This was printed in a British newspaper in 1920 amid tensions in the Middle East. 104 years have passed since then, but the Middle East is still burning just the same.
On Saturday, Israel attacked 20 Iranian sites one after the other. On October 1, Iran retaliated by firing 200 missiles at Israel. Israeli attacks also continue in Lebanon and Gaza.
More than 100 fighter jets entered Iran in an attack that lasted for about 3 hours. Israel named the operation 'Day of Repentance'.
There is never peace in the Middle East, a war has been fought here every four years for the last 30 years. The reason for this is the decision taken by the British 104 years ago in which the Arab countries were divided.
What happened due to this partition that the Arab countries are suffering, the story of the decision of 1920 and its consequences…
First Read Operation Repentance Day…
3 agreements that ruined the fate of the Middle East…
Today's Middle East did not look like this before the First World War. As soon as the war ended, Britain and France occupied the area and started dividing it according to their interests.
Due to these disputed borders till today these countries are fighting wars with each other.
Before World War I, much of the Middle East was occupied by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Even before the war ended in 1918, Britain and France consolidated their claims on the Middle East. Three important agreements were made in Europe to create a new map of the Middle East.
1. Sykes-Picot Agreement– On 3 January 1916, a secret meeting was held between British diplomat Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francis Georges Picot. It was decided that each Allied member would get a share of Arab countries after the war. It was decided that Anatolia (Turkey), Syria and a part of Lebanon would remain under France.
At the same time, Britain would get the southern and southwestern parts of the Middle East, namely Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Palestine was placed under international administration. Apart from this, it was decided to give the remaining area to Russia and Italy.
British Brigadier General George McDonogh said on this agreement –
It seems to me that we are like hunters who skin a bear before killing it. Now we must think how we will defeat the Turkish Empire.
2. Agreement between the British Empire and the Hashemite family– From 14 July 1915 to 10 March 1916, an agreement was reached between British officer Sir Henry McMahon and Sharif Husayn Ibn Ali Hashimi of the Hashemite family of Saudi Arabia.
It was decided that the Hashemites would fight against the Ottoman umpire. After the conquest they would be given a portion of the land of the Ottoman Empire. The demarcation of boundaries is not specified in this deal. However, this agreement was in violation of the agreement between Britain and France.
3. Balfour Agreement 1917- The Zionist movement was at its peak in the 19th century. Under this, the Jews were demanding a separate country. The Jewish thinker Theodor Herzl thought about settling the Jews in many places but Palestine seemed to him the most suitable place. They claimed that this was the ancient homeland of the Jews. Some Jews also lived there. Jews had started living in Palestine before the First World War.
During this time, Britain felt that if they supported the Jews in meeting these demands, they would be supporting them in the war.
On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sent a letter to the Jewish Association. It pledged that the British government was in favor of a separate homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.
Britain made promises to win the war, but it was not clear how those promises would be fulfilled.
Treaty of Lohjan 1923 Finally, on 24 July 1923, an agreement was reached in Switzerland between Turkey and all the Allies (Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Romania, Serbia and Yugoslavia). It is called Lohjan's Sandhi. This agreement laid the foundation for today's map of the Middle East. However, many land disputes and disagreements were ignored in this agreement. Because of this stability has not been achieved in the Middle East till today.
The division of the Middle East and the resulting wars
Kurdish conflict between Iran and Turkey In the partition of the Middle East, no country was created for the Kurdish people. The area where the Kurds lived was divided between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, while their culture and language differ from those countries. Kurds became a minority in these areas and have been demanding a separate country ever since. This has often led to violence in Iran and Turkey.
War of Kuwait The British agreement made Kuwait a separate country, formerly part of Iraq. This division led to war about 67 years later. In 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait to reclaim it.
Lebanese Civil War Under the Treaty of Lohjan, Syria was divided into a separate country called Lebanon. It was occupied by the French. Most Christians lived in Lebanon. Despite this, France also added some Muslim areas to create one Lebanon.
Because of this there were three types of population, Shia, Sunni and Christian. This led to instability and civil war in Lebanon from 1975 to 1990.
This civil war started in 1975 and continued for the next 15 years.
The Battle of Palestine… Under the Balfour Agreement, the British government began settling Jews in Palestine. From 1919 to 1923, about 35 thousand Jews settled in Palestine. Jews started demanding a separate country. After this, differences between Arab Muslims and Jews in Palestine began to grow.
According to Hillel Cohen's book Zionism is a Blessing to the Arabs, Arab writer Musa Kazim al-Husseini wrote a letter to Winston Churchill in August 1921.
It said, “Jewish settlers in Palestine are driving down the value of land and property and at the same time creating a financial crisis. Can Europe expect Arabs to live and work with such a neighbor?”
The British ignored the Palestinians. Tensions rose between the two groups. The Jews began to form an army to protect themselves. The project was named Iron Wall.
In 1947, the UN divided Palestine into two parts. One part was made for the Jews and the other for the Palestinians. Jerusalem was placed under the authority of an international administration. The Jews were outnumbered, but they were given 62% of Palestine to Israel. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared itself a sovereign state in Palestine.
Since the creation of Israel, 4 major wars have been fought in Palestine in the Middle East. Thus, Britain's wartime promises created a controversy in the Middle East that continues to this day.
The Shia-Sunni conflict and the Middle East predicament
Conflict has been going on in Yemen for many years. About 60% of the population is Sunni and 40% is Shia. This country has been unstable for a long time. Most of the areas here are under the control of Houthi rebels. It is backed by Iran, while Saudi Arabia supports the Yemeni government.
There is also a Shia-Sunni conflict in Syria, where the majority of the population is Sunni while the government is run by Shias. Due to which war has been going on there for the last 12 years. According to United Nations statistics, more than 5 lakh people have been killed in this conflict and more than 5 million people have been forced to flee their country.
Look in the map where the Shia-Sunni community dominates in the Arab countries
The war for oil in the Middle East
There was a controversy here after drawing the borders of the Middle East. Oil reserves started to be found in these countries. Due to which the problems there have increased further.
Now every country and group wants to grab these oil reserves. Oil started new wars in the Middle East. Big powers like America and Britain also wanted their rights over these oil reserves.
In 1927, oil deposits were also discovered near the eastern border of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A special thing was that mostly Shia Muslims lived in all these areas. Oil deposits were also discovered in Syria in 1956. Kurdish Shia people lived in this area. About 50% of the world's oil reserves were here.
So all the superpowers of the world started showing interest in these fields. America, Russia and Britain increased their interference here.
Government fell in Iran for oil- Britain liberated the Gulf and Middle East countries in 1971. After this America started increasing its presence in these countries. Iran also had large oil reserves, after independence in 1951, the government of Mohammad Mossedek nationalized oil production.
Due to which the British companies suffered losses. Enraged, Britain, with the help of America, overthrew Mossadegh's government there and installed Reza Shah Pahlavi as its puppet ruler of Iran.
Saddam and America's War for Kuwait's Oil – After 8 years of war with Iran, Iraq's economy suffered a major blow. Saddam Hussein wanted to bring him back on track. For this he kept an eye on the oil of Kuwait and attacked there in 1990.
Saddam now controlled 25% of the world's oil reserves. The US invaded Iraq in 1990, liberated Kuwait and deployed its forces to the region.
Britain and France started the dispute here by dividing the Middle East on their own account. H
This picture is from August 2, 1990 when the Iraqi army took to the streets of Kuwait with tanks.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
