Tensions in the Middle East, c.1914-1947

A. Pre-1920s
- The Jewish Diaspora: Jews demand a homeland in an area populated by Arabs
  - The most deep-seated cause of the insoluble problem faced by the British was that both Arabs and Jews had a strong historical claim to the lands of the Middle East...
    - Jews
      - were originally based in the Kingdom of Israel but were expelled by the Romans, since when they were treated as rootless refugees subject to frequent persecution by Christian communities across Europe. Many turned to banking, the only trade closed to Christians. This gave them a reputation as greedy moneylenders.
    - Arabs
      - who had occupied the Middle East since time immemorial, had also occupied the territories vacated by the Jews in the 2000 years since their expulsion from the Kingdom of Israel. Therefore, the historic claim of the Jews to Palestine was matched by similar claims from Arabs, which created a conundrum for the British which they could never solve.
- British: Diplomatic Chicanery during World War One
  - How they annoyed the Jews:
    - Hussein-McMahon Correspondence
      - Promised support for Arab independence movements after WW1
      - BUT no maps, so lots of room for debate about territories included
  - How they annoyed the Arabs:
    - Balfour Declaration
      - Promised to support a Jewish homeland after WW1
      - - BUT no promise to create an independent Jewish state
  - How they annoyed both sides:
    - Sykes-Picot Agreement
      - - Promised to carve up the Middle East between France / Britain after WW1
      - - BUT to be fair Palestine was to be an international zone
B. 1920s/1930s
- Jews : Immigration and Land Purchase
  - Jewish land purchase creates tensions
    - Histadrut (1920) = Annoys Arabs
      - Labour Federation for Jews
      - Employs only Jews, not Arabs – regarded as racist by Arabs
      - Aims “ to promote land settlement…and to build a Jewish workers' society”
      - By 1927 encompassed 75% of the entire Jewish Palestine labour force
    - Passfield White Paper (1930) = Annoys Jews
      - Blamed land purchase for 1929 Wailing Wall Riots
      - Based on report of Hope-Simpson Commission
      - Limits Jewish immigration / land purchase
  - Jewish immigration creates tensions
    - Palestine Zionist Executive (1920) = Annoys Arabs
      - Aims to facilitate immigration / land purchase in Palestine
      - Evolves into Jewish Agency (1929)
      - 1930-36 – Jewish community increases from 164,000 to 370,000
    - MacDonald White Paper (1939) = Annoys Jews
      - Reduced immigration to 15,000 p.a.
  - Rise of Hitler exacerbates both of these trends = More Jews flee to Palestine
    - Nuremberg Laws (1935): Remove citizenship rights from Jews in Germany
    - Kristallnacht (1938): Physical violence against Jews, vandalism of Jewish property
    - 1940 = 40,000 illegal Jewish immigrants into Palestine
- Arabs : Resort to Violence
  - The Arabs resorted to violence against Jewish settlements in the wake of tensions created by land purchase and immigration, creating further headaches for the British:
    - Wailing Wall Incident (1929)
      - Jews set up benches in front of Wailing Wall, which is also a holy site for Muslims;
      - Arab-Jewish riots lead to 250 deaths, destruction of Jewish community in Hebron.
    - Arab Revolt (1936-39)
      - Arabs form Arab Higher Committee 1936 (outlawed 1937)
      - British sentenced 120 Arabs to death and had about 40 hanged
      - 20,000 additional British troops were sent into Palestine to restore order - expensive
- British : Inconsistency
  - The British policy see-sawed between pro-Jewish and pro-Arab, frustrating both sides.
    - Pro-Jewish
      - Initial Immigration into Palestine was encouraged
      - By 1939 more than 300,000 immigrants arrived.
    - Pro-Arab
      - Churchill White Paper: Insists that a “national home” is not the same as an independent state
      - Passfield White Paper: Limits Jewish immigration / land purchase
    - Pro-Jewish
      - MacDonald Letter: Unofficially reassures Jews that Passfield Paper will not be strictly observed
      - Peel Commission partition plan: Arabs rejected it; Jews were undecided about it
    - Pro-Arab
      - MacDonald White Paper: Proposes a single state run by Arabs / Jews in proportion to their numbers
C. 1940s: World War Two and the Holocaust
- General Points
  - Jewish view = “The Holocaust proves the need for a Jewish state in Palestine"
    - Jewish Legion fights alongside the British
    - Biltmore Programme (1942) – wants ALL of Palestine to be a Jewish homeland.
  - Arab view = "Why should Arabs pay for Western guilt over the Holocaust?"
    - Hajj Amin made overtures to the Nazis;
    - Alexandria Protocol (1944) evolves into the Arab League (1946)
  - High-profile events kept the issue of the Holocaust in the public eye after the war ended:
    - Exodus Incident (1947): 4500 Jewish refugees refused entry into Palestine
- USA: The new Superpower places pressure on Britain
  - The USA had immense leverage over the UK after World War Two, and this reduced the British freedom of manouevre still further.
  - What they demanded:
    - Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry (1946) called for an end to limitations on Jewish immigration / land purchase
    - Truman (1946) pressed for immediate entrance of 100,000 Jews into Palestine, and called upon the British to come up with a partition plan.
    - Mayor of New York (1947) launched a Zionist drive to raise £2 million for “men [and] guns”. The British PM, Attlee, complained that “the guns … can only be required to shoot at British soldiers in Palestine”
  - Why they demanded it:
    - Sympathy for Holocaust survivors
    - Strong Jewish community - 4.5 million Jews in USA, 2 million in New York alone
    - After WW2 President had to appeal to the ethnic vote.
    - USA wanted to reduce immigration into its own territories.
- Jews : Resort to Violence
  - Zionist Conference (1945) asked Haganah (the official Jewish military organisation) to support the activities of Irgun and the Stern Gang - two terrorist organisations.
  - They committed atrocities which placed further pressures upon the British:
    - Lord Moyne assassinated (1944) - Stern
    - King David Hotel Explosion (1946) - Irgun
      - Housed British military HQ
      - Lorry drove up to kitchen entrance
      - Cargo of milk churns unloaded by members of Irgun disguised as Arabs
      - 12.37pm blew up, 88 killed including 15 Jews
    - Hangings of Martin and Paice (1947) - Irgun
      - Two sergeants lynched by Irgun
      - Photo of their hanging bodies made front pages in Britain.
- Britain : Political and Economic Exhaustion
  - After World War Two, Britain was politically and economically exhausted.
  - She no longer had the ability or the desire to maintain a presence in Palestine.
  - Political: Indian Independence
    - Tensions between Muslims and Hindus
    - Britain settles upon a partition plan but the details take forever to work out:
    - India = a Hindu nation (led by Nehru)
    - Pakistan = a Muslim nation (led by Jinha)
    - Britain then pulled out in 1947
    - A million lives were lost in civil war
    - Kashmir remains a disputed territory.
  - Economic: USA = Washington Loan 1945
    - USA promptly ended lend-lease after WW2
    - UK wanted an interest free, large loan
    - USA provided a small loan with an interest rate of 2% (paid off in 2006!)
    - USA insisted that UK allow foreign governments to convert sterling to dollars without penalties. This leads to a run on sterling as a billion dollars of currency is converted; the conversion is suspended after a few weeks and sterling is devalued.
  - Economic: UK = Austerity 1946 onwards
    - 55% of economy had been for war production; dislocated
    - Many markets had been lost during the war
    - 1946-47: Harsh winter, coal shortages

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