1 00:00:00,391 --> 00:00:02,235 Narrator: As we'll see in this video 2 00:00:02,235 --> 00:00:06,099 and in others, the roots of a lot of the current 3 00:00:06,099 --> 00:00:08,615 disagreements in the Middle East 4 00:00:08,615 --> 00:00:10,069 and a lot of the conflict in the Middle East 5 00:00:10,069 --> 00:00:13,495 can actually be traced back to World War I. 6 00:00:13,495 --> 00:00:15,893 I realize this is an incredibly touchy subject 7 00:00:15,893 --> 00:00:17,405 that there are people who have very strong feelings 8 00:00:17,405 --> 00:00:20,077 on either side of it and my goal here is to really 9 00:00:20,077 --> 00:00:24,872 give my best attempt at what really happened. 10 00:00:24,872 --> 00:00:28,102 I encourage you to doubt any of this 11 00:00:28,102 --> 00:00:31,247 and look it up yourself and come, frankly, 12 00:00:31,247 --> 00:00:32,810 to your own conclusions. 13 00:00:32,810 --> 00:00:36,465 Let's rewind back to October of 1915, 14 00:00:36,465 --> 00:00:38,069 or 1915 in particular. 15 00:00:38,069 --> 00:00:41,046 The British were already at war with the Ottoman's. 16 00:00:41,046 --> 00:00:42,403 Just as a reminder of some of what happened 17 00:00:42,403 --> 00:00:45,131 in 1915, the Gallipoli campaign, 18 00:00:45,131 --> 00:00:47,003 by the end of 1915 it was pretty clear 19 00:00:47,003 --> 00:00:49,132 that this was a disaster for the allies. 20 00:00:49,132 --> 00:00:51,287 The Ottoman's were able to fend off the allies, 21 00:00:51,287 --> 00:00:52,953 they were in retreat. 22 00:00:52,953 --> 00:00:55,398 The British were able to fend off the Ottoman's 23 00:00:55,398 --> 00:00:58,662 when they tried to attack the Suez canal in 1915. 24 00:00:58,662 --> 00:01:00,936 This is the background, you can imagine the British 25 00:01:00,936 --> 00:01:04,013 are eager to get any other allies they can 26 00:01:04,013 --> 00:01:07,584 in their battle against the Ottoman's. 27 00:01:07,584 --> 00:01:09,010 In particular, they are eager to get the help 28 00:01:09,010 --> 00:01:11,403 of the Arab's who have been under the rule 29 00:01:11,403 --> 00:01:13,823 of the Ottoman's for hundreds of years. 30 00:01:13,823 --> 00:01:15,668 That's the backdrop where you have 31 00:01:15,668 --> 00:01:17,812 this correspondence between the high commissioner 32 00:01:17,812 --> 00:01:19,669 in Egypt, the British high commissioner, 33 00:01:19,669 --> 00:01:22,667 Sir Henry McMahon and the Sharif of Mecca, 34 00:01:22,667 --> 00:01:25,709 Hussein bin ĘżAli, who had his own aspirations 35 00:01:25,709 --> 00:01:28,564 to essentially be the king of an independent 36 00:01:28,564 --> 00:01:30,079 Arab state. 37 00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:32,601 They kept going back and forth from mid 1915 38 00:01:32,601 --> 00:01:36,561 to early 1916 talking about what the state could be. 39 00:01:36,561 --> 00:01:38,066 Obviously the British want his support, 40 00:01:38,066 --> 00:01:43,004 wants him to lead a revolt against the Ottoman's. 41 00:01:43,004 --> 00:01:46,077 He's already articulated the boundaries 42 00:01:46,077 --> 00:01:48,891 for a state that he would like to see. 43 00:01:48,891 --> 00:01:50,929 So, that gives us a context for this correspondence 44 00:01:50,929 --> 00:01:52,819 in October of 1915. 45 00:01:52,819 --> 00:01:55,727 This is from Sir Henry McMahon to Hussein. 