Perfidious Albion
An interesting article has been published in Ha'aretz in English by Prof. Meir Zamir of the Middle Eastern Studies Dept. at Ben Gurion University based on secret papers from the 1940s recently declassified by the French Govt. What these papers show may change our view of the history of the 1940's in the Middle East and of the emergence of the State of Israel.
Until now the accepted interpretation of the opposition of the British Government to the emergence of a Jewish State was based on British imperial designs in relation to the Suez Canal as a vital life-line to India and its other Asian colonies. But, actually that seems not to have been the case.
Apparently there was a secret agreement between the British Govt. and the nascent Syrian Govt. under Pres. Shukri al-Qawatli to foster a Greater Syria to include Palestine, Transjordan (now Jordan) and Lebanon. Eventually this would combine with Iraq, then controlled by the British under a similar mandate as with Palestine, so that there would be an Arab crescent State running from Palestine to the Gulf in which the British would have primary influence. What was Britain's chief motivation in this scheme? Mainly to supplant the French after WWII in Syria and Lebanon and to control all oil and other supplies in this region except for Saudi Arabia, that had fallen under American influence.
This scheme had to be conducted surreptitiously since Britain had already committed itself to share the region with the French and had also made commitments to the Jewish/Zionist agencies to establish a Jewish State in Palestine. In other words, while publicly still continuing its prior policies, Britain was in the process of double-crossing the French and the Jews in order to expand its power and influence in Syria and the Middle East.
The reason Britain chose Syria was not hard to find. Although Lebanon was clearly under French cultural and political influence, Syria was undergoing nationalist revolutionary changes, and there were severe anti-French demonstrations. When the French Army violently put down these public demonstrations, the British Commander in Cheif in the region, with far larger forces than the French, issued an ultimatum and the French were forced to withdraw. This is regarded to this day as the beginning of Syrian independence, but resulted from the secret agreement that Britain had made with the Syrian Govt.
In exchange, Syria agreed to replace the hated French by the British, and this was to be followed by Syrian/British operations to undermine the French in Lebanon. Finally as the Syrian-British alliance became stronger, Britain would turn over the Palestine Mandate to the Syrians, thus preventing the establishment of a Jewish State, and would also allow the Syrians to take over Jordan, where the British controlled the Arab Legion (with British Officers). Meanwhile they were preparing the Iraqi Government and the Gulf States, all of which Britain controlled, for a super Arab State combining Greater Syria with Greater Iraq, all under British influence. Note that the Churchill Conservative Govt. that ended in 1945 and the following Attlee Labor Government both adopted this policy.
However, there were of course counter-reactions to these secret British machinations. There was of course the French themselves, who having discovered the secret British plans trhu an informer, cemented their influence in Lebanon, and prevented a Syrian takeover, a process that is continuing to this day. Also, the French informed the Jews about the double-cross, and David Ben Gurion spent many months in Paris and then took action, not recommended by many of his advisors who knew nothing of this situation, both to open military operations against the British and to declare the State of Israel, since he knew then that Britain was doing all it could to prevent this.
The French also informed the Palestinians, and they stopped all collaboration with the Syrians at the time, although later the rejectionist front found its place in Damascus, where Syria continues to try to control the Palestinian movement. The Saudis were also against this British scheme, since it feared such a powerful Arab neighbor to the north. And finally the French informed the Americans and the Soviets.
The Americans had made it clear to the British before the end of WWII that they would not help to expand or support British control over other colonies/peoples after the War. Both the Americans and the Soviets opposed this British plan to "take over" Arab countries, and the US had a second reason because they did not want the British being as influential in the oil area in other parts of the Arab world as they were becoming in Saudi Arabia. This British scheme is one reason why the US and the USSR both supported the emergence of Israel.
In the end, with such powerful enemies, the British scheme to "take over" the Middle East failed. The Zionists were successful against British forces in establishing Israel, the French managed to stay in Lebanon for a while longer. The Syrian Government that had made the deal with Britain was overthrown by a coup, and the British themselves were too weak to continue to expand their imperial designs. So the Middle East was left to the Americans and the Soviets to make their schemes and alliances.
