WEBVTT 00:00:00.391 --> 00:00:02.235 Narrator: As we'll see in this video 00:00:02.235 --> 00:00:06.099 and in others, the roots of a lot of the current 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:08.615 disagreements in the Middle East 00:00:08.615 --> 00:00:10.069 and a lot of the conflict in the Middle East 00:00:10.069 --> 00:00:13.495 can actually be traced back to World War I. 00:00:13.495 --> 00:00:15.893 I realize this is an incredibly touchy subject 00:00:15.893 --> 00:00:17.405 that there are people who have very strong feelings 00:00:17.405 --> 00:00:20.077 on either side of it and my goal here is to really 00:00:20.077 --> 00:00:24.872 give my best attempt at what really happened. 00:00:24.872 --> 00:00:28.102 I encourage you to doubt any of this 00:00:28.102 --> 00:00:31.247 and look it up yourself and come, frankly, 00:00:31.247 --> 00:00:32.810 to your own conclusions. 00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:36.465 Let's rewind back to October of 1915, 00:00:36.465 --> 00:00:38.069 or 1915 in particular. 00:00:38.069 --> 00:00:41.046 The British were already at war with the Ottoman's. 00:00:41.046 --> 00:00:42.403 Just as a reminder of some of what happened 00:00:42.403 --> 00:00:45.131 in 1915, the Gallipoli campaign, 00:00:45.131 --> 00:00:47.003 by the end of 1915 it was pretty clear 00:00:47.003 --> 00:00:49.132 that this was a disaster for the allies. 00:00:49.132 --> 00:00:51.287 The Ottoman's were able to fend off the allies, 00:00:51.287 --> 00:00:52.953 they were in retreat. 00:00:52.953 --> 00:00:55.398 The British were able to fend off the Ottoman's 00:00:55.398 --> 00:00:58.662 when they tried to attack the Suez canal in 1915. 00:00:58.662 --> 00:01:00.936 This is the background, you can imagine the British 00:01:00.936 --> 00:01:04.013 are eager to get any other allies they can 00:01:04.013 --> 00:01:07.584 in their battle against the Ottoman's. 00:01:07.584 --> 00:01:09.010 In particular, they are eager to get the help 00:01:09.010 --> 00:01:11.403 of the Arab's who have been under the rule 00:01:11.403 --> 00:01:13.823 of the Ottoman's for hundreds of years. 00:01:13.823 --> 00:01:15.668 That's the backdrop where you have 00:01:15.668 --> 00:01:17.812 this correspondence between the high commissioner 00:01:17.812 --> 00:01:19.669 in Egypt, the British high commissioner, 00:01:19.669 --> 00:01:22.667 Sir Henry McMahon and the Sharif of Mecca, 00:01:22.667 --> 00:01:25.709 Hussein bin ĘżAli, who had his own aspirations 00:01:25.709 --> 00:01:28.564 to essentially be the king of an independent 00:01:28.564 --> 00:01:30.079 Arab state. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.601 They kept going back and forth from mid 1915 00:01:32.601 --> 00:01:36.561 to early 1916 talking about what the state could be. 00:01:36.561 --> 00:01:38.066 Obviously the British want his support, 00:01:38.066 --> 00:01:43.004 wants him to lead a revolt against the Ottoman's. 00:01:43.004 --> 00:01:46.077 He's already articulated the boundaries 00:01:46.077 --> 00:01:48.891 for a state that he would like to see. 00:01:48.891 --> 00:01:50.929 So, that gives us a context for this correspondence 00:01:50.929 --> 00:01:52.819 in October of 1915. 00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:55.727 This is from Sir Henry McMahon to Hussein. 00:01:55.727 --> 00:01:57.944 "... it is with great pleasure that I communicate to you 00:01:57.944 --> 00:02:00.475 "on their behalf," the British government's behalf, 00:02:00.475 --> 00:02:02.559 "the following statement, which I am confident 00:02:02.559 --> 00:02:04.196 "you will receive with satisfaction. 00:02:04.196 --> 00:02:08.535 "The two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta 00:02:08.535 --> 00:02:10.182 "and portions of Syria lying to the west 00:02:10.182 --> 00:02:12.581 "of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama, 00:02:12.581 --> 00:02:15.331 "and Aleppo cannot be said to be purely Arab, 00:02:15.331 --> 00:02:17.912 "and should be excluded from the limits demanded." 