Churchill, Palestine and Zionism, 1904-1922 - Douglas J. Feith

Palestine and Zionism, 1904-1922 231
Then "there are the Jews, whom we are pledged to introduce into Palestine
and who take it for granted that the local population will be cleared
out to suit their convenience." All of this, Churchill argued, will react on
"our position as the greatest Mahommedan Power." India, Egypt, Mesopotamia,
and Palestine "are all affected prejudicially." The cost of the
Middle Eastern military establishments are gravely burdensome and "a
strong force" must be maintained in and around Constantinople "for an
indefinite period." Churchill "reluctantly" concluded that partitioning
the Turkish Empire among the Allies "is a mistake" that will involve
Britain in "abetting ... the conquest of the Arabs by the Turks; ... deserting
and, it will be alleged, betraying those Arabs who fought so bravely
with us in the war"; and spending immense sums for military forces and
development work "far exceeding any possibility of return." He knew
that it would be "very hard to relinquish the satisfaction of those
dreams of conquest and aggrandisement which are gratified by the retention
of Palestine and Mesopotamia," but the British Empire has "far more
territory ... than we shall be able to develop for many generations. ,,57 (As
Churchill later entered more deeply into Near Eastern affairs, his comments
about the Jews became, in general, less barbed and, about the Arabs, less
grateful.)
Zionist leaders knew that the Arabs would not be "cleared out to suit
[the Jews'] convenience." Accordingly, they were exploring possibilities
for peace. Hopes for a mutual accommodation were not so fantastic as
they seemed in later years. Britain had formidable leverage. It controlled
vast Arab lands. The Arabs wanted much from Britain, but were owed
little, given that the vast majority had fought against Britain in the war.
As for Britain's Hashemite allies, they were willing to make a deal with
the Zionists if this would secure British support for an independent Arab
kingdom in the lands surrounding Palestine. 58
57 WSC IV C 937-9. It was a theme of Churchill's that the British colonies of long standing
in Africa were a better investment than the newly acquired possessions in the Middle East.
In a July 14, 1921, speech to the House of Commons, he drew the contrast amusingly:
"In the Middle East you have arid countries. In East Africa you have dripping countries.
There is the greatest difficulty to get anything to grow in the one place, and the greatest difficulty
to prevent things smothering and choking you by their hurried growth in the other.
"In the African colonies you have a docile, tractable population, who only require to
be well and wisely treated to develop great economic capacity and utility; whereas the
regions of the Middle East are unduly stocked with peppery, pugnacious, proud politicians
and theologians, who happen to be at the same time extremely well armed and
extremely hard up." Cohen, Churchill and the Jews, 112.
58 In January 1919, at the Paris peace conference, Hussein's son Feisal signed an agreement
with Weizmann by which the Arab side endorsed the Balfour Declaration and "large scale"