Far profounder import; The exercise of imperial arrogance and its consequences.

Introduction

“For in Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country…The four powers are committed to Zionism and Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long tradition, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desire and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land” [Lehn and Davis 1988]

This quote, from a memorandum by AJ Balfour to the Foreign Office in August 1919, tells us more about Balfour, than his rightly infamous “Balfour Declaration” of 1917. It no doubt reflects the true feelings of the British ruling class towards Palestinians, and for that matter any other people thought to be not of “profound import”. Spelling out how imperial powers deal with “lesser peoples”.

“Age long tradition” British Foreign Policy and Restorationism

Part 1 : Merchant Adventurers

The age long tradition which Balfour alluded to, was like much tradition more self-serving interpretation than the faithful replication of an ancient vision . The Biblical restoration of Israel was intimately tied up with the appearance or re-appearance of the Messiah; an end time event looked forward to by Jews , Muslims and Christians a like. A Messiah bringing a millennium of just rule for the whole world , was subject to divine command not the machinations of empire builders , however mighty.
Before the first Zionist conference was held, even before Theodore Hertzel put pen to paper to write “Der Judenstat” ; there was “Restorationism ”. At first sight the belief in an historic mission to “restore” the Jews to their biblical homeland, may appear a cranky footnote in the history of the Middle East , although there are evangelical churches in the US, and at least one in Wales, that even to-day make it part of their mission.
Restorationism emerged in Britain and more specifically England during the Protestant Reformation. While Restorationists tended to be hard line Evangelicals comparable with the Christian Zionists of to-day, they were operating in sympathetic milieu. Linda Colley aptly describes a muscular Protestantism which pervaded English culture throughout the 18th and into the 19th century. As Colley [2003 pp 53] says “the uniting of the island under a Protestant dynasty that had transformed Britain’s position in the world. Now this second Israel had the rulers it deserved and God required, was it wondered at that it reaped victory and dominion?”
The God given right to conquer new lands including the ethnic cleansing of native populations, was often referenced to Old Testament passages describing the first Israel’s purported entry into the Promised land. The dispensationalist theological basis for Restorationism fitted into the general Puritan / Evangelical referencing of contemporary events to Biblical narratives. This narrative with its barely concealed theme of a “chosen race”, was not exceptional to the Israelites any more than to those before or after who have claimed it.
The earliest European Crusaders had attempted dominance of the Middle East, by crude imitation of ancient Israel’s purported genocide. The long term failure of these feudal expeditions, was overshadowed by the rise of mercantile capitalism. Where steel and fire failed, trade and diplomacy proved more effective. As Tuchman [1990,pp 103] points out, commercial and diplomatic relations between England and the Sultan laid the foundations for England’s future strategic involvement in the Middle East. The modest trading stations of the Levant Company, founded in 1581, were to become outposts of the nascent British Empire. The Levant Company as a charted company with Royal patronage and investments, was a diplomatic as well as a commercial mission. As Maya Jasanoff says “ making it for almost a quarter millennium the primary conduit for English encounters with the Middle East”. For the Elizabethan Merchant Adventurers Palestine was a province of “Turkey”, along with Syria and “Jurie”[Tuchman [1990]pp 110]. Jerusalem was one of several trading places administered from the English consulate at Aleppo, which was the main trading centre. Palestinian Akka and Lebanese Sidon were already providing a source of cotton for the nascent spinning industry in Lancashire. Palestine’ s value, was and still is, of indirect and strategic , rather than as a direct source of irreplaceable resources.
The Levantine trade was soon dwarfed by the Levant Company’s more lucrative spinoff, the more celebrated East India company; both arenas of commerce in turn being overshadowed by the Atlantic trade. The importance of the Levant Company was hotly disputed within the British state. Elizabeth successor resented paying for its ambassadors. Meanwhile the “Turkey merchants” found the Indies more profitable.
Tuchman notes that the 16th century alliance between England [not yet Britain] and the Ottoman Empire, when the latter was at the height of its powers, persisted long after the Ottoman entity had any independent power. She ascribes this strategy to sheer force of habit [ Tuchman 1990 pp114].Later in the same book somewhat contradicting herself , she explains the logic of the British Eastern strategy , “ The area from Cairo to Constantinople inclusive, must be kept out of the hands of any would be world ruler”[Tuchman1990 pp159]. Propping up the enfeebled Ottoman regime seemed the best way to avoid a dangerous power vacuum.

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