Contradictory Promises

See also Contradictory Promises by Dr Peter Shambrook where these promises are explored in more detail.

1915  The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence,

• In 1915 Britain promised the Arabs that after the war they would be granted independence in their lands, in exchange for joining a wartime alliance against the Turks.

1917 The Balfour Declaration,

• This promised British backing for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, whilst also undertaking to safeguard the rights of the Arab population.

• Britain followed through on the first undertaking, (to the Jews) but intentionally reneged on the second, (to the Arabs).

1918 Anglo-French declaration on self-determination,

• At the end of the First World War, Britain and France assured the former subjects of the Ottoman Turks that they would now be free to determine their own futures.

• In fact, in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement, Britain and France had been planning how they would divide the Middle Eastern region between the western powers.

The British Mandate for Palestine, 1922

• The Mandate included the requirement that the Balfour Declaration should be implemented as well as the ‘Sacred Trust’ of the League of Nations to prepare  it for independence.

• In Arab eyes, Britain failed to fulfill the undertaking which the Declaration and Mandate made to protect them.

• In Jewish eyes, Britain later weakened in her commitment to a homeland for them.

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