00:02:17.912 --> 00:02:19.980 This is referring to the limits that 00:02:19.980 --> 00:02:22.072 Hussein bin Ali had demanded 00:02:22.072 --> 00:02:23.750 in previous correspondence. 00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:25.684 "With the above modifications," so just that region 00:02:25.684 --> 00:02:28.569 right over there, this right over here is 00:02:28.569 --> 00:02:31.404 Mersina, Alexandretta, this is Hama, 00:02:31.404 --> 00:02:34.979 Homs, Damascus, so really what he's referring to 00:02:34.979 --> 00:02:39.338 is this region, the west, the west of those cities 00:02:39.338 --> 00:02:40.408 right over here. 00:02:40.408 --> 00:02:42.068 He's saying look, you can't really consider 00:02:42.068 --> 00:02:44.067 this to be purely Arab, I'm going to exclude 00:02:44.067 --> 00:02:46.228 this out of the boundaries of this potential 00:02:46.228 --> 00:02:48.738 independent Arab state. 00:02:48.738 --> 00:02:51.204 "With the above modification, and without prejudice 00:02:51.204 --> 00:02:52.871 "to our existing treaties with Arab chiefs 00:02:52.871 --> 00:02:56.945 "we accept those limits," we accept those limits. 00:02:56.945 --> 00:02:59.616 "As for those regions lying within those frontiers 00:02:59.616 --> 00:03:01.390 "wherein Great Britain is free to act 00:03:01.390 --> 00:03:03.721 "without determinant to the interest of her ally, 00:03:03.721 --> 00:03:05.707 "France," so as long as I'm not getting in trouble 00:03:05.707 --> 00:03:07.872 with France, "I'm empowered in the name of 00:03:07.872 --> 00:03:09.796 "the Government of Great Britain to give the following 00:03:09.796 --> 00:03:12.957 "assurances and make the following reply 00:03:12.957 --> 00:03:15.739 "to your letter; Subject to the above modifications," 00:03:15.739 --> 00:03:19.212 so taking this part out, "Great Britain is prepared 00:03:19.212 --> 00:03:22.727 "to recognize and support the independence 00:03:22.727 --> 00:03:25.992 "of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits 00:03:25.992 --> 00:03:27.527 "demanded by the Sharif of Mecca." 00:03:27.527 --> 00:03:30.285 So, essentially it included all of this region 00:03:30.285 --> 00:03:32.707 and actually much beyond what I'm showing here, 00:03:32.707 --> 00:03:36.055 kind of present day Syria, Jordan, Iraq, 00:03:36.055 --> 00:03:38.659 parts of present day Saudi Arabia. 00:03:38.659 --> 00:03:40.700 All of that is essentially, the British are saying, 00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:43.202 yeah we're going to allow you to have that, 00:03:43.202 --> 00:03:44.758 an independent state there. 00:03:44.758 --> 00:03:46.681 "Great Britain will guarantee the Holy Places 00:03:46.681 --> 00:03:48.120 "against all external aggression 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.121 "and will recognize their inviolability. 00:03:50.121 --> 00:03:52.654 "... I am convinced that this declaration will assure 00:03:52.654 --> 00:03:54.656 "you beyond all possible doubt," 00:03:54.656 --> 00:03:57.593 beyond all possible doubt, "of the sympathy 00:03:57.593 --> 00:04:00.878 "of Great Britain towards the aspiration of her friends 00:04:00.878 --> 00:04:03.022 "the Arabs, and will result in a firm 00:04:03.022 --> 00:04:06.275 "and lasting alliance, the immediate results 00:04:06.275 --> 00:04:08.124 "of which will be the expulsion of the Turks 00:04:08.124 --> 00:04:10.204 "from the Arab countries and the freeing 00:04:10.204 --> 00:04:12.098 "of the Arab peoples from the Turkish yoke, 00:04:12.098 --> 00:04:14.600 "which for so many years has pressed heavily 00:04:14.600 --> 00:04:16.255 "upon them." 00:04:16.255 --> 00:04:18.690 This actually does help to convince the Arab's 00:04:18.690 --> 00:04:21.455 to rise up against the Turks, 00:04:21.455 --> 00:04:23.796 against the Ottoman Empire, they play a significant 00:04:23.796 --> 00:04:25.470 role in the Palestine Campaign, 00:04:25.470 --> 00:04:28.454 they rise up in June of 1916. 