46 00:01:55,727 --> 00:01:57,944 "... it is with great pleasure that I communicate to you 47 00:01:57,944 --> 00:02:00,475 "on their behalf," the British government's behalf, 48 00:02:00,475 --> 00:02:02,559 "the following statement, which I am confident 49 00:02:02,559 --> 00:02:04,196 "you will receive with satisfaction. 50 00:02:04,196 --> 00:02:08,535 "The two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta 51 00:02:08,535 --> 00:02:10,182 "and portions of Syria lying to the west 52 00:02:10,182 --> 00:02:12,581 "of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama, 53 00:02:12,581 --> 00:02:15,331 "and Aleppo cannot be said to be purely Arab, 54 00:02:15,331 --> 00:02:17,912 "and should be excluded from the limits demanded." 55 00:02:17,912 --> 00:02:19,980 This is referring to the limits that 56 00:02:19,980 --> 00:02:22,072 Hussein bin Ali had demanded 57 00:02:22,072 --> 00:02:23,750 in previous correspondence. 58 00:02:23,750 --> 00:02:25,684 "With the above modifications," so just that region 59 00:02:25,684 --> 00:02:28,569 right over there, this right over here is 60 00:02:28,569 --> 00:02:31,404 Mersina, Alexandretta, this is Hama, 61 00:02:31,404 --> 00:02:34,979 Homs, Damascus, so really what he's referring to 62 00:02:34,979 --> 00:02:39,338 is this region, the west, the west of those cities 63 00:02:39,338 --> 00:02:40,408 right over here. 64 00:02:40,408 --> 00:02:42,068 He's saying look, you can't really consider 65 00:02:42,068 --> 00:02:44,067 this to be purely Arab, I'm going to exclude 66 00:02:44,067 --> 00:02:46,228 this out of the boundaries of this potential 67 00:02:46,228 --> 00:02:48,738 independent Arab state. 68 00:02:48,738 --> 00:02:51,204 "With the above modification, and without prejudice 69 00:02:51,204 --> 00:02:52,871 "to our existing treaties with Arab chiefs 70 00:02:52,871 --> 00:02:56,945 "we accept those limits," we accept those limits. 71 00:02:56,945 --> 00:02:59,616 "As for those regions lying within those frontiers 72 00:02:59,616 --> 00:03:01,390 "wherein Great Britain is free to act 73 00:03:01,390 --> 00:03:03,721 "without determinant to the interest of her ally, 74 00:03:03,721 --> 00:03:05,707 "France," so as long as I'm not getting in trouble 75 00:03:05,707 --> 00:03:07,872 with France, "I'm empowered in the name of 76 00:03:07,872 --> 00:03:09,796 "the Government of Great Britain to give the following 77 00:03:09,796 --> 00:03:12,957 "assurances and make the following reply 78 00:03:12,957 --> 00:03:15,739 "to your letter; Subject to the above modifications," 79 00:03:15,739 --> 00:03:19,212 so taking this part out, "Great Britain is prepared 80 00:03:19,212 --> 00:03:22,727 "to recognize and support the independence 81 00:03:22,727 --> 00:03:25,992 "of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits 82 00:03:25,992 --> 00:03:27,527 "demanded by the Sharif of Mecca." 83 00:03:27,527 --> 00:03:30,285 So, essentially it included all of this region 84 00:03:30,285 --> 00:03:32,707 and actually much beyond what I'm showing here, 85 00:03:32,707 --> 00:03:36,055 kind of present day Syria, Jordan, Iraq, 86 00:03:36,055 --> 00:03:38,659 parts of present day Saudi Arabia. 87 00:03:38,659 --> 00:03:40,700 All of that is essentially, the British are saying, 88 00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:43,202 yeah we're going to allow you to have that, 89 00:03:43,202 --> 00:03:44,758 an independent state there. 