, including the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement, which envisioned an international condominium administering Palestine and the carving up of the remainder of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire between France and Britain in classic imperialist style. On the other hand, Britain secretly hoped to exclude France from the Middle East altogether. After the Bolshevik revolution, Moscow pulled Russia out of the war and canceled all its wartime treaties and commitments. Britain secretly negotiated with Russia to keep it in the war by promising Moscow control of Istanbul and the Dardanelles. London failed to apprise Paris of this promise. The Zionist movement in Britain is covered in detail, and we learn that the great majority of British Jews were “assimilationist” and therefore anti-Zionist. Led by Lucien Wolf, who came to dominate the Conjoint Committee of the Anglo-Jewish Association and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Wolf and his colleagues (especially Claude Montefiore and Edwin Montagu) worked tirelessly to influence British policy against establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Their position denied the existence of Jewish nationality, and they sought assistance from Britain to ensure the rights of Jews in whatever country they lived. They also wanted Britain to pursue a separate peace with the Ottomans. Chaim Weizmann became Britain’s leading advocate of Zionism and played a crucial role in bringing about the Balfour Declaration. Together with Nahum Sokolow and Walter Rothschild, and to a lesser extent Harry Sacher, these few men managed to gain support of a slight majorty of British Jews as well as critical persons in the British government, for example, Herbert Samuel, Arthur Balfour and later Sir Mark Sykes. Samuel is an especially interesting character (among a plethora of fascinating men). A wealthy assimilated Jew (part of what Schneer defines as the “Cousinhood”), initially he had little interest in Zionism. After meeting Weitzmann, his interest grew, and he facilitated contact between Weitzmann and important British officials. He personally felt constrained from public advocacy; he was both a Jew and a member of the cabinet. After the war, he served for five years as Britian’s first High Commissioner in Palestine. mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/balfour-declaration
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 23:46:31 +0000
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