PALESTINE was under the control of various empires, from Assyrians and eventually the Ottoman. It is a melting pot of different cultures, civilizations and religions.

The Balfour Declaration and the Six-Day War changed everything forever.

Before 1948, Palestine was home to Arabs, Jews, and Christians. After World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to administer Palestine to establish a “national home for the Jewish people” while protecting the rights of the Arab majority.

In 1947, the United Nations proposed the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem as an internationally administered city. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was established dividing Palestine into Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. It triggered the Nakba (“Catastrophe”) which displaced 700,000 (80% of Palestinians Arabs) and they were not allowed to return and about 850,000 Jews from the Arab world immigrated to Israel.

In 1967, the Six-Day War broke out. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The first two became occupied territories leading to a deterioration of the humanitarian circumstances. It led to the rise of Palestinian nationalism to regain lost lands. Despite international objections, Israel established settlements in these occupied territories.

Until today, Palestinians continue to struggle for recognition and the establishment of a sovereign state. Numerous peace initiatives and negotiations were failures, obviously due to the US being part of the negotiations.

Is it so difficult to find a just and peaceful resolution and it has taken so long? Meanwhile, military and financial aid keeps pouring into Israel and Palestine, suppressed.

Historically, the Kingdom of Israel was eradicated in 720 BCE as its capital, Samaria, fell to the Assyrians. In 538 BCE, the Persians allowed the return of exiled Judeans, who came to be known as Jews, to Jerusalem. In the year 614, Persian-Jewish forces captured Jerusalem, destroying its churches, massacring its Christian population and taking the True Cross and other relics as trophies.

In year 629, the Roman emperor Heraclius expelled the Jews from Jerusalem.

The rise of Zionism started in Europe in the 19th century to create a Jewish state in Palestine. The end of the 19th century saw the beginning of Zionist immigration.

The 1915-16 Hussein-McMahon Correspondence contained an undertaking to form a united Arab state in exchange for the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War I. McMahon’s promises is a pledge of immediate Arab independence, an undertaking violated by subsequent League of Nations under the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement (SPA) of 1916 between the United Kingdom and France. McMahon was advised of the terms of the SPA and agreed that it would not be disclosed to the Arabs. It created “artificial” borders in the Middle East, without any regard to ethnic or sectarian characteristics.

The SPA was made public and “The Manchester Guardian” in 1917 reported that “the British were embarrassed, the Arabs dismayed and the Turks delighted”. It led to much resentment among Arabs and also among Kurds who were denied an independent state.

The Balfour Declaration, likewise, is to create a Jewish state in Palestine. In April 1917, the Zionists confirmed the details of the agreement with the British.

Meantime, US President Woodrow Wilson had rejected all secret agreements made between the Allies and promoted open diplomacy as well as self-determination.

Against the wishes of the Palestinians, the British facilitated Zionist settlement and allowing Jewish mass immigration. In the 1922 census, the population of Palestine was 89% Arabs and 11% Jews. By the end of 1947, the Jewish proportion had increased to 31%.

The Great Palestinian Revolt (1936–1939) was met by a harsh response from the British – imprisonment without charges or trial, curfews, whip lashings, house demolitions and collective punishment against villages and families. About 10% of the adult Palestinian male population were killed, wounded, deported or imprisoned.

Common orientalist attitudes included the belief that the Middle East was backwards. This prejudice justified the British and French colonial powers to implement orientalist policies, “reiterating European superiority over oriental backwardness”.

Fast forward to 2024, Israel is employing the same and worse.

Rishi Sunak said, “I am proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour, we will stand with you in solidarity. We will stand with you and your people. And we also want you to win.”

But the Welsh parliament announced that it “condemns Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on Gaza”, called on the international community to pressure Israeli to end the siege which contravenes international law and the basic human rights of Palestinian civilians but no one in Downing Street or Whitehall wants to acknowledge.

Meantime, Ireland recognised a Palestinian state and the Scottish government called on Westminster to recognise a Palestine state.

When the United Nations General Assembly called for Palestine to be accepted as a member, Israel’s UN ambassador destroyed the UN charter with a tiny shredder in front of the assembly.

UN resolution 2728, passed in March 2024, which called for an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages during Ramadan and which the UK supported, has not been implemented.

The UK government condemned the October 7 assault, demanded that Hamas release all hostages unconditionally and said Hamas can no longer be allowed to rule Gaza.

Human Rights Watch said Israel had ignored ICJ’s order by obstructing basic aid to Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war.

Last week, for the third time this year, the UN’s highest court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. The United Nations International Children’s Fund estimated that about half of the 1.2 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah are children.

Today, attacks on Rafah intensify despite the order and condemnation and there are confrontations in the occupied West Bank.

A draft resolution by Algeria is set to be tabled at the UN Security Council and it reportedly orders Israel to halt its Rafah offensive.

Everyone can guess the outcome.

Where would the UK stand now or what did Britain want from the Middle East? There are contradictions in British policy and it is in disarray. There is no clear strategic plan for the region.

It is best for UK to apologise to people in Palestine where they abandoned Palestinians to face the terror of Zionism and continues to befriend the regime that oppresses them. In fact, the West has so much to apologise for to the people in the Middle East.

What say you… – May 29, 2024.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.