90 00:03:44,758 --> 00:03:46,681 "Great Britain will guarantee the Holy Places 91 00:03:46,681 --> 00:03:48,120 "against all external aggression 92 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,121 "and will recognize their inviolability. 93 00:03:50,121 --> 00:03:52,654 "... I am convinced that this declaration will assure 94 00:03:52,654 --> 00:03:54,656 "you beyond all possible doubt," 95 00:03:54,656 --> 00:03:57,593 beyond all possible doubt, "of the sympathy 96 00:03:57,593 --> 00:04:00,878 "of Great Britain towards the aspiration of her friends 97 00:04:00,878 --> 00:04:03,022 "the Arabs, and will result in a firm 98 00:04:03,022 --> 00:04:06,275 "and lasting alliance, the immediate results 99 00:04:06,275 --> 00:04:08,124 "of which will be the expulsion of the Turks 100 00:04:08,124 --> 00:04:10,204 "from the Arab countries and the freeing 101 00:04:10,204 --> 00:04:12,098 "of the Arab peoples from the Turkish yoke, 102 00:04:12,098 --> 00:04:14,600 "which for so many years has pressed heavily 103 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,255 "upon them." 104 00:04:16,255 --> 00:04:18,690 This actually does help to convince the Arab's 105 00:04:18,690 --> 00:04:21,455 to rise up against the Turks, 106 00:04:21,455 --> 00:04:23,796 against the Ottoman Empire, they play a significant 107 00:04:23,796 --> 00:04:25,470 role in the Palestine Campaign, 108 00:04:25,470 --> 00:04:28,454 they rise up in June of 1916. 109 00:04:28,454 --> 00:04:30,620 Now, the video that I did on the Palestine Campaign, 110 00:04:30,620 --> 00:04:32,349 I got several comments of people being cynical 111 00:04:32,349 --> 00:04:35,842 about Britain's intentions and it does look like 112 00:04:35,842 --> 00:04:38,342 the British were, indeed, cynical. 113 00:04:38,342 --> 00:04:41,387 T.E. Lawrence famous for Lawrence of Arabia 114 00:04:41,387 --> 00:04:44,346 was often depicted as this mystical fellow, 115 00:04:44,346 --> 00:04:47,127 this guy who had this kinship with the Arab's. 116 00:04:47,127 --> 00:04:48,939 His actual correspondence with the 117 00:04:48,939 --> 00:04:51,550 British government actually do show that he did have 118 00:04:51,550 --> 00:04:55,096 a kind of ... he was doing, I guess, 119 00:04:55,096 --> 00:04:56,863 in the words of George W. Bush, a little bit of 120 00:04:56,863 --> 00:04:59,225 strategery, he had a more cynical view 121 00:04:59,225 --> 00:05:01,922 of this relationship with the Arab's. 122 00:05:01,922 --> 00:05:03,294 This is some correspondence that he wrote 123 00:05:03,294 --> 00:05:06,466 in early 1916, so right about the same time 124 00:05:06,466 --> 00:05:08,375 that all of this was going on. 125 00:05:08,375 --> 00:05:11,070 This says he's referring to a possible Arab revolt, 126 00:05:11,070 --> 00:05:12,221 or Hussein's activity. 127 00:05:12,221 --> 00:05:15,578 "Hussein's activity seems beneficial to us, 128 00:05:15,578 --> 00:05:17,561 "because it matches with our immediate aims, 129 00:05:17,561 --> 00:05:20,247 "the break-up of the Islamic 'bloc' 130 00:05:20,247 --> 00:05:22,030 "and the defeat and disruption of the 131 00:05:22,030 --> 00:05:23,521 "Ottoman Empire." 132 00:05:23,521 --> 00:05:24,966 Assuming he didn't really talk about this, 133 00:05:24,966 --> 00:05:28,025 this being one of the ... the British didn't 134 00:05:28,025 --> 00:05:30,321 talk about that when they were talking to Hussein. 