00:04:28.454 --> 00:04:30.620 Now, the video that I did on the Palestine Campaign, 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:32.349 I got several comments of people being cynical 00:04:32.349 --> 00:04:35.842 about Britain's intentions and it does look like 00:04:35.842 --> 00:04:38.342 the British were, indeed, cynical. 00:04:38.342 --> 00:04:41.387 T.E. Lawrence famous for Lawrence of Arabia 00:04:41.387 --> 00:04:44.346 was often depicted as this mystical fellow, 00:04:44.346 --> 00:04:47.127 this guy who had this kinship with the Arab's. 00:04:47.127 --> 00:04:48.939 His actual correspondence with the 00:04:48.939 --> 00:04:51.550 British government actually do show that he did have 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:55.096 a kind of ... he was doing, I guess, 00:04:55.096 --> 00:04:56.863 in the words of George W. Bush, a little bit of 00:04:56.863 --> 00:04:59.225 strategery, he had a more cynical view 00:04:59.225 --> 00:05:01.922 of this relationship with the Arab's. 00:05:01.922 --> 00:05:03.294 This is some correspondence that he wrote 00:05:03.294 --> 00:05:06.466 in early 1916, so right about the same time 00:05:06.466 --> 00:05:08.375 that all of this was going on. 00:05:08.375 --> 00:05:11.070 This says he's referring to a possible Arab revolt, 00:05:11.070 --> 00:05:12.221 or Hussein's activity. 00:05:12.221 --> 00:05:15.578 "Hussein's activity seems beneficial to us, 00:05:15.578 --> 00:05:17.561 "because it matches with our immediate aims, 00:05:17.561 --> 00:05:20.247 "the break-up of the Islamic 'bloc' 00:05:20.247 --> 00:05:22.030 "and the defeat and disruption of the 00:05:22.030 --> 00:05:23.521 "Ottoman Empire." 00:05:23.521 --> 00:05:24.966 Assuming he didn't really talk about this, 00:05:24.966 --> 00:05:28.025 this being one of the ... the British didn't 00:05:28.025 --> 00:05:30.321 talk about that when they were talking to Hussein. 00:05:30.321 --> 00:05:32.404 "If we can arrange that this political change 00:05:32.404 --> 00:05:35.036 "shall be a violent one, we will have abolished 00:05:35.036 --> 00:05:38.278 "the threat of Islam, by dividing it against itself, 00:05:38.278 --> 00:05:39.487 "in its very heart." 00:05:39.487 --> 00:05:41.276 "There will then be a Khalifa," 00:05:41.276 --> 00:05:42.789 kind of a seat of Islam, "in Turkey 00:05:42.789 --> 00:05:47.001 "and a Khalifa in Arabia, in theological warfare." 00:05:47.001 --> 00:05:48.751 This is T.E. Lawrence, I got this from 00:05:48.751 --> 00:05:50.122 The Golden Warrior: The Life and Legend 00:05:50.122 --> 00:05:51.932 of Lawrence of Arabia. 00:05:51.932 --> 00:05:54.540 Even this, somewhat portrayed as a heroic figure, 00:05:54.540 --> 00:05:57.382 was doing things in very strategic, 00:05:57.382 --> 00:05:59.298 strategic terms. 00:05:59.298 --> 00:06:01.761 To make things worse for the Arab's, 00:06:01.761 --> 00:06:04.246 while the British were trying to convince them 00:06:04.246 --> 00:06:06.210 to revolt, they were also in secret negotiations 00:06:06.210 --> 00:06:08.656 with the French on how they would divide 00:06:08.656 --> 00:06:11.701 the Middle East if they were able 00:06:11.701 --> 00:06:13.448 to beat the Ottoman's. 00:06:13.448 --> 00:06:15.601 At this point in the war the British were already 00:06:15.601 --> 00:06:17.697 making some progress in Mesopotamia, 00:06:17.697 --> 00:06:19.715 but they really hadn't really started 00:06:19.715 --> 00:06:22.055 on the Palestine Campaign right here. 00:06:22.055 --> 00:06:23.564 So, this was all conjecture. 