The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (68 page)

16.
 “From the point of view of …” “Minutes of a Meeting of the Eastern Committee held in Lord Curzon’s room at the Privy Council Office,” December 5, 1918, OUNBL, Alfred Milner Papers, MSS, Milner dep (microfilm reel 20) #137, War Cabinet, Eastern Committee.

17.
 “1. That His Majesty’s …” “Minutes of a Meeting of the Eastern Committee held in Lord Curzon’s room at the Privy Council Office,” June 18, 1918, ibid.

18.
 One defends the agreement … Friedman,
Question of Palestine
, 109; Fromkin,
Peace
, 193–94. Other works that generally accept the positive interpretation of the agreement include, among many, Glubb,
Britain and Arabs;
Ovendale,
Origins;
Rose,
Palmerston to Balfour;
Nevakivi,
Britain, France;
Sanders,
High Walls;
Stein,
Balfour Declaration;
Tauber,
Arab Movements;
and Monroe,
Britain’s Moment
.

19.
 A second group of historians … Antonius,
Arab Awakening
, 248; Erskine,
Palestine of Arabs;
Wingate,
Wingate of Sudan;
and Avi Shlaim, “The Balfour Declaration,” in Lewis,
Yet More Adventures
. Another who was deeply critical of the Sykes-Picot Agreement was Arnold Toynbee, quoted in Friedman,
Palestine, Twice-Promised
.

20.
 “was reasonable enough …” MacMillan,
Peacemakers
, 394. Though very briefly treated, this is pretty much the verdict also in Segev,
One Palestine;
in Barr,
Setting the Desert;
and in Darwin,
Britain, Egypt
.

  1.
 the Ottoman governor in Medina. The Ottoman governor in Medina was Basri Pasha.
Arab Bulletin
, no. 27, p. 387.

  2.
 “less ready to sink …” Hogarth,
Hejaz
, 54.

  3.
 “assuming powers on the …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 215, 220.

  4.
 “The Jehani Kadi has …” Ali to Hussein, n.d., NA, FO371/2767/88001.

  5.
 a rival sheikh … He was the Awagir El Ghazu; the three other sheikhs were Al Awali, Ibn El Sifr, and Al Sawaid.

  6.
 Djemal had sent … In some accounts it is Gallipoli; in others, Mesopotamia.

  7.
 Historians estimate … Tauber,
Arab Movements
, 37.

  8.
 “I decided to take …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 207.

  9.
 They received bread … Tauber,
Arab Movements
, 37–38.

10.
 “The bodies of the hanged …”
Great Britain and the Near East
, September 24, 1915.

11.
 “Eight more …” Ibid., December 31, 1915.

12.
 “as the greatest proof …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 214.

13.
 
“There can be no trust …” Feisal to Hussein, n.d., NA, FO371/2767/88001.

14.
 “some of the best known …” Antonius,
Arab Awakening
, 188.

15.
 “In my opinion …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 214.

16.
 “He came to see …” Ibid., 217.

17.
 “O paradise of my …” Robert Fisk,
Independent
, May 21, 2005.

18.
 “Death will now …” Antonius writes of Feisal’s cry, “Literally it is equivalent to: ‘Death has become sweet, O Arabs!’ But the Arabic is much richer in meaning and amounts to an appeal to all Arabs to take up arms, at the risk of their lives, to avenge the executions in blood” (191).

19.
 “I swear by the …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 220.

20.
 “Since this war …” Hussein to McMahon, April 18, 1916, NA, FO370/2767/95498.

21.
 “The movement should …” Ali to Hussein, n.d., NA, FO371/2767/88001.

22.
 A Turkish force … It was led by the Ottoman general Khairy Bey.

23.
 Neufeld had brought … Hogarth, “Mecca’s Revolt,” 410.

24.
 “Sharif’s son Abdallah …” Report written June 14, 1916, Storrs Papers, reel 5, box 2, folder 4, Egypt 1916–17. See also Storrs,
Memoirs
, 169.

25.
 “Will send Storrs …” Quoted in David Gill, “David George Hogarth,”
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
, 6.

26.
 “We made the near acquaintance …” Hogarth, “Mecca’s Revolt,” 169.

27.
 “I deeply regret my inability …” Abdullah’s cousin was Sharif Shakir, emir of the Ataibah. Ibid.

28.
 “Please order by …” Storrs’s report to McMahon, June 14, 1916, Storrs Papers, reel 5, box 2, folder 4, Egypt 1916–17; Storrs,
Memoirs
, 174.

