The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine

by Bernard Regan

Overview

The true history of the imperial deal that transformed the Middle East and sealed the fate of Palestine

On November 2, 1917, the British government, represented by Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour, declared that they were in favor of “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” This short note would be one of the most controversial documents of its time.

A hundred years after its signing, Bernard Regan recasts the history of the Balfour Declaration as one of the major events in the story of the Middle East. Offering new insights into the imperial rivalries between Britain, Germany and the Ottomans, Regan exposes British policy in the region as part of a larger geopolitical game. Yet, even then, the course of events was not straightforward and Regan charts the debates within the British government and the Zionist movement itself on the future of Palestine.

The book also provides a revealing account of life in Palestinian society at the time, paying particular attention to the responses of Palestinian civil society to the imperial machinations that threatened their way of life. Not just a history of states and policies, Regan manages to brilliantly present both a history of people under colonialism and an account of the colonizers themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786632470
Publisher:	Verso
Publication date:	12/05/2017
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bernard Regan served for twenty five years on the National Executive of the National Union of Teachers. He has been publicly campaigning since 1982 in support of the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, for much of that time as an executive member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He was the principal author of the groundbreaking resolution adopted in 2006 by the Trade Union Congress in support of Palestinian rights. He gained his PhD in 2016 studying with the Palestinian historian Professor Nur Masalha. He has contributed to journals including the Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies.

Table of Contents

Maps viii

Introduction 1

1 War, Empire and Palestine 15

2 The Balfour Declaration, Self-Determination and Palestinian Opposition 49

3 The Mandate and Palestinian Politics 81

4 Social, Economic and Political Features of Palestinian Resistance 116

5 British Responses to Palestinian Challenges 155

6 The Mandate in Context 198

Acknowledgements 209

Bibliography 211

Notes 227

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

Most have heard of the Balfour Declaration, without fully appreciating its history and consequences. With this meticulous and insightful study, we have a fascinating and timely guide to British colonial policy in Palestine, and its devastating impacts for the Palestinian people to this day.”
—Karma Nabulsi, Oxford University

“In this major account of the Balfour Declaration, Bernard Regan’s timely book sheds light on the most powerful symbol of the official British–Zionist alliance over the last century. It deserves to be widely read by those yearning for truth and reconciliation in the Middle East.”
—Professor Nur Masalha, SOAS, University of London

“This is a meticulously researched account of the background and aftermath of a transaction that launched in 1917 a malignant conflict that has poisoned the Near East and the wider international arena ever since. Bernard Regan places the Balfour Declaration in its proper context … It is compelling essential reading to anyone who wishes to understand the roots of one of our world’s most dangerous potential explosion spots.”
—Moshé Machover, author of Israelis and Palestinians: Conflict and Resolution

“An insightful overview of the troubled history … It should become a standard university text for those studying this history.”
—Middle East Monitor

From the Publisher