The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict #17: The Price of Victory: Control Over the Public, Not Just Territories

The Background for the Longest Soap Opera in History - Part 16

Previously on The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The end of World War I marked the last days of the Ottoman Empire, prompting the Jews and Arab communities in the Palestine region to contemplate how to claim their share of the land. At the same time, the British and the French sought control over certain parts of the region for economic and financial benefits. While Jewish communities developed multiple diplomatic strategies to convince the British Empire and the rest of the world of their right to a Jewish state, the Arab communities had differing opinions, leading to the formation of groups with distinct or opposing strategies.

From 1914 to 1918, the Palestine region faced a severe famine intensified by natural disasters like droughts and locust swarms, causing hundreds of deaths from starvation. Jerusalem's Jewish community lost 15,000 members due to hunger and epidemics. At the beginning of World War I in 1914, about 85,000 Jews lived in the Land of Israel. By the war's end, this number dropped significantly to an estimated 56,000 due to financial difficulties, famine, and the challenge of living in a war zone.

Moreover, it was worse than that. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the geography of the entire Palestine region was dominated by wetlands, covering a significant majority of the territory. The prevalence of wetlands posed challenges, making some areas unfit for living. Stagnant water in these regions became breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes, leading to a rise in illnesses like malaria among the local inhabitants, resulting in many deaths.

Someone Needs to Figure this Puzzle Out

The claim that the British government gave contradictory promises to the Arabs, the French, and the Jews was commonly held in the eyes of many. However, historians who studied the documents from the British official archives concluded that the Arabs were not right in their claims. The main bone of contention between the Arabs of the Land of Israel and the British government mainly revolved around Damascus.

The Arabs thought that no one would notice, and the British officials did not bother to check the archives, but the fact is that no demand was ever made by the Arabs regarding the areas in the Palestine region where Israel is located today. During the negotiations in 1915 with both al-Faruqi and Sharif Hussein, the Palestinian Arabs were interested in Lebanon, Syria, and Mesopotamia and not in the Land of Israel, which was intensively covered with wetlands.

Moreover, McMahon's letter of October 24, 1915, was not a legally binding document but rather a non-binding political document. The letter was part of a series of letters that did not reach any agreement. Unfortunate as it may be, it is a historical fact that, as far as international law is concerned, the correspondence between McMahon and Hussein is completely invalid.

Recommended reading: Follow the links in the text.

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