Policies of the Mandatory Authorities and Arab-Israeli Conflict - Essay Example

When the British wanted to have control over Palestine, they were made to make some concessions with the local rulers that were part of the Ottoman Empire. For instance, the then the British high commissioner Sir Henry McMahon made surreptitious visits to Husayn ibn ‘Ali who was the patriarch of the Hashemite family who also doubled up as the governor of Mecca and Madina (Mini 103). The British used Husayn in this case to pursue a revolt against Germany who was opposing the British and the French in the area. He was promised that with his support to overthrow the Ottoman Empire in the area, he would be supported in the establishment of an independent Arab country in Palestine.
In this regard, an Arab revolt was organized in the area under the leadership of Lawrence of Arabia and one of Husayn's sons, Fayal.

The two succeeded in defeating the Ottoman Empire and the British then took full control of the area during the period of World War I. After the revolt, the British instead of remaining committed to their initial agreement faulted and made some other agreements that contradicted the first position of the agreement with the Husayn and this brought troubles in the region instead of inculcating peace in the area as would be thought to be the British.

Other Agreements that Jeopardize the Initial Agreement
Signing of other agreement by the British was the culmination of conflict seed between the Arab and the Palestine. In 1917, the British again entered an agreement that was dubbed Balfour Declaration. In the declaration, the then British foreign minister Lord Arthur Balfour consented to the establishment of the Jewish national home in Palestine and agreed to support the move. The establishment of the Jewish home in the area, which was highly resented given that they had been assured of the independent Palestine territory (Mini 113). The Jews that were facing persecution in Germany were given a safe haven in Palestine but this is what triggered the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews.

Again, the British also made a third promise in the same breadth, in this agreement, both the British and France made an agreement to have full control of Palestine. They made the agreement to divide the territory for their control-a territory that was under the control of the Ottoman Empire (Miller 57). British and France in this regard convinced the league of nation to grant them a quasi control of the region in the region that was formerly under the control of the Ottoman Empire. In the reference of this, the regimes of the France and British were known as mandates and France obtained control over Syria with Lebanon not included in the territory because it was predominantly Christian. British on the other hand were given the mandate over Jordan, Gaza Strip, Israel, and West Bank (Miller 67). These other concessions that were made by the British after the Arab agreement led to the conflict in the area that is dominated by the Arabs.

The current tribulation that the British and the Arabs have faced for the last more than half a decade is necessitated by the so-called Palestine Mandate. The British stands to be blamed in the in the development of conflict in the area given that they reversed all the very important initial agreement they made with the Arabs. It can then be construed that the British did not have good faith in being part of the initial agreement but was rather a trick to further their own interests in the area, unfortunately, the deal has not materialized as they expected. Read More