British Mandate Flashcards
Why should we study the British Mandate, from the perspective of British policy?
Formative period - contours of the conflict today. Situation at the end was the product of British policies. Also impact on self-perceptions and histories. Shaped consciousness of populations.
Who has stressed the harmful legacy of collective punishment and violence of the Mandate?
Hughes
In what Memorandum was it acknowledged that “no self-respecting Arab could accept” the White Paper (1922) policy?
Devonshire Memorandum
How does Shapira label the 1920s?
‘Days of Small Deeds’.
What was the context in which the British decided to abandon the Mandate?
Weakened global position; waning of Empire; collapse of political will to remain; exigencies of bankrupt exchequer; withdrawal from India; reconfiguration of interests in Cold War period
Who argues that Britain was attempting to reconcile the irreconcilable, caught in a triangular trap of its own making?
Renton
Who argues that the Mandate could be seen as a success from the perspective of the Zionists?
McTague
What does Fieldhouse argue about the Mandate?
Greatest failure in the whole history of British imperial rule
Why does Antonius compare the Mandate to Ireland?
Obstinate persistance in unwanted policy and same blindness to writing on the wall
What does Wasserstein argue about British policy?
Roots of conflict already there - little British could have done to deflect opposing forces from collision course. Essential nature of conflict.
What does Segev argue about relations between the Zionists and Military Administration?
Cordial relations - if any conflict, was one of egos
What does Huneidi argue determined policy during the Military Administration?
Hague Conventions 1899 and 1907
Who have pointed to the inherent contradictions between the Mandate and JNH? What exactly were these contradictions?
Herbert and Fuchs. Preservation (‘sacred trust of civilisation’) vs. JNH which represented modernist, aggressive development, cosmopolitanism
What does Jawharriyeh remember Allenby letting slip in Jerusalem at Christmas?
“Only now have the crusades ended”
Who stresses the fact that the British were restricted in what they could achieve by international oversight? Example?
Pedersen e.g. could not curb immigration - counter to terms of mandate
Which politician criticised the exclusion of Palestinians from the terms of the Mandate? “Even the poor Arabs are only allowed to look through the keyhole as a non-Jewish community”.
Lord Curzon
Why does Huneidi argue the British could not accept the Mandate?
Violated their national rights - self-determination
What did the Mandate specify the British had to facilitate?
The political, economic, administrative conditions to help establish JNH
Who argues that the Mandate was a bigger achievement than the BD?
Yapp
What clause of the Mandate referred to the Jewish Agency to safeguard Jewish interests?
Article 4
Which article of the Mandate referred to the facilitation of Jewish immigration?
Article 6
Who argues that anti-Semitism was irrelevant and that there was a convergence of interests between Zionists and British?
Golani
What does Renton argue about the Mandate as a document?
Stresses that unlike BD it was legally binding and commitments are more far-reaching. e.g. refers to securing not facilitating establishment of JNH.
What does Renton argue was the main problem with BD/Mandate?
Vagueness and ambiguity of terminology - useful as propaganda but unhelpful as foundation of governance
Who points to the different motivations between BD and Mandate/decision to persevere?
Matthew - of no interest in itself - strategic
When did the House of Lords vote in favour of radical modification of Palestine undertakings?
1922 - 60 vs. 29
Why does Huneidi argue the British stuck to its pro-Zionist policy?
Question of honour, self-respect, consistency
Who emphasises the role of the Zionist Lobby, esp. Weizmann?
Segev
What two reasons does Cohen identify for keeping to its policy?
Financial considerations and concern for international standing e.g. Curzon.
What does Shepherd emphasise was most significant in influencing British policy?
Strategic interests - compromise between annexation based on conquest and independence. Strategic reasons related to Empire.
Which historian has worked on British citizenship rights and policies?
Banko
When did Britain agree on a citizenship order, in the Palestine Electoral Order?
1922 - Voting rights on the basis of religious communal identity. Disconnect from emergence of equal citizenship.
How did the citizenship law favour Jews?
Only needed 2 years’ residency to qualify
Who argues that there was a dilemma between assertiveness and paternalism in British policy?
Fuchs and Herbert
What were ‘nice actions’ towards Arabs ultimately motivated by?
Desire to reconcile them to BD/JNH policy
What did the British try to set up in 1922? How many members? Who identifies this as a key failure?
Legislative Council - 22 - Fieldhouse.
What was rejected in 1923?
Arab Agency
What was the long-term significance of the failure to establish representative institutions?
Arab organisation restricted to religious affairs, preventing Arab leaders from exercising and developing their authority in political, economic and social fields.
Which two elected representative groups were rejected by the British?
Arab Executive Committee and Muslim-Christian association
Who argues that representative government would never have worked anyway?
Porath and Lesch
What was the problem with boycotting representative institutions?
Not matched by systematic boycott at lower levels (Porath)
How did Keith-Roach describe the colonial method of Government?
“Totalitarianism tempered with benevolence”
What does Segev argue about the power of the HC?
Illusory - restricted by colonial office and international oversight
What does Wasserstein argue was the result of trying to satisfy both groups separately?
Internal partition - drove them further apart and provided each with the institutional strength for the struggle ahead
Why was the bureaucracy so significant?
In absence of civic institutions representatives o Arabs, Arab officials became ersatz representatives of their community
What did the Peel Commission condemn about Britain’s style of rule?
‘Government by arithmetic’ - obsession with proportional allocation of positions
What did the Peel commission say about Arab schools?
“Seminaries of Arab nationalism”
What fraction of the budget was spent on schools?
4-7%
What fraction of Arabs were in education in this period?
3/10
What does Segev challenge in Britain’s education policy?
If the aim was a composite state, why segregated educational system?
What was Britain’s approach to land?
Did not allocate land to Zionists but facilitated creation of land market that the Zionists would be able to use
What does Stein criticise in British land policy?
Failure to provide money and capital to Arab tenants - meant they failed to alleviate the economic distress which was at the root of land sales
Who argues that the economic market stagnated in per capita measurements in this period?
Nadan
What ‘foundation’/organisation was founded in Jerusalem?
Pro-Jerusalem Society
What was problematic about British perceptions of Jerusalem’s leadership?
Saw representatives as religious ones only - ignored development of elites, bourgeoisie, notables from 1910s.
What does Robert argue about British policy in Jerusalem?
Urban planning discourse and implementation meant to privilege colonial power’s Zionist partner over Arabs. De-development. Promoted difference rather than ‘shared homeland’.
When was the Palestine Police Force established?
1926
Who argues that the Police became a sort of ‘crack force’ in the 1930s and 1940s?
Hughes
Who protested immigration in 1919?
Muslim-Christian Association
What fraction of immigrants who arrived in 1925-9 left shortly after?
33%
Who argues that early tranquility reflected immigration figures?
McTague
What does Shapira praise the British for?
Laying the basic infrastructural development project that encouraged immigrants to stay
Until when did the British police use Ottoman Law?
1935-6
What does Owen argue about international trends in law in this period?
Idea that military occupiers should continue to employ existing legal system
Why did the Zionists criticise Britain’s approach with Palestinian elites?
Saw them as favouring nationalists over moderates
What does Pappe argue about the elites in this period?
Anti-Zionist but not necessarily anti-British - most supported the Mandate
What does Shapira argue was an important turning point?
1929 riots - changes in consciousness, psychology and accepted rules of the camp, having demonstrated vulnerability of Jewish community in terms of security and politics
What commission was issued after the 1920 and 1921 riots? What did it conclude?
Haycraft Commission - sympathetic of movies of Arabs - fearful of Zionism.
