ONE HUGE UNGRATEFUL VOLCANO THAT WAS THE MIDDLE EAST

No, this image is not Gaza. It is Syria 2016. The bombs were dropped by Russian jets. Russia supported the Assad regime and were supposedly bombing ISIS held areas. Possibly due to poor intelligence and non-precision bombs, the Russians ended up with discriminatory bombing of civilians. Thousands of Syrian non-combatant civilians were killed by these bombs. There was not a squeak about Assad or Russian genocide from the Islamic ummah (Muslim worldwide community), the media, bleeding hearts, neoliberals, or dumb leftist students of US universities .

Pakistan is now kicking out 1.7 million Afghans. Doesn't matter if they are refugees, lived in Pakistan for years, or born in Pakistan. 1.7 million Muslims being uprooted and dispossessed. Where is the outcry?

All the noises and outcry and demonstrations of the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict, and any violent flare-ups in Palestine in the past, aren' t about humanitarian concerns. It is all agitprop. Always is, always has been. The Islamic ummah has always hated Jews for centuries on religious grounds.  The escalation of hate amongst neoliberal left is due to decades of well orchestrated propaganda and a lack of knowledge of history. People forget history very fast, or they reframe it to suit their bias.

The dynamics of the geopolitics of the Middle East in the period roughly between 1850 - 1940 is a tapestry of tumultuous events that shaped the major part of the Arab world. Big picture interests define objectives of main actors and in all these developments it seemed the tiny plot of land the Romans called Palestina was put on the back burner. In the scheme of things at the time, Palestina was not a priority issue. That turned out to be history's biggest mistake as the Israeli-Palestinian issue is now a modern day Gordian Knot.

In this blog, I give an overview of the big events between 1850-1940 for the real history that provide understanding and context to current events in ME.

In the 2nd half of the 19th century the two major powers in the area were the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918) and Ottoman Empire (1300-1918). By the end of 19th century both were weakened and breaking apart. It was a time of nationalist fervour where people chose to group themselves along linguistic and shared cultural heritage.

How WWI started:

At the turn of the 19th century,  the Industrial Revolution caused a recalibration of power in Europe. Germany and Austria on one side, and France and Britain on the other, were uncomfortable with each other's growing strength. Germany-Austria-Russia decided to form a Tripartite Alliance. That failed as Russia and Austria could not agree over control of the Balkans. Germany and Austria proceeded to sign a dual defence pact.

In 1908 Austria annexed Bosnia which angered the Serbs who wanted a Serbia-Bosnia union. In 1914 a young Serb assassinated the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, an act that started WWI. Russia, which had disagreements with Austria over control of the Balkans, sided with Serbia. Germany, which had a defence pact with Austria, declared war on Russia. France sided with Russia and when it mobilised a million French troops to help Tsar Nicholas II, Germany declared war on France. When Germany invaded Belgium to get to France, Britain, which had an alliance pact with France, declared war on Germany. The Ottomans, fearing Russian interests on their northern lands, entered the war in 1914 on the German side . Italy was in the process of national unification. It joined Central Power of Germany-Austria axis in 1915 as it expected to gain some territories in the Balkans and Ottoman land. However, Italy later switched sides. Japan joined the war on Britain's side. It had no need to send troops. Its purpose was to take advantage to acquire Germany's scattered small holdings in the Pacific and on the coast of China.

This is a map of Ottoman Empire shown with present day boundaries.

Self-interests of Allies:

Russia was driven by its desire to protect Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Slavic peoples, and a port to give them access through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean Seas and beyond. The only port it had that is not frozen during Winter is Korsakov in the Far East island of Sakhalin. Russia thus had a strategic interest in the swath of Ottoman land to its south bordering the Black Sea all the way to the Caucasus.

The 1917 Revolution changed everything for the Russians. The Bolsheviks deposed the imperial regime of Tsar Nicholas II. With mounting losses in the war, economic difficulties, and post revolution reconstruction, the new communist leader Lenin withdrew Russia from the war.

Before WWI, Britain and France had a shared interest to prevent Russia gaining influence southwards towards Persia and present day Iraq where oil wells were. They thus had an earlier interest to support the stability of the Ottoman Empire. Britain's overriding interest was to protect the Suez Canal for the produce and raw materials coming from India and the Orient.