135 00:05:30,321 --> 00:05:32,404 "If we can arrange that this political change 136 00:05:32,404 --> 00:05:35,036 "shall be a violent one, we will have abolished 137 00:05:35,036 --> 00:05:38,278 "the threat of Islam, by dividing it against itself, 138 00:05:38,278 --> 00:05:39,487 "in its very heart." 139 00:05:39,487 --> 00:05:41,276 "There will then be a Khalifa," 140 00:05:41,276 --> 00:05:42,789 kind of a seat of Islam, "in Turkey 141 00:05:42,789 --> 00:05:47,001 "and a Khalifa in Arabia, in theological warfare." 142 00:05:47,001 --> 00:05:48,751 This is T.E. Lawrence, I got this from 143 00:05:48,751 --> 00:05:50,122 The Golden Warrior: The Life and Legend 144 00:05:50,122 --> 00:05:51,932 of Lawrence of Arabia. 145 00:05:51,932 --> 00:05:54,540 Even this, somewhat portrayed as a heroic figure, 146 00:05:54,540 --> 00:05:57,382 was doing things in very strategic, 147 00:05:57,382 --> 00:05:59,298 strategic terms. 148 00:05:59,298 --> 00:06:01,761 To make things worse for the Arab's, 149 00:06:01,761 --> 00:06:04,246 while the British were trying to convince them 150 00:06:04,246 --> 00:06:06,210 to revolt, they were also in secret negotiations 151 00:06:06,210 --> 00:06:08,656 with the French on how they would divide 152 00:06:08,656 --> 00:06:11,701 the Middle East if they were able 153 00:06:11,701 --> 00:06:13,448 to beat the Ottoman's. 154 00:06:13,448 --> 00:06:15,601 At this point in the war the British were already 155 00:06:15,601 --> 00:06:17,697 making some progress in Mesopotamia, 156 00:06:17,697 --> 00:06:19,715 but they really hadn't really started 157 00:06:19,715 --> 00:06:22,055 on the Palestine Campaign right here. 158 00:06:22,055 --> 00:06:23,564 So, this was all conjecture. 159 00:06:23,564 --> 00:06:25,720 The British representatives was Sykes, 160 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:27,718 the French representative was Picot, 161 00:06:27,718 --> 00:06:29,822 this was done with the consent of the Russian's. 162 00:06:29,822 --> 00:06:32,240 You didn't have a revolution in Russia 163 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:37,572 as of now, so in early 1916, in May this agreement 164 00:06:37,572 --> 00:06:39,046 was concluded, this secret agreement. 165 00:06:39,046 --> 00:06:46,221 You have the Sykes-Picot Agreement, 166 00:06:46,221 --> 00:06:47,518 it's secret. 167 00:06:47,518 --> 00:06:49,053 Let me write that, it is a secret agreement 168 00:06:49,053 --> 00:06:52,397 between Britain and France and essentially they are 169 00:06:52,397 --> 00:06:54,717 carving up the entire Middle East between them. 170 00:06:54,717 --> 00:06:56,884 This blue area right here, this would be occupied 171 00:06:56,884 --> 00:06:59,719 by the French, part of eastern Turkey 172 00:06:59,719 --> 00:07:01,880 or modern day eastern Turkey would be given 173 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:03,428 to the Russian's. 174 00:07:03,428 --> 00:07:06,238 The British would be able to occupy, 175 00:07:06,238 --> 00:07:09,051 would occupy southern Mesopotamia 176 00:07:09,051 --> 00:07:12,264 essentially insuring protection of the oil 177 00:07:12,264 --> 00:07:13,929 that is coming out of Persia. 178 00:07:13,929 --> 00:07:15,589 Oil is becoming more and more of a relevant 179 00:07:15,589 --> 00:07:18,060 factor in kind of global power. 180 00:07:18,060 --> 00:07:19,545 Then you have these two protectorates 181 00:07:19,545 --> 00:07:20,985 right over here, which in theory could be 182 00:07:20,985 --> 00:07:23,129 independent or an independent Arab state, 183 00:07:23,129 --> 00:07:25,886 or two independent Arab states under the protection. 