See the original article at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950373.html
Until now the accepted interpretation of the opposition of the British Government to the emergence of a Jewish State was based on British imperial designs in relation to the Suez Canal as a vital life-line to India and its other Asian colonies. But, actually that seems not to have been the case.
Apparently there was a secret agreement between the British Govt. and the nascent Syrian Govt. under Pres. Shukri al-Qawatli to foster a Greater Syria to include Palestine, Transjordan (now Jordan) and Lebanon. Eventually this would combine with Iraq, then controlled by the British under a similar mandate as with Palestine, so that there would be an Arab crescent State running from Palestine to the Gulf in which the British would have primary influence. What was Britain's chief motivation in this scheme? Mainly to supplant the French after WWII in Syria and Lebanon and to control all oil and other supplies in this region except for Saudi Arabia, that had fallen under American influence.
This scheme had to be conducted surreptitiously since Britain had already committed itself to share the region with the French and had also made commitments to the Jewish/Zionist agencies to establish a Jewish State in Palestine. In other words, while publicly still continuing its prior policies, Britain was in the process of double-crossing the French and the Jews in order to expand its power and influence in Syria and the Middle East.
The reason Britain chose Syria was not hard to find. Although Lebanon was clearly under French cultural and political influence, Syria was undergoing nationalist revolutionary changes, and there were severe anti-French demonstrations. When the French Army violently put down these public demonstrations, the British Commander in Cheif in the region, with far larger forces than the French, issued an ultimatum and the French were forced to withdraw. This is regarded to this day as the beginning of Syrian independence, but resulted from the secret agreement that Britain had made with the Syrian Govt.
In exchange, Syria agreed to replace the hated French by the British, and this was to be followed by Syrian/British operations to undermine the French in Lebanon. Finally as the Syrian-British alliance became stronger, Britain would turn over the Palestine Mandate to the Syrians, thus preventing the establishment of a Jewish State, and would also allow the Syrians to take over Jordan, where the British controlled the Arab Legion (with British Officers). Meanwhile they were preparing the Iraqi Government and the Gulf States, all of which Britain controlled, for a super Arab State combining Greater Syria with Greater Iraq, all under British influence. Note that the Churchill Conservative Govt. that ended in 1945 and the following Attlee Labor Government both adopted this policy.
However, there were of course counter-reactions to these secret British machinations. There was of course the French themselves, who having discovered the secret British plans trhu an informer, cemented their influence in Lebanon, and prevented a Syrian takeover, a process that is continuing to this day. Also, the French informed the Jews about the double-cross, and David Ben Gurion spent many months in Paris and then took action, not recommended by many of his advisors who knew nothing of this situation, both to open military operations against the British and to declare the State of Israel, since he knew then that Britain was doing all it could to prevent this.
The French also informed the Palestinians, and they stopped all collaboration with the Syrians at the time, although later the rejectionist front found its place in Damascus, where Syria continues to try to control the Palestinian movement. The Saudis were also against this British scheme, since it feared such a powerful Arab neighbor to the north. And finally the French informed the Americans and the Soviets.
The Americans had made it clear to the British before the end of WWII that they would not help to expand or support British control over other colonies/peoples after the War. Both the Americans and the Soviets opposed this British plan to "take over" Arab countries, and the US had a second reason because they did not want the British being as influential in the oil area in other parts of the Arab world as they were becoming in Saudi Arabia. This British scheme is one reason why the US and the USSR both supported the emergence of Israel.
In the end, with such powerful enemies, the British scheme to "take over" the Middle East failed. The Zionists were successful against British forces in establishing Israel, the French managed to stay in Lebanon for a while longer. The Syrian Government that had made the deal with Britain was overthrown by a coup, and the British themselves were too weak to continue to expand their imperial designs. So the Middle East was left to the Americans and the Soviets to make their schemes and alliances.
See the original article at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950373.html
posted by Jack Cohen at 3:00 PM
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