By 1805 Egypt already had autonomy from Ottomans and 50 years later Britain began to maintain a presence to protect its overland trade route to India. In 1869 the French completed construction of the Suez Canal making the strategic importance of Egypt unquestionable. Britain and France co-owned the company that operated the canal. Faced with an unfriendly nationalist government in 1882, Britain colonised Egypt. To appease France, Britain declared international freedom of navigation at Suez Canal. Egypt gained independence in 1922 but British presence remained until after the Suez Canal War 1956.

Some of the key players

Instead of London or British India, Britain created the Arab Bureau based in Cairo, to run the war effort in its sphere of influence in Egypt/Arabia/Mesopotamia region. Gertrude Bell was recruited to run the intelligence gathering and help craft Britain's Grand Strategies for Middle East policies. She was an archaeologist, linguist, writer, extensively travelled in the region, excellent contacts with tribal leaders, can navigate nuances of local politics, and had local credibility. The huge role she played had largely gone under reported in history. Turf war was inevitable as both London aristocrats and British India officials were old school that held the view locals were incapable of governing themselves, while Arab Bureau held a deferential view to the wishes of the locals towards self-governance.

A key local player was Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi. He was Ottoman's appointed Shariff of Mecca. His family had been in charge of Mecca since 1200s. His major contribution was acceding to Arab Bureau's request not to support the Sublime Porte’s call for jihad against British and French forces.  The Sublime Porte was the spiritual leader of the Ottoman, much like Iran's Ayatollahs. With considerable influence as Shariff of Mecca, Hussein's refusal to heed the jihad allowed the Arab Bureau to work with nationalist Arabs and raise millions of Muslim Indians to serve in the British military and continue to fight on behalf of the British Empire.

Hussein held long cherished desire to return the Islamic Caliphate back to Arabs from Turkish Ottoman. In return for Hussein raising an army to start an Arab Revolt against the Ottoman, Britain will make him king of the lands comprising the Hejaz (strip of land on the west coast of Arabia where Mecca is located) and Mesopotamia area all the way to Syria, under a sort of a protectorate. Hussein had a series of correspondence with Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner to Egypt, on this matter. That came to be called Hussein-McMahon letters.

Meanwhile London and Paris had made a secret deal known as Sykes–Picot Agreement which was ratified on 16 May 1916. This was not revealed even to Arab Bureau.  (This was exposed by Lenin in 1917 when he came across the document in the Kremlin). This agreement was meant to split Russian, British and French areas of influence in the expected victory over Ottoman. UK was to control what is today southern Israel and Palestine, Jordan and Southern Iraq, and an additional small area that included the ports of Haifa and Acre to allow access to the Mediterranean. France was to control southeastern Turkey, the Kurdistan Region, Syria and Lebanon. The Arabs were to later consider this a betrayal of the Hussein-McMahon letters.

On 10 June 1916, Sharif Hussein launched his highly anticipated Arab Revolt in the Hijab. But the British had bought a pig in a poke. Hussein could muster only a few hundred men and the belief that the uprising would draw support throughout the Muslim and Arabic-speaking worlds and a largely Arabic-speaking Ottoman Army, never materialised.

Shortly after, in March 1917, Britain took over Baghdad

On 2 Nov 1917, Britain signed the Balfour Declaration drafted by ex-Prime Minister Lord Arthur Balfour, that sought to create a state on Palestine for the Jewish people. 

Meanwhile, Hussein's elder son Faisal bin Hussein Al-Hashemi, decided to make a move for Syria for himself instead of fighting for his father. In a game of deception and intrigue, Faisal approached the Ottoman that British betrayal with the Sykes–Picot Agreement made him decide to switch sides if he were given Syria. The Ottomans, on the other hand, were trying to use him to divide the Hashemi side.

The British sent Thomas E Lawrence, an archaeologist, commissioned as captain, to assess the viability of an assault on Syria by Faisal. The young captain lionised himself in his autobiography and was iconised as Lawrence of Arabia by Hollywood.

On 3 Oct, 1918, Lawrence and Faisal claimed Damascus for Arab nationalists.