184 00:07:25,886 --> 00:07:27,484 Let me put that in quotes, 185 00:07:27,484 --> 00:07:29,892 because "protectorate" is always not as nice 186 00:07:29,892 --> 00:07:32,722 as it sounds, under the protection of the French 187 00:07:32,722 --> 00:07:33,948 or the British which means, 188 00:07:33,948 --> 00:07:35,518 "Hey you're an independent state, but we will 189 00:07:35,518 --> 00:07:38,304 "protect you in case anyone wants to invade." 190 00:07:38,304 --> 00:07:40,669 The reality of protectorate is that it usually involves 191 00:07:40,669 --> 00:07:44,198 the people doing the protecting have all 192 00:07:44,198 --> 00:07:47,629 the real power and all the real influence. 193 00:07:47,629 --> 00:07:49,597 The Sykes-Picot Agreement also give this little 194 00:07:49,597 --> 00:07:52,095 carve out to Britain so they would have access 195 00:07:52,095 --> 00:07:53,513 to the Mediterranean. 196 00:07:53,513 --> 00:07:57,041 Palestine, or the Roman Kingdom of Judea, 197 00:07:57,041 --> 00:08:04,472 this is carved out as a separate international property 198 00:08:04,472 --> 00:08:06,547 something that would be administered by multiple 199 00:08:06,547 --> 00:08:08,470 states and I guess the argument would be, 200 00:08:08,470 --> 00:08:09,863 this is where the Holy Land's are, 201 00:08:09,863 --> 00:08:12,557 multiple religions have some of their holiest sites 202 00:08:12,557 --> 00:08:15,539 within here and so they carved it out like this. 203 00:08:15,539 --> 00:08:17,349 Once again, this is all in secret, 204 00:08:17,349 --> 00:08:19,270 they obviously don't want the Arab's to find out 205 00:08:19,270 --> 00:08:21,102 because they're about to convince the Arab's 206 00:08:21,102 --> 00:08:24,167 to join in a revolt against the Ottoman's. 207 00:08:24,167 --> 00:08:27,689 Now, to make things ... once again, this was all secret 208 00:08:27,689 --> 00:08:30,839 up to this point in 1916 when it was all agreed on. 209 00:08:30,839 --> 00:08:34,871 Then you forward to 1917 where we have 210 00:08:34,871 --> 00:08:36,672 the famous Balfour Declaration. 211 00:08:36,672 --> 00:08:42,068 This right over here is the Balfour Declaration 212 00:08:42,068 --> 00:08:43,888 and it was essentially a letter from 213 00:08:43,888 --> 00:08:47,674 the Foreign Secretary of the U.K., Balfour, 214 00:08:47,674 --> 00:08:52,869 to Lord Rothschild who was a leading [Briticizen] , 215 00:08:52,869 --> 00:08:54,701 a leading member of the Jewish community. 216 00:08:54,701 --> 00:08:57,670 In it he writes, "Dear Lord Rothschild, 217 00:08:57,670 --> 00:08:59,864 "I have much pleasure in conveying to you, 218 00:08:59,864 --> 00:09:01,454 "on behalf of His Majesty's Government, 219 00:09:01,454 --> 00:09:03,680 "the following declaration of sympathy 220 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:06,792 "with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been 221 00:09:06,792 --> 00:09:09,490 "submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. 222 00:09:09,490 --> 00:09:12,423 "His Majesty's Government view with favor 223 00:09:12,423 --> 00:09:15,515 "the establishment in Palestine of a national home," 224 00:09:15,515 --> 00:09:18,418 of a national home, "for the Jewish people, 225 00:09:18,418 --> 00:09:20,408 "and will use their best endeavors to facilitate 226 00:09:20,408 --> 00:09:22,328 "the achievement of this objective. 