00:06:23.564 --> 00:06:25.720 The British representatives was Sykes, 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:27.718 the French representative was Picot, 00:06:27.718 --> 00:06:29.822 this was done with the consent of the Russian's. 00:06:29.822 --> 00:06:32.240 You didn't have a revolution in Russia 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:37.572 as of now, so in early 1916, in May this agreement 00:06:37.572 --> 00:06:39.046 was concluded, this secret agreement. 00:06:39.046 --> 00:06:46.221 You have the Sykes-Picot Agreement, 00:06:46.221 --> 00:06:47.518 it's secret. 00:06:47.518 --> 00:06:49.053 Let me write that, it is a secret agreement 00:06:49.053 --> 00:06:52.397 between Britain and France and essentially they are 00:06:52.397 --> 00:06:54.717 carving up the entire Middle East between them. 00:06:54.717 --> 00:06:56.884 This blue area right here, this would be occupied 00:06:56.884 --> 00:06:59.719 by the French, part of eastern Turkey 00:06:59.719 --> 00:07:01.880 or modern day eastern Turkey would be given 00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:03.428 to the Russian's. 00:07:03.428 --> 00:07:06.238 The British would be able to occupy, 00:07:06.238 --> 00:07:09.051 would occupy southern Mesopotamia 00:07:09.051 --> 00:07:12.264 essentially insuring protection of the oil 00:07:12.264 --> 00:07:13.929 that is coming out of Persia. 00:07:13.929 --> 00:07:15.589 Oil is becoming more and more of a relevant 00:07:15.589 --> 00:07:18.060 factor in kind of global power. 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:19.545 Then you have these two protectorates 00:07:19.545 --> 00:07:20.985 right over here, which in theory could be 00:07:20.985 --> 00:07:23.129 independent or an independent Arab state, 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:25.886 or two independent Arab states under the protection. 00:07:25.886 --> 00:07:27.484 Let me put that in quotes, 00:07:27.484 --> 00:07:29.892 because "protectorate" is always not as nice 00:07:29.892 --> 00:07:32.722 as it sounds, under the protection of the French 00:07:32.722 --> 00:07:33.948 or the British which means, 00:07:33.948 --> 00:07:35.518 "Hey you're an independent state, but we will 00:07:35.518 --> 00:07:38.304 "protect you in case anyone wants to invade." 00:07:38.304 --> 00:07:40.669 The reality of protectorate is that it usually involves 00:07:40.669 --> 00:07:44.198 the people doing the protecting have all 00:07:44.198 --> 00:07:47.629 the real power and all the real influence. 00:07:47.629 --> 00:07:49.597 The Sykes-Picot Agreement also give this little 00:07:49.597 --> 00:07:52.095 carve out to Britain so they would have access 00:07:52.095 --> 00:07:53.513 to the Mediterranean. 00:07:53.513 --> 00:07:57.041 Palestine, or the Roman Kingdom of Judea, 00:07:57.041 --> 00:08:04.472 this is carved out as a separate international property 00:08:04.472 --> 00:08:06.547 something that would be administered by multiple 00:08:06.547 --> 00:08:08.470 states and I guess the argument would be, 00:08:08.470 --> 00:08:09.863 this is where the Holy Land's are, 00:08:09.863 --> 00:08:12.557 multiple religions have some of their holiest sites 00:08:12.557 --> 00:08:15.539 within here and so they carved it out like this. 00:08:15.539 --> 00:08:17.349 Once again, this is all in secret, 00:08:17.349 --> 00:08:19.270 they obviously don't want the Arab's to find out 00:08:19.270 --> 00:08:21.102 because they're about to convince the Arab's 00:08:21.102 --> 00:08:24.167 to join in a revolt against the Ottoman's. 00:08:24.167 --> 00:08:27.689 Now, to make things ... once again, this was all secret 00:08:27.689 --> 00:08:30.839 up to this point in 1916 when it was all agreed on. 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:34.871 Then you forward to 1917 where we have 00:08:34.871 --> 00:08:36.672 the famous Balfour Declaration. 