On 4 Oct 1918 the Ottoman Empire capitulated and signed an armistice with the British.

11 November 1918  WWI officially ended.

In January 1919, Allied powers convened the Paris Peace Conference at Versailles. The League of Nations was formed to settle peace terms with the loosing Central Alliance. Russia, Italy and Greece to sought out some northern Ottoman lands. Ottoman Arab lands were split into a French Mandate covering Lebanon, Syria and some Kurdish areas, and a British Mandate covering the Hijab, Palestine,  Transjordan and Mesopotamia. Formal annexation of territories by these powers were prohibited.

Faisal found himself played out as Syria went to the French. To forestall against French designs on Syria, Faisal once again played chess. He betted the powerful Zionist lobby can influence Britain's foreign policy in his favour. On 4 January 1919, Faisal and Dr. Chaim Weizmann, President of the Zionist Organization, signed the Faisal–Weizmann Agreement in which Faisal conditionally accepted the Balfour Declaration, promising British support to the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

On 25 April 1920 the League of Nations met again in San Reno, Italy. The San Reno Resolution accepted the Balfour Declaration to create a Jewish state at Palestine. Faisal's younger brother Zeid bin Hussein was made Regent of Mesopotamia. As Faisal could not obtain Arab consensus for the Jewish state, he withdrew his support for the Balfour Declaration. 

Faisal had declared Syria an independent Arab constitutional government on October 5, 1918, a government the French did not recognize but allowed to function. Faisal would go on to declare a kingdom on March 8, 1920. France sent 20,000 troops and Faisal moved back to Mesopotamia. A small group of Arab nationalists put up a token resistance in the Battle of Maysalun which the French quickly squashed by 25 July.

During his short stay at Syria 1918-1920, Faisal had impressed Gertrude Bell of his ability to govern. Municipal services had functioned well. Bell argued for Iraq be handed over to Faisal to govern. She was able to convince the new Secretary of State for War back in London, a young vociferous newbie by the name of Winston Churchill. Actually it was easy to convince Churchill who had come at a time when London was concerned at the Crown's fiscal position after WWI and wanted a reduction of expenses in the colonies. Churchill had famously said of Iraq as "Living on an ungrateful volcano". He had concluded Iraq was a waste of time, effort and money and unmanageable. A sentiment the Americans would face some 100 years later.

So in 1920 Faisal became Emir of Iraq under British protection, making it the second Hashemite kingdom after the failed Syrian kingdom. In 1932 the Mandate of Britain ended and Iraq became an independent nation.

Faisal had understood the precarious situation of a minority Sunni government with a large ignorant Kurdish population who rejected the Ottomans (Turkish) simply on grounds of ethnicity, will certainly resent Arab rule, and a majority Shiite Arabs who had been discriminated and persecuted by Sunni Ottomans for 600 years. The big problem of victimisation mindset of Shiite Iraqis persists to this day.

The Transjordan region was under British Mandate and administered by OETA (Occupied Enemy Territory Administration) a joint British, French and Arab military administration. It briefly fell under Hashemite Syrian rule of Faisal in 1918-1920. When France took back Syria, Transjordan became technically a no man's land. Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Hashimi, a brother of Faisal, moved into Transjordan in 1920. Britain agreed to let Abdullah have autonomous governance under the auspices of the British Mandate for Palestine. In 1946 under the Treaty of London. Britain granted full independence to Jordan and the emirate became a Hashemite Kingdom. Abdullah is the grandfather of present day King Abdullah II.

Meanwhile, old man Hussein ruled the other Hashemite region in the Hejaz. But Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud) has other plans. The House of Saud had been a powerful clan that controlled much of Central regions of Arabia, known as Nejd, for over 100 years. It was called Emirate of Diriyah. The dynasty rode on the back of tribal leaders that practice Wahhabism which is a form of Islamic fundamentalism, some wrongly call it  “extremism.”. Wahhabism advocates a purification of Islam, rejects Islamic theology and philosophy developed after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and calls for strict adherence to the letter of the Koran and hadith (sayings and practices of the Prophet). Kind of like "sola scriptura".