227 00:09:22,328 --> 00:09:25,046 "It being clearly understood that nothing shall be done 228 00:09:25,046 --> 00:09:27,718 "which may prejudice the civil and religious rights 229 00:09:27,718 --> 00:09:31,086 "of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, 230 00:09:31,086 --> 00:09:34,285 "or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews 231 00:09:34,285 --> 00:09:35,868 "in any other country. 232 00:09:35,868 --> 00:09:37,204 "I should be grateful if you would bring 233 00:09:37,204 --> 00:09:38,832 "this declaration to the knowledge of the 234 00:09:38,832 --> 00:09:40,275 "Zionist Federation." 235 00:09:40,275 --> 00:09:42,415 Signed Artur Balfour. 236 00:09:42,415 --> 00:09:44,196 In here, he's not explicitly saying ... 237 00:09:44,196 --> 00:09:45,780 and they're being very careful here, 238 00:09:45,780 --> 00:09:49,502 he's not saying we're supporting a state 239 00:09:49,502 --> 00:09:51,000 for the Jewish people, but he's saying 240 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,513 he is supporting the return of national home 241 00:09:53,513 --> 00:09:55,010 for the Jewish people, but at the same time, 242 00:09:55,010 --> 00:09:57,035 he's saying that it being clearly understood 243 00:09:57,035 --> 00:09:59,237 that nothing shall be done which may prejudice 244 00:09:59,237 --> 00:10:01,025 the civil and religious rights of the existing 245 00:10:01,025 --> 00:10:02,825 non-Jewish communities in Palestine. 246 00:10:02,825 --> 00:10:05,293 Needless to say, you can imagine that this is 247 00:10:05,293 --> 00:10:08,255 making the Arab's fairly uncomfortable. 248 00:10:08,255 --> 00:10:10,983 On one side it seems, based on some of the 249 00:10:10,983 --> 00:10:14,541 McMahon-Hussein correspondences that were ... 250 00:10:14,541 --> 00:10:17,241 especially in 1915, that they were being promised 251 00:10:17,241 --> 00:10:19,414 an independent Arab state which included 252 00:10:19,414 --> 00:10:21,561 much of this territory, but at the same time, 253 00:10:21,561 --> 00:10:23,742 in the Balfour Declaration the British were promising 254 00:10:23,742 --> 00:10:27,593 to, kind of the Jewish diaspora, 255 00:10:27,593 --> 00:10:29,304 that they could have a homeland there 256 00:10:29,304 --> 00:10:31,845 and it might one day, who knows, it might one day 257 00:10:31,845 --> 00:10:34,534 turn in to some type of a state. 258 00:10:34,534 --> 00:10:36,524 To make the Arab's even more uncomfortable, 259 00:10:36,524 --> 00:10:39,267 this was in November 2, 1917. 260 00:10:39,267 --> 00:10:40,992 By the end of November, you have to remember 261 00:10:40,992 --> 00:10:44,357 that 1917 you first had a revolution, 262 00:10:44,357 --> 00:10:46,332 in Russia the Czar was overthrown in February 263 00:10:46,332 --> 00:10:48,747 and in March of 1917, and October 264 00:10:48,747 --> 00:10:50,339 the Bolshevik's take over. 265 00:10:50,339 --> 00:10:52,691 They want to get out of the war, 266 00:10:52,691 --> 00:10:53,995 they don't like all these secret deals, 267 00:10:53,995 --> 00:10:56,260 not clear that they would even get what they 268 00:10:56,260 --> 00:10:57,348 were entitled to these secret deals, 269 00:10:57,348 --> 00:11:00,430 so they actually release all the entire text 270 00:11:00,430 --> 00:11:02,694 of the Sykes-Picot Agreement. 