00:08:36.672 --> 00:08:42.068 This right over here is the Balfour Declaration 00:08:42.068 --> 00:08:43.888 and it was essentially a letter from 00:08:43.888 --> 00:08:47.674 the Foreign Secretary of the U.K., Balfour, 00:08:47.674 --> 00:08:52.869 to Lord Rothschild who was a leading [Briticizen] , 00:08:52.869 --> 00:08:54.701 a leading member of the Jewish community. 00:08:54.701 --> 00:08:57.670 In it he writes, "Dear Lord Rothschild, 00:08:57.670 --> 00:08:59.864 "I have much pleasure in conveying to you, 00:08:59.864 --> 00:09:01.454 "on behalf of His Majesty's Government, 00:09:01.454 --> 00:09:03.680 "the following declaration of sympathy 00:09:03.680 --> 00:09:06.792 "with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been 00:09:06.792 --> 00:09:09.490 "submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:12.423 "His Majesty's Government view with favor 00:09:12.423 --> 00:09:15.515 "the establishment in Palestine of a national home," 00:09:15.515 --> 00:09:18.418 of a national home, "for the Jewish people, 00:09:18.418 --> 00:09:20.408 "and will use their best endeavors to facilitate 00:09:20.408 --> 00:09:22.328 "the achievement of this objective. 00:09:22.328 --> 00:09:25.046 "It being clearly understood that nothing shall be done 00:09:25.046 --> 00:09:27.718 "which may prejudice the civil and religious rights 00:09:27.718 --> 00:09:31.086 "of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, 00:09:31.086 --> 00:09:34.285 "or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews 00:09:34.285 --> 00:09:35.868 "in any other country. 00:09:35.868 --> 00:09:37.204 "I should be grateful if you would bring 00:09:37.204 --> 00:09:38.832 "this declaration to the knowledge of the 00:09:38.832 --> 00:09:40.275 "Zionist Federation." 00:09:40.275 --> 00:09:42.415 Signed Artur Balfour. 00:09:42.415 --> 00:09:44.196 In here, he's not explicitly saying ... 00:09:44.196 --> 00:09:45.780 and they're being very careful here, 00:09:45.780 --> 00:09:49.502 he's not saying we're supporting a state 00:09:49.502 --> 00:09:51.000 for the Jewish people, but he's saying 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.513 he is supporting the return of national home 00:09:53.513 --> 00:09:55.010 for the Jewish people, but at the same time, 00:09:55.010 --> 00:09:57.035 he's saying that it being clearly understood 00:09:57.035 --> 00:09:59.237 that nothing shall be done which may prejudice 00:09:59.237 --> 00:10:01.025 the civil and religious rights of the existing 00:10:01.025 --> 00:10:02.825 non-Jewish communities in Palestine. 00:10:02.825 --> 00:10:05.293 Needless to say, you can imagine that this is 00:10:05.293 --> 00:10:08.255 making the Arab's fairly uncomfortable. 00:10:08.255 --> 00:10:10.983 On one side it seems, based on some of the 00:10:10.983 --> 00:10:14.541 McMahon-Hussein correspondences that were ... 00:10:14.541 --> 00:10:17.241 especially in 1915, that they were being promised 00:10:17.241 --> 00:10:19.414 an independent Arab state which included 00:10:19.414 --> 00:10:21.561 much of this territory, but at the same time, 00:10:21.561 --> 00:10:23.742 in the Balfour Declaration the British were promising 00:10:23.742 --> 00:10:27.593 to, kind of the Jewish diaspora, 00:10:27.593 --> 00:10:29.304 that they could have a homeland there 00:10:29.304 --> 00:10:31.845 and it might one day, who knows, it might one day 00:10:31.845 --> 00:10:34.534 turn in to some type of a state. 00:10:34.534 --> 00:10:36.524 To make the Arab's even more uncomfortable, 00:10:36.524 --> 00:10:39.267 this was in November 2, 1917. 