THE PALESTINIAN PROBLEM An Eternal Imbroglio?

1. THE PALESTINIAN PROBLEMAn Eternal Imbroglio? VS

2. THE PALESTINIAN PROBLEMAn Eternal Imbroglio?

3. The Nettlesome Issue of Palestine In his videotaped broadcast of Oct. 8th, 2001 Osama bin Laden warned, “As to America, I say to it and its people a few words: I swear to God that America will not live in peace before peace reigns in Palestine.”

4. The Middle East No Solution in Sight?

5. Defining the ProblemThe collision of two nationalisms Zionism —the need for an active pursuit of the establishment of a sovereign Israeli nation-state in the Middle East as a homeland for the Jews. It sprang from the writings of Jewish-Austrian journalist Theodor Herzl who began to articulate

6. Palestinian Nationalism In the 20th century, immigrant Jews displace the Palestinians. They are competing for the same land

7. Unfolding of Historical Events World War I (1914-1918) As a Starting Point Archduke Franz-Ferdinand & Sophie Arrest of Gavrilo Princip Austrian Heir Gavrilo Princip Archduke’s blood-stained jacket

8. The Dominoes Fall British Poster Encouraging Volunteers Schlieffen Plan Kaiser Wilhelm II Trench Warfare & Machine Guns

9. The BackgroundPan-Arabism • “Nationalism”—the belief/conviction that people of a common culture, ethnicity, religious and/or historical background have the right to nationhood • This was a powerful 19th century force The Arab-Islamic World Today

10. Pan-Arabism More a political movement than a religious one; desire was for political unity stretching from Egypt to Iraq (i.e., the “Fertile Crescent”—see right) in the form of a union of Arab states

11. Arab Divisions A major obstacle to Pan-Arab unity was a deep division that has marked Arab society from earliest times

12. Arabs under Ottoman Rule Turkish Sultan Osman I (1281-1326 C.E.) founded the Ottoman Empire in 1301 C. E. on the Anatolian Peninsula

13. Osman I Osman ruled until his death in 1326. The empire he established endured until 1918 and the end of World War I. Islamic domination of the region has endured for some 1,300 years

14. World War I as a Window of Opportunity to Achieve Arab Goals Pan-Arabists saw the war as a period of flux that might bring down the Ottoman Turks. It promised to open a door allowing the formation of an Arab political union Ottoman Empire at its Peak—by the late-19th century the empire was struggling, prompting Russian Tsar Nicholas I to place upon it the epithet, “Sick Man of Europe.” Britain, France, and Russia were particularly involved in Ottoman affairs.

15. Triple Entente vs. Central Powers The Triple Entente, shown as the darkly shaded areas to the left, began as an alliance of mutual defense contracted between England by in the 20th century and France in 1904 (the Entente Cordiale). Russia joined this alliance in 1907 creating the so-called Triple Entente. In September 1914 all three mutually agreed not to conclude a separate peace

16. A Nationalist Revolt The alliance structure demonstrates the political-nationalist (rather than religious) nature of the war—Islamic Arabs side with the Christian British, French, and Russians to fight against the Islamic Turks.

17. The “Revolt in the Desert” or the “Arab Awakening” Flag of the Arab Revolt The Arab revolt against the Turks began June 10, 1916, and centered in western Arabia

18. The Arab Revolt—the Leadership On June 10, 1916, Hussein ibn Ali (1852-1931), the Hashemite Sharif of Mecca1916-1924) and a lineal descendant of Mohammed the Prophet, proclaimed the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. He delegated much of the hands-on responsibility for military action against the Turks to his 3rd born son, Faisal. Sharif Hussein

19. British Involvement • Britain, Largely Inspired by Self-Interest, Backed the Arab Revolt Against the Turks • T. E. Lawrence, a.k.a., “Lawrence of Arabia” was the central architect of the union

20. T. E. Lawrence, the Man • Jesuit College Oxford scholar-archaeologist-linguist-soldier—a typical “imperial man” • Lawrence the author

21. After outbreak of war, the General Staff recruited • From Cairo, Lawrence went to the Hejaz (right) as a British officer on loan to Sharif Hussein. His job was to stiffen the Arab Revolt • The Hejaz (left)—a viceroyalty of western Saudi Arabia covering 150,000 square miles along the Red Sea

22. Field Marshal Edmund Allenby • Lawrence persuaded British field commander, Edmund Allenby of the potential importance of the Arab Revolt to the British war effort.

