Prophesying Disaster
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives Prophesying disaster: The regional repercussions of partitioning Palestine The Middle East according to the British Foreign Office, 1937-38 Vemund Høegh-Larsen MA Thesis in History Department of Archaeology, Conservation, and History (IAKH) University of Oslo (UIO) Spring 2010 I Contents Preface .................................................................................................................................................. IV A short note on the primary sources ................................................................................................... V Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 The accuracy of the Foreign Office prophecies .................................................................................. 8 The rationale behind the Foreign Office policy................................................................................. 11 Theoretical approach ......................................................................................................................... 13 Egypt ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 British-Egyptian relations .................................................................................................................. 16 Egypt and Palestine in British strategy: linkages .............................................................................. 18 The Palestine issue in Egypt .............................................................................................................. 19 The impact of the Partition plan ........................................................................................................ 22 The likelihood of a hostile, pro-Italian Egypt ................................................................................... 27 Lampson’s role .................................................................................................................................. 32 Saudi Arabia ........................................................................................................................................ 36 Anglo-Saudi relations ........................................................................................................................ 36 Arab nationalism and the Palestine issue in Saudi Arabia ................................................................ 40 The Arab Rebellion ........................................................................................................................... 42 Ibn Saud, Palestine and Pan-Arabism ............................................................................................... 43 The release of the Peel plan ............................................................................................................... 45 Ibn Saud as an Arabist icon ............................................................................................................... 49 Ibn Saud’s regional claims ................................................................................................................ 52 The Italian factor ............................................................................................................................... 53 German approaches ........................................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 58 Iraq ....................................................................................................................................................... 62 Anglo-Iraqi relations ......................................................................................................................... 62 II The Palestine question in Iraq ........................................................................................................... 65 Prelude – the Palestine Arab Rebellion ............................................................................................. 66 The Peel report .................................................................................................................................. 69 The Iraqi military intervenes ............................................................................................................. 72 Mounting discontent with the Midfa’i Government .......................................................................... 74 The fall of the Midfa’i Government .................................................................................................. 76 Palestine as a constant in Iraqi politics .............................................................................................. 78 The Partition proposal’s effect on Anglo-Iraqi relations ................................................................... 79 The deterioration of Anglo-Iraqi relations 1939-1941 ...................................................................... 81 The Foreign Office prophecies – the verdict ..................................................................................... 84 Transjordan ......................................................................................................................................... 86 Transjordan and Palestine ................................................................................................................. 88 The Palestine Rebellion ..................................................................................................................... 91 The Peel Report ................................................................................................................................. 93 Abdullah and the Arab world ............................................................................................................ 97 British reactions ................................................................................................................................. 98 Abdullah’s options ............................................................................................................................ 99 The Foreign Office and Abdullah...and Ibn Saud ........................................................................... 101 The likelihood of a major rising in Transjordan .............................................................................. 105 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 107 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 110 Why did the Eastern Department oppose partition so vehemently? ................................................ 112 A pro-Arab policy? .......................................................................................................................... 117 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................................... 118 Literature ......................................................................................................................................... 118 Archives consulted .......................................................................................................................... 122 Printed primary sources ................................................................................................................... 122 III Preface It took a long time to get this project airborne. Completing it took even longer. This matters little now as I am not one who dwells much with the missteps and frustrations of the past. The work is finished and I am ready to move on to different fields. Actually, I have already moved on. Last October my family and I returned to our hometown of Skien. Since then I have worked fulltime in the social services at NAV. While I find the work rewarding, I intend eventually to find something which is more related to my education. A substantial part of the preface is usually devoted to expressing gratitude towards fellow students and researchers. Well, from a scholarly angle only, this venture has been a rather lonesome journey. Not that I haven’t been surrounded by some really nice people throughout, I just never involved them much in my work. Looking back, in fact, I cannot remember letting any of my closest colleagues read through my manuscripts. While I did not bother my surroundings with my own work, the surroundings certainly made the experience more enjoyable. I must thank all the students who helped make the break room such a pleasant and tight packed space. Extra special thanks go out to Johannes Due Enstad and Magnus Haakenstad. Good luck to both of you, whatever you decide to do in the future. One who was forced to involve herself in my work was my advisor Hilde Henriksen Waage. I could go one praising her for her vast knowledge, or even more so, for her astonishing work ethic. I choose, nonetheless, to honour her personal qualities. Hilde is just one exceptionally likable individual. She is not only