00:10:39.267 --> 00:10:40.992 By the end of November, you have to remember 00:10:40.992 --> 00:10:44.357 that 1917 you first had a revolution, 00:10:44.357 --> 00:10:46.332 in Russia the Czar was overthrown in February 00:10:46.332 --> 00:10:48.747 and in March of 1917, and October 00:10:48.747 --> 00:10:50.339 the Bolshevik's take over. 00:10:50.339 --> 00:10:52.691 They want to get out of the war, 00:10:52.691 --> 00:10:53.995 they don't like all these secret deals, 00:10:53.995 --> 00:10:56.260 not clear that they would even get what they 00:10:56.260 --> 00:10:57.348 were entitled to these secret deals, 00:10:57.348 --> 00:11:00.430 so they actually release all the entire text 00:11:00.430 --> 00:11:02.694 of the Sykes-Picot Agreement. 00:11:02.694 --> 00:11:04.025 They released this, so in the same month 00:11:04.025 --> 00:11:06.479 you have the Arab's and the Ottoman's 00:11:06.479 --> 00:11:08.029 and the Ottoman's were very happy to see this 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:12.494 because it would undermine the Arab's belief 00:11:12.494 --> 00:11:14.354 in maybe supporting the allies, 00:11:14.354 --> 00:11:16.904 but in one month you have the Arab's finding out 00:11:16.904 --> 00:11:18.764 about the Balfour Declaration, which was a pulbic 00:11:18.764 --> 00:11:20.439 declaration and then later that month 00:11:20.439 --> 00:11:22.861 because of the Russian release of it, 00:11:22.861 --> 00:11:25.680 the formally secret Sykes-Picot Agreement, 00:11:25.680 --> 00:11:28.026 so it makes them very, or at least a little bit 00:11:28.026 --> 00:11:29.408 more suspicious. 00:11:29.408 --> 00:11:33.040 So you can imagine the British Empire 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:35.041 trying to have it both ways, to kind of have 00:11:35.041 --> 00:11:37.255 support from the Jewish Diaspora 00:11:37.255 --> 00:11:39.699 while at the same time have support from the Arab's 00:11:39.699 --> 00:11:41.596 in their revolt against the Ottoman's 00:11:41.596 --> 00:11:44.069 would lead to very significant conflicts 00:11:44.069 --> 00:11:45.849 over the decades to come. 00:11:45.849 --> 00:11:47.625 Regardless of which side of the issue you fall on, 00:11:47.625 --> 00:11:51.012 a lot of the seed is happening right around now, 00:11:51.012 --> 00:11:52.358 right around World War I. 00:11:52.358 --> 00:11:54.544 This has been admitted by the British government. 00:11:54.544 --> 00:11:57.633 This is right here, this was the then 00:11:57.633 --> 00:11:59.670 Secretary, or Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, 00:11:59.670 --> 00:12:01.691 U.K Foreign Secretary in 2002. 00:12:01.691 --> 00:12:03.831 This is a statement he made to the 00:12:03.831 --> 00:12:07.095 News Statesman Magazine in 2002. 00:12:07.095 --> 00:12:09.615 "A lot of the problems we are having to deal with now, 00:12:09.615 --> 00:12:11.365 "I have to deal with now," 00:12:11.365 --> 00:12:12.996 he's the Foreign Secretary, "are a consequence 00:12:12.996 --> 00:12:14.667 "of our colonial past ..." 00:12:14.667 --> 00:12:16.563 Consequence of our colonial past. 00:12:16.563 --> 00:12:19.332 "The Balfour Declaration and the contradictory 00:12:19.332 --> 00:12:22.116 assurances," "and the contradictory assurances 00:12:22.116 --> 00:12:25.313 "which were being given to Palestinian's 00:12:25.313 --> 00:12:27.519 "in private at the same time as they were 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:29.154 "being given to the Israelis ... 00:12:29.154 --> 00:12:32.597 "again, an interesting history for us, 00:12:32.597 --> 00:12:34.419 "but not an honorable one." 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:35.572 This is really just the beginning 00:12:35.572 --> 00:12:37.591 as we'll see in future videos as we go to the 00:12:37.591 --> 00:12:41.577 Interwar period, the British kind of go back and forth 00:12:41.577 --> 00:12:44.610 on this issue over, over, and over again, 00:12:44.610 --> 00:12:47.595 but needless to say, it's lead to a very messy 00:12:47.595 --> 00:12:50.917 situation in the modern Middle East.