The date was 25th April 1920, which was perhaps
one that should “live in infamy” every bit as much as that on which Pearl
Harbor was attacked or the Twin Towers felled.
This was when the League of Nations granted Britain and
France the right to govern the territories of the former Ottoman Empire and
split them up as they saw fit. What followed has led to problems ever since.
Part of the deal saw Britain gaining mandates over Palestine
and Mesopotamia. For the latter, which became the modern state of Iraq, Britain
installed Faisal Hussein as king in recognition of his father’s support for
Britain during World War One.
As for Palestine, Britain divided the territory between the
Emirate of Transjordan, to the east of the River Jordan, and the Palestine
Mandate to the West. Faisal Hussein’s brother Abdullah became the ruler of
Transjordan.
An added complication was the fact that Britain had already,
through the Balfour Declaration of 1917, declared its support for a Jewish “national
home” “in Palestine”, both of which terms were intentionally vague.
The 1920 decision therefore pleased nobody, given that the
British had also proposed that Palestine should be governed by an international
body and that the Arabs should have their own independent state.
The assumption that 85,000 Jews and 600,000 Arab Palestinians
could co-exist peacefully turned out to be a false one. The consequences of
that mistake have haunted the world ever since.
© John Welford
