Why did Britain promise Palestine to Arabs and Jews? (1917)

Imperial War Museum ^

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The Balfour Declaration was signed in 1917. It set out British support for the creation of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.

But when the Balfour Declaration was signed, the British had already promised Palestine to Arabs as an independent state and promised the French government that it would be an internationally administered zone.

Even then, most of the land was still under Ottoman control. So why did Britain make these three conflicting promises? How did it try to resolve them? And how did Britain’s strategy in the Middle East help to cause a century of conflict?

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TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: balfour; israel; palestine; uk; zionism

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Worth a study given Prime Minister Starmer’s plans to announce acknowledgment of Palestinian statehood tomorrow.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

“The Balfour Declaration, issued on November 2, 1917, was a pivotal statement by the British government expressing support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.”

“The declaration symbolized a turning point for the Zionist movement, as it provided official recognition from a major world power, bolstering the legitimacy of Jewish claims to the land.”

“While the Balfour Declaration did not explicitly promise an independent Jewish state, it significantly influenced the trajectory of Zionism and contributed to the eventual establishment of Israel in 1948. The legacy of the declaration continues to be felt…”

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/balfour-declaration-supports-jewish-homeland-palestine

[DIRTYSECRET]

Britain invented racism.

-Andrew Young.

[meyer]

Ummm, there never was a country named Palestine.

[mass55th]

Why did Britain give Hong Kong to communist China, when they knew full well in 1984, that communist China would breach the Sino-British Joint Declaration?

[AlaskaErik]

Why did Britain give Hong Kong to communist China, when they knew full well in 1984, that communist China would breach the Sino-British Joint Declaration?

Because they only had a 99 year lease. Unlike the US, which signed a perpetual lease with Cuba for Gitmo.

[mass55th]

"Because they only had a 99 year lease."

Lease or not, China violated the agreement.

[tumblindice]

The Palestine pound or Palestine lira, was the currency of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1 November 1927 to 14 May 1948, and of the State of Israel between 15 May 1948 and 23 June 1952, until it was replaced with the Israeli pound. The Palestine pound was also the currency of Transjordan until 1949 when it was replaced by the Jordanian dinar, and remained in usage in the West Bank of Jordan until 1950.
They had a currency.

[blackdog]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration

[Retain Mike]

The main guns on British warships used cordite for propellant. A key ingredient in producing it was acetone and for some reason Grear Britian lost access to it in quantities needed at the start of WW I. As a biochemist, Claim Weizmann was able to develop a way to produce the chemical from chestnuts. Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty and wanted to reward him. Weizmann said he wanted nothing but wanted a homeland for his people in Palestine.

[Milagros]

Because they had some morals then

[UnwashedPeasant]

QUESTION TO CHATGPT: Did the British promise to give the British Mandatory Palestine to Arabs before the Balfour Declarations? I want the real history, not the fake, politically inspired history from places like Wikipoedia.

CHATGPT RESPONSE:

Great question — and you’re right that the history here often gets told selectively. Let’s walk through what actually happened, based on the main wartime commitments Britain made before and around the Balfour Declaration (1917).

1. The Hussein–McMahon Correspondence (1915–1916)

• This was an exchange of letters between Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, and Sharif Hussein of Mecca (leader of the Arab revolt).
• Britain promised to recognize and support Arab independence in return for an Arab uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
• The territorial scope was vague and disputed.
  • Britain excluded “portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo.” [NOTE: All of Modern Israel, including the "West Bank," and much of modern Jordan are "west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo."]
  • Arabs argued Palestine was not covered by this exclusion.
  • Britain later claimed Palestine was excluded — so they didn’t promise it.
• In short: Britain promised independence to Arabs but left the map fuzzy, creating room for later denial.

2. The Sykes–Picot Agreement (1916)

• At the same time, Britain secretly negotiated with France (and with assent from Russia).
• This divided the Ottoman lands into zones of control and influence.
  • France: coastal Syria and Lebanon.
  • Britain: Mesopotamia (Iraq) and southern Palestine.
  • Palestine itself: placed under “international administration” (not Arab control).
• This directly contradicted the impression Sharif Hussein had from McMahon.

3. The Balfour Declaration (1917)

• A public statement by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour supporting a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
• It added a caveat that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”
• By this point, Britain had already promised different things to Arabs, to France, and now to Jews.

4. Key Takeaways

• Yes, Britain did promise Arabs independence (including, in Arab [mis]understanding, Palestine) before the Balfour Declaration.
• But the British later insisted that Palestine had been excluded from those promises.
• At the same time, Britain was making contradictory deals (Sykes–Picot with France, and then Balfour to Zionists).
• This deliberate ambiguity and double-dealing is the root of later disputes. Arabs saw betrayal; Britain claimed technicalities.

[chud]

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[Captainpaintball]

The Rothschilds