23. British Presence in the Middle East A Legacy of Mistrust

24. Levant Company began Operations in Syria in 1581 • During the 16th-19th centuries, British trade expanded from the Near East to India and China • The British began governing the strategic region of Aden in 1839. It is a “sea gate” controlling ingress and egress at the southern end of the Red Sea

25. England in Egypt • The construction of the Suez Canal (1869) and lavish government spending put the government of Egypt deeply into debt • From 1882, the British were de facto suzerains of the Persian Gulf • . In 1879, the Khedive defaulted on loan repayments. A joint Anglo-French Commission took control of Egyptian finances

26. Arab Nationalist Revolt of 1881 • AhmadArabi Pasha, leader of the nationalist Egyptian revolt of 1881

27. The Decisive Battle in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882

28. Direct British Control ofEgypt • Evelyn Baring (Lord Cromer) British Agent, 1883-1907 • When Arabi revolted against foreign presence in his homeland, the British responded unilaterally with military force to restore control • Cromer ran Egypt from 1883-1907

29. Britain’s Pro-Turkish Ottoman posture through 1913 British poet laureate of empire, Rudyard Kipling (below left), described the military and political competition between 19th century Russia and Britain in Central Asia as the “Great Game.”

30. It served Britishimperial interests to prop up the declining Ottoman government. Such a policy defended and secured the Empire’s most important overseas possession, India, the “crown jewel in the imperial diadem.”

31. The MacMahon-Hussein CorrespondenceJuly 14, 1915-March 30, 1916 Sir Henry MacMahon (left), British High Commissioner in Egypt Head of the Hashemite clan and a direct descendent of Mohammed the Prophet Grand Sharif Ali ibn Hussein of Mecca (1856-1931)

32. Nature of MacMahon’s “promises” • His commitments to the Arabs were deliberately vague and non-committal • His inferences were taken by the Arabs as an indication of British support for a united Arab state under Hashemite rule after World War I • He encouraged Hussein to rebel against the Turks

33. Authority of MacMahon’s letters They neither constituted a treaty nor had legal force—they left British options open

34. “Diplomatic Ambivalence” MacMahon’s letters have become synonymous diplomatic ambivalence; indeed, the British were simultaneously working on plans that contradicted the implications of MacMahon’s correspondence.

35. Arab participation in the Allied war effort Hashemite army under Emir Faisal (left), 3rd son of the Grand Sharif served as the right flank of Allenby’s army campaigning in Syria Allenby Lawrence (right) directed its movements

36. Surrender of Jerusalem— December 19, 1917 Allenby accepted surrender from the Arabs (right) rather than the Ottoman Turks who, by December 19th, had fled the city. The surrender came 2,520 years after the Jews had surrendered Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar’sBabylon

37. Allenby and his staff atop the Mount of Olives Allenby and his staff atop the Mount of Olives

38. Fall of Damascus—October 1918 Damascus was the headquarters of the Turkish-German forces. The fall of Damascus ended Ottoman rule over Arab lands.

39. The Secret Sykes-Picot Agreement, May 16, 1916—British duplicity Sir Mark Sykes—veteran of the Arab Bureau Charles François Georges-Picot— French diplomat who dealt with Sykes

40. The Diplomacy and Treaty • Details of the agreement formalized October 10-23, 1916 • This secret diplomacy disregarded Arab interests • Proposed splitting up the Middle East between British and French, dividing the “spoils of war” into imperial spheres of influence and exploitation

41. Boundaries of the proposed Sykes-Picot agreement • Britain to receive Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq • France to receive Lebanon & Syria • The only independent Arab province was Arabian peninsula The Agreement was supposed to be secret

42. Violation of Secrecy The Sykes-Picot agreement became public information after Tsarist Russia, that had agreed to its provisions, fell to the Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1917

43. The Balfour Declaration—November 2, 1917

44. Central Theme “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of other non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”

45. Long-Term Historical Background Palestine was the ancestral home of the Israelites—modern Jews had ties of both religion and sentiment to that specific area of the world.

46. Majority of the Kingdom of Judah deported in three waves (605-585 B.C.E.) by Nebuchadnezzar’sBabylonian Empire Babylonian armies take Jerusalem Deportation to Babylon Nebuchadnezzar’s Account of the Siege

47. Restoration of a Jewish population to Jerusalem Cyrus the Great, King of Persia (r. 559-529 B.C.E.) The Cyrus Cylinder (at lower right) offers archaeological documentation that Cyrus authorized, at government expense, the return of captive peoples to their native homelands. Some Jews, among many others, took advantage. The Cyrus Cylinder

48. Return of the Jews to Palestine Emperor Artaxerxes sent his Jewish cupbearer Nehemiah to Jerusalem to supervise a rebuilding program

49. Rebuilding of the Wall & Restoration of Religious Ritual Ezra the Scribe restored Temple service and traditional worship Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls

50. enter rome Roman General Pompey (left) conquered Palestine in 63 B. C. E., setting the stage for a protracted period of conflict between Jew and Roman. Judea became the most fractious and difficult province within the Empire.