In 1818 the Ottoman's Egyptian forces destroyed Diriyah and the House of Saud was exiled to Riyadh. The Al-Rashids, long time regional rivals with backing from Ottoman, captured Riyadh in 1891 and the Al Sauds took refuge in Qatar/Kuwait/Bahrain regions. In 1902, with a small force of 40 men, Ibn Saud retook Riyadh. That success glorified his reputation and old Wahhabi tribal leaders returned to his fold. He then set out to take back the Nejd which was accomplished by 1912. He then formed the Ikhwan, a military-religious brotherhood, kind of like the Knights Templar.

To prevent Ibn Saud from seeking legitimacy with the Ottomans, Britain made an agreement to fund and supply weapons to Ibn Saud. The condition was bullets and British protection for a thin Blue Line up north to Palestine, Transjordan and Mesopotamia regions. that Ibn Saud must not cross. That way Britain protected its interest in Suez Canal and overland trade routes to India, 

Ibn Saud next moved into the Hijab and  by 1925, had captured the holy city of Mecca from Sharif Hussein, ending 700 years of Hashemite rule. By 1927 Ibn Saud won all the land as in today's Saudi Arabia. Thankfully the euphoria did not cloud Ibn Saud's judgement. He did not cross British Blue Line and left all those coastal countries under British protection alone, namely Yemen, Kuwai, Qatar and Bahrain.

In 1927 Britain signed Treaty of Jeddah that recognised Hejaz and Nejd as 2 separate independent states. In 1932, Ibn Saud formally united his realm into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with himself as its king. Oil was discovered in 1938 and the rest is history.

That basically sums up the run of play of the ME countries sans Palestine. But I can't sign off without mention of this trivia of history. Ibn Saud's Treaty of Jeddah earned the displeasure of the Ikhwan. Remember the religious extremist soldiers of Ibn Saud. Wahhabists resented appeasement with the infidel British and the modernisation and progressive reforms of Ibn Saud. They basically prefer Medieval Islam, much like ISIS. A Ikhwan Revolt broke out which the Saudi Army finally put down in the Battle of Sabilla (29 March, 1929). This was a battle of old Bedouin tribes with their scimitars versus machine guns and planes. That was the last battle in history where one side rode camels.

Conclusion:

All's fair in love and war. Each party looked after their own interest. Some Arabs consider the Sykes-Pigot Agreement as a betrayal by the British. This is in so much as Hussein bin Ali is concerned. However, Hussein never delivered on his part of the Hussein-McMahon Letters. There was no Arab revolt against the Ottomans. At least the British allowed two Hashemite Kingdoms in Iraq and Jordan for his children.

The Mandate system worked to return Ottoman lands to Arab self-rule. The fractionalised local setting made it extremely difficult. The great divides were along racial and religious lines of Arabs-Kurds- Jews, Muslims-Christians-Yazidis, Sunnis-Shiites. The British sought to align with strong and capable groups that can provide stability to the region and at the same time protect its own interest.

Hundreds of thousands fought in wars that freed the Arabs from 600 years under Ottoman Turks. One of the most horrible battles was the Gallipoli Campaign where Kiwis, Aussies, Indians, British, French, and Russians perished. Hundreds of thousands of Indians died from malaria in the swamps of Basra. On the other hand, Arab soldiers in the Ottoman Army fought against the Allied Forces. The Arab world does not commemorate the sacrifices at Gallipoli.

Through it all, there were no Arab concerns for Palestinians. In fact, as long as it suited his purpose, Faisal accepted the Balfour Declaration for a Jewish state in Palestine in 1919 although he rescinded it the following year as he was unable to obtain Arab consensus, and perhaps more likely because he gained nothing from the San Reno Agreement. In subsequent years, Faisal's solution for Palestine was a " Jewish nation" where Jews can return to Palestine but cannot create a state.

And when all the dust had settled after WWI and Ottomans were out of Arab lands, and the Arabs had gotten  all those vast tracks of land and regained sovereignty of the Hijab, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, fought and died for by infidels, and some other Arab lands that lived under British protection during those uncertain times, the Arabs will not allow a tiny Jewish state in Palestine.

Churchill got it right. It was all one huge "ungrateful volcano".

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