29.
 All these actions … But in the letter that Oreifan delivered to Storrs, the grand sharif wrote that Ali and Feisal would launch the attack against Medina on the coming Monday.

30.
 “We had not come so far …” Hogarth, “Mecca’s Revolt,” 411.

31.
 “I stepped into Oreifan’s …” Storrs Papers, reel 5, box 2, folder 4, Egypt 1916–17; Storrs,
Memoirs
, 172.

32.
 “He is about 5.5′ …” Storrs Papers, ibid.; Storrs,
Memoirs
, 174.

33.
 The grand sharif wanted guns … Hogarth, “Mecca’s Revolt,” 411.

34.
 “Zeid struck me …” Hogarth Report, June 10, 1916, Storrs Papers, reel 5, box 2, folder 4, Egypt 1916–17.

35.
 “The conception …” Storrs’s report written June 14, 1916, Storrs Papers, ibid.

36.
 “Far too much …” Hogarth Report, June 10, 1916, Storrs Papers, ibid.

37.
 “Had the sherifian revolt …” Hogarth, “Mecca’s Revolt,” 411.

38.
 “two or three battalions …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 222–23.

39.
 “The volunteers were …” Quoted ibid., 224.

40.
 On the evening of June 4 … Djemal writes (ibid.) that this event took place on June 2, but that makes no sense, because it was the evening before Ali and Feisal declared the revolt, which occurred on Monday morning, June 5.

41.
 Then on the morning of June 9 … The Turkish
vali
was Ghalib Pasha.

42.
 “If there was any trouble …” For this episode see Graves,
Memoirs of King Abdullah
, 144–46.

43.
 No copy survives … Ibid., 136; Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 215.

44.
 “Everyone reclaims …” “Translation of an Account of the Events leading to the Revolution in Arabia as given by Bimbashi Mehmed Zia Bey, Acting Governor and Commandant at Mecca,”
Arab Bulletin
, no. 21, pp. 256–60, September 15, 1916.

45.
 “The men who form …” Djemal Pasha,
Memories
, 215–16.

46.
 “He [Hussein] considered himself …” Ibid., 225.

47.
 “They were simply …” “Translation of an Account,”
Arab Bulletin
, no. 21, p. 257.

  1.
 Nahum Sokolow … Sokolow owned and edited a Warsaw newspaper,
Ha Tzefira;
he served as editor of two Zionist journals, the movement’s official organ,
Die Welt
, and the Hebrew weekly
Ha-Olam;
he regularly contributed articles on Russian and Jewish subjects to a range
of European newspapers, including
The Times
of London. In addition he wrote histories, biographies, geographical studies, and language primers, even a historical novel.

  2.
 “His handsome appearance …” Sacher,
Zionist Portraits
, 36.

  3.
 “It [is] to the advantage …” For Sokolow’s first visit to the Foreign Office, see NA, FO371/1794. See too Rawidowicz, “Nahum Sokolow.”

  4.
 “a preparatory step” … Sokolow to executive committee of the Zionist Organization, quoted in Rawidowicz, “Nahum Sokolow.”

  5.
 “I think … we can safely …” NA, FO511/2136.

  6.
 the English Zionist Federation … For membership figures, see Cohen,
English Zionists
, 106–07.

  7.
 But Herzl died … In fact he died of pneumonia.

  8.
 “pre-eminently what the …” Sieff,
Memoirs
, 67.

  9.
 Weizmann put him … Ibid., 68.

10.
 “repressive cruelty” … Quoted in Segev,
One Palestine
, 104.

11.
 two parent bodies … For this treatment of the Board of Deputies and the Anglo-Jewish Association, I rely primarily upon Levene,
War, Jews
, 1–19.

12.
 Lucien Wolf … Wolf wrote for and edited
The Jewish World
, an English newspaper. He edited the centenary edition of Disraeli’s novels. He wrote a biography of Moses Montefiore. His journalism brought him into touch with European politicians, diplomats, and officials. He courted their English counterparts. By the 1890s he was contributing a remarkably well-informed regular column called “The Foreign Office Bag” to
The Daily Graphic
. He wrote frequently for
The Fortnightly Review
as “Diplomaticus.” In addition he served as London correspondent of the French
Le Journal
. He claimed to have influence over events, notably in 1898, when possibly at Arthur Balfour’s prompting he suggested to the Russian ambassador in London a solution to Anglo-Russian difficulties over Manchuria, which Russia adopted.

