29 September 1923: Britain assumes its mandate of Palestine
On this day in 1923, the British mandate in Palestine came into effect, having been passed by the League of Nations the year before.
Even while the First World War was raging, Britain and France discussed among themselves how they would carve up the Ottoman Empire once the war was won. The resulting Sykes-Picot Agreement was never put into effect, but it did provide a blueprint for future agreements in the Middle East.
It also provided false British promises of independence made to the Arab people, should they rise up and help the British drive out the Ottomans from Palestine, an area that comprised modern Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza strip and Jordan.
To further muddy the waters, not long afterwards, the foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, issued his famous declaration. In it, he promised "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", but crucially, without prejudice to "the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
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In other words, it was a fudge to please everybody, but one that would ultimately please nobody. But it was made with the intent of securing Britain's economic interests in the area, namely oil and the Suez Canal, a vital conduit to India as well as of coaxing the United States into entering the war.
When the war ended in 1918, Britain was already in possession of Jerusalem. The British Army had entered the city the previous December, making good Sir Edmund Allenby's promise to Prime Minister Lloyd George to deliver Jerusalem to the British people "as a Christmas present".
The Balfour Declaration, with all its faults, was added to the British mandate to govern Palestine, receiving the nod from the League of Nations in 1922. On 29 September the following year, the mandate came into effect.
The British mandate lasted for over 30 years until the creation of Israel in 1948. During that time, tensions between the Jewish and Arab populations simmered away, with the violence continuing into the Israeli era and up to the present day.
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Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.
Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.
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