271 00:11:02,694 --> 00:11:04,025 They released this, so in the same month 272 00:11:04,025 --> 00:11:06,479 you have the Arab's and the Ottoman's 273 00:11:06,479 --> 00:11:08,029 and the Ottoman's were very happy to see this 274 00:11:08,029 --> 00:11:12,494 because it would undermine the Arab's belief 275 00:11:12,494 --> 00:11:14,354 in maybe supporting the allies, 276 00:11:14,354 --> 00:11:16,904 but in one month you have the Arab's finding out 277 00:11:16,904 --> 00:11:18,764 about the Balfour Declaration, which was a pulbic 278 00:11:18,764 --> 00:11:20,439 declaration and then later that month 279 00:11:20,439 --> 00:11:22,861 because of the Russian release of it, 280 00:11:22,861 --> 00:11:25,680 the formally secret Sykes-Picot Agreement, 281 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,026 so it makes them very, or at least a little bit 282 00:11:28,026 --> 00:11:29,408 more suspicious. 283 00:11:29,408 --> 00:11:33,040 So you can imagine the British Empire 284 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,041 trying to have it both ways, to kind of have 285 00:11:35,041 --> 00:11:37,255 support from the Jewish Diaspora 286 00:11:37,255 --> 00:11:39,699 while at the same time have support from the Arab's 287 00:11:39,699 --> 00:11:41,596 in their revolt against the Ottoman's 288 00:11:41,596 --> 00:11:44,069 would lead to very significant conflicts 289 00:11:44,069 --> 00:11:45,849 over the decades to come. 290 00:11:45,849 --> 00:11:47,625 Regardless of which side of the issue you fall on, 291 00:11:47,625 --> 00:11:51,012 a lot of the seed is happening right around now, 292 00:11:51,012 --> 00:11:52,358 right around World War I. 293 00:11:52,358 --> 00:11:54,544 This has been admitted by the British government. 294 00:11:54,544 --> 00:11:57,633 This is right here, this was the then 295 00:11:57,633 --> 00:11:59,670 Secretary, or Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, 296 00:11:59,670 --> 00:12:01,691 U.K Foreign Secretary in 2002. 297 00:12:01,691 --> 00:12:03,831 This is a statement he made to the 298 00:12:03,831 --> 00:12:07,095 News Statesman Magazine in 2002. 299 00:12:07,095 --> 00:12:09,615 "A lot of the problems we are having to deal with now, 300 00:12:09,615 --> 00:12:11,365 "I have to deal with now," 301 00:12:11,365 --> 00:12:12,996 he's the Foreign Secretary, "are a consequence 302 00:12:12,996 --> 00:12:14,667 "of our colonial past ..." 303 00:12:14,667 --> 00:12:16,563 Consequence of our colonial past. 304 00:12:16,563 --> 00:12:19,332 "The Balfour Declaration and the contradictory 305 00:12:19,332 --> 00:12:22,116 assurances," "and the contradictory assurances 306 00:12:22,116 --> 00:12:25,313 "which were being given to Palestinian's 307 00:12:25,313 --> 00:12:27,519 "in private at the same time as they were 308 00:12:27,519 --> 00:12:29,154 "being given to the Israelis ... 309 00:12:29,154 --> 00:12:32,597 "again, an interesting history for us, 310 00:12:32,597 --> 00:12:34,419 "but not an honorable one." 311 00:12:34,419 --> 00:12:35,572 This is really just the beginning 312 00:12:35,572 --> 00:12:37,591 as we'll see in future videos as we go to the 313 00:12:37,591 --> 00:12:41,577 Interwar period, the British kind of go back and forth 314 00:12:41,577 --> 00:12:44,610 on this issue over, over, and over again, 315 00:12:44,610 --> 00:12:47,595 but needless to say, it's lead to a very messy 316 00:12:47,595 --> 00:12:50,917 situation in the modern Middle East.