The Palestinians and British Perfidy: The Tragic Aftermath of the Balfour Declaration of 1917

Jul 3, 2026

Examines British involvement in the post–World War I Middle East through the lens of Palestine, tracing how the Balfour Declaration’s architects envisioned a future Jewish state. The book argues that the UK worked toward a transformation of Palestine’s ownership through determination and, when difficult, continued insistence, alongside unwavering Zionist policy. It frames the narrative across the emergence of Zionism, political promotion, documentary ‘doom,’ conquest and setbacks, culminating in later policy vacillation and the birth of Israel.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages324

Reading Time8 h 19 min

Preface

Introduction

Part One MACHINATION

Zionism Emerges

The UK Promotes a Jewish Palestine

Part Two JUSTIFICATION

Palestine’s Doom is Documented

Part Three OCCUPATION

The UK Conquers Palestine and the Sharif is Hoodwinked

Faysal Fails to Fight for Palestine

Part Four CAPITULATION

‘Mr. Lloyd George’s Madness’ Crowns the Zionist

Herbert Samuel Lays the Groundwork of the Jewish State

Balfour Savours his Handiwork

Part Five VACILLATION

A White Paper and a Black Letter

Zionism Resurgent

The Sorceror Prepares to be Overthrown by the Apprentice

Part Six HUMILIATION

Israel is ‘Born in Sin’

DEDICATION To Jan, who has been unstinting in her support for this labour of love. Copyright © C. W. R. Long 2018. The right of C. W. R. Long to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN 9781845198961 (Cloth) ISBN 9781782845133 (PDF) First published in 2018 in Great Britain by SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS PO Box 139 Eastbourne BN24 9BP Distributed in North America by SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS ISBS Publisher Services 920 NE 58th Ave \#300, Portland, OR 97213, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Long, Richard (Charles William Richard), author. Title: The Palestinians and British perfidy : the tragic aftermath of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 / Richard Long. Description: Brighton ; Portland ; Toronto : Sussex Academic Press,[2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017035708 | ISBN 9781845198961 (hbk : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Balfour Declaration. | Palestine—History—20th century. | Zionism—Great Britain—History—20th century. | Palestinian Arabs—Attitudes. | Great Britain—Foreign relations—Middle East. | Middle East—Foreign relations—Great Britain. Classification: LCC DS125 .5 .L66 2018 | DDC 956.94/04—dc23 LC record available at [https://lccn.loc.gov/2017035708](https://lccn.loc.gov/2017035708) Typeset & designed by Sussex Academic Press, Brighton & Eastbourne. Printed by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall. Contents Preface vi Acknowledgements viii Illustrations ix Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 Part One MACHINATION 1 Zionism Emerges 9 2 The UK Promotes a Jewish Palestine 18 Part Two JUSTIFICATION 3 Palestine’s Doom is Documented 25 Part Three OCCUPATION 4 The UK Conquers Palestine and the Sharif is Hoodwinked 57 5 Faysal Fails to Fight for Palestine 69 Part Four CAPITULATION 6 ‘Mr. Lloyd George’s Madness’ Crowns the Zionist 83 March into Palestine 7 Herbert Samuel Lays the Groundwork of the Jewish State 102 8 Balfour Savours his Handiwork 132 Part Five VACILLATION 9 A White Paper and a Black Letter 147 10 Zionism Resurgent 166 11 The Sorceror Prepares to be Overthrown by the Apprentice 186 Part Six HUMILIATION 12 Israel is ‘Born in Sin’ 203 Notes, Bibliography, Index 227–307 Preface ‘There can be no doubt about what was in the minds ofthe chief architects of the Balfour Declaration. The evidence is incontrovertible. All envisaged, in the fulness of time, the emergence of a Jewish state.’(Norman Rose)1 This book is roughly a companion to my British Pro-Consuls in Egypt, 1914–1929. The Challenge of Nationalism and The Immense Failure. British Rulers of Iraq, 1914–33 in that it discusses British involvement in another segment of the post-World War I Middle East, in this case Palestine. But in contrast to its predecessors, which were purely academic in character, this one has a secondary purpose. In another of my titles,2 I complained that ‘Cambridge and McGill somehow managed to expose me to the language, literature and history of the Arabs, and to Islam, without letting slip . . . the grievous wronging of the Palestiniansin particular, and the Arabs in general, by my own country’. The present volume is thus in part an attempt to make better known the forcible transformation of the ownership of Palestine via the absolute and ruthless determination of the United Kingdom (until things got difficult) and the even more unshakeable insistence of

FAQs

What central event does the book focus on, and why does it matter for Palestine’s later fate?

The analysis centers on the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the long-term consequences attributed to the declaration’s architects’ plans for a Jewish state and the resulting transformation of Palestine’s ownership and governance.

How does the author describe the book’s purpose compared with his earlier works?

The author presents the volume as a companion to prior work on British policies in the Middle East, with a secondary purpose of making better known British involvement in Palestine and emphasizing the role and persistence of Zionists in driving outcomes.

What are the main thematic parts of the book’s argument structure?

The contents are organized into six parts: the emergence of Zionism and UK promotion; documentary justification of Palestine’s doom; occupation and political deception; capituIation and leading figures’ roles; later vacillation via policy documents and renewed Zionism; and humiliation culminating in the framing of Israel’s birth.

Jul 3, 2026

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