13.
 “almost indistinguishable.” Quoted in Finestein,
Scenes and Personalities
, 209.

14.
 “once said of me …” Wolf to Sam G. Asher, September 28, 1915, Yivo Institute, Wolf Papers, microfilm reel 2.

15.
 “anti-Semitism is …” Finestein,
Scenes and Personalities
, 214.

16.
 He did not identify … Wolf to Asher, September 28, 1915.

17.
 He cemented relationships … Levene,
War, Jews
, 16.

18.
 His last great prewar … Ibid., 19.

19.
 “he conveys no impression …” Quoted in Wasserstein,
Herbert Samuel
, 129.

20.
 “Zionism was the one …” Ibid., 204.

21.
 The link came … Samuel’s wife was Beatrice Miriam Franklin. The childhood friend who went on to marry Gaster was Lucy Friedlander.

22.
 “I remember Dr. Gaster …” Samuel to Stein, December 6, 1951, OUNBL, Stein Papers, box 7.

23.
 “a benevolent goodwill …” Quoted in Stein,
Balfour Declaration
, 109; see also Samuel,
Memoirs
, 139.

  1.
 “The fate of Palestine …” Ahad Ha’am to Weizmann, November 1, 1914, WI.

  2.
 “Our colonies …” Weizmann to Jacobus Kann, November 2, 1914, Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 27, 7:33.

  3.
 “The moment Turkey …” Samuel,
Memoirs
, 139.

  4.
 He kept a record … Numerous historians have quoted these pages, for example, Stein,
Balfour Declaration
, Sanders,
High Walls
, and Friedman,
Question of Palestine
, to name a few.

  5.
 “Perhaps … the opportunity …” Samuel, notes to himself, November 9, 1914, House of Lords Record Office, Herbert Samuel Papers, Correspondence, vol. 1, 1915–17.

  6.
 “a greedy, ambitious …” Quoted in Wasserstein,
Herbert Samuel
, 144. Samuel, notes to himself, November 9, 1914, House of Lords Record Office, Samuel Papers, Correspondence, vol. 1, 1915–17.

  7.
 
“Needless to say they …” Greenberg to Weizmann, October 10, 1914, WI, Letters to Weizmann.

  8.
 “the unification of Jewry …” Weizmann to Levin, September 8, 1914, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 4.

  9.
 “will be difficult to …” Greenberg to Weizmann, October 10, 1914, WI, Letters to Weizmann.

10.
 “I should find it …” Zangwill to Weizmann, October 28, 1914, WI, Letters to Weizmann.

11.
 “I tried to learn …” “Report submitted to the members of the Executive of the International Zionist Organization, January 7, 1915,” in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 95, 7:113.

12.
 Crewe was related … Crewe had wed the granddaughter of a Rothschild, Lady Margaret Primrose, youngest daughter of the Earl of Rosebery, himself a former Liberal prime minister.

13.
 “our compatriots …” Dorothy Rothschild to Chaim Weizmann, November 19, 1914, CZA.

14.
 “Supposing that the Arabs …” Crewe to Hardinge, November 12, 1914, OUNBL, Stein Papers, box 3; Extracts from Crewe Papers; CUL, Crewe Mss I 19/2.

15.
 “You don’t—I am sure …” Weizmann to D. Rothschild, November 22, 1914, Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 43, 7:51.

16.
 “to try and influence …” “Summary of a conversation with Baron James de Rothschild, Wednesday, November 25, 1914,” WI.

17.
 Eventually Rozsika outdid … She introduced Weizmann to, among others, Lady Crewe, Theo Russell (private secretary of Sir Edward Grey), and Lord Haldane (Asquith’s lord chancellor).

18.
 “It is impossible …” August 18, 1915, NA, FO800/104 R.C.

19.
 “I saw before me …” Weizmann,
Trial and Error
, 1:149.

20.
 “I would like to do …” Ibid.

21.
 “Since Turkey had entered …” “Report submitted to the members of the Executive of the International Zionist Organization, January 7, 1915,” Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 95, 7:111–12.

22.
 “Messianic times …” Weizmann to Vera Weizmann, December 10, 1914, ibid., letter no. 65, 7:77–78.

23.
 “I have just remembered …” Weizmann to Ahad Ha’am, December 13, 1914, ibid., letter no. 68, 7:82. The letter was written in Russian, but the words in italics were written in English.

24.
 “feels the responsibility …” Weizmann to Scott, December 13, 1914, in Stein,
Letters
, letter no. 67, 7:79–80.