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Who knows how many lives will be lost in an attempt to impose a system on the Arab people that they never even asked for.
In the year 1920, amidst tension in the Middle East, this thing was published in a British newspaper. 104 years have passed since then, but the Middle East is still burning in the same way.
On Saturday, Israel attacked 20 Iranian targets one after the other. This was a counterattack to the Iranian attack on Israel with 200 missiles on October 1. Israeli attacks also continue in Lebanon and Gaza.
But why is it that 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 still suffering the consequences of it, the story tells the story of the decision of the year 1920 and its consequences…
First read Operation Day of Regret…
3 agreements that worsened the fate of the Middle East…
Today's Middle East did not look like it did before World War I. As soon as the war ended, Britain and France occupied this area and started dividing it according to their interests.
Till today these countries are fighting wars with each other because of these disputed borders.
Before World War I, large parts of the Middle East were occupied by the Ottoman Empire (today's Turkey). Even before the war ended in 1918, Britain and France strengthened 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 January 3, 1916, a secret meeting took place between British diplomat Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francis George Picot. It was decided that after the war, every fellow member would get a share in the Arab countries. It was decided that a part of Antolia (Turkey), Syria and Lebanon would remain under France.
At the same time, Britain will get the southern and south-western parts of the Middle East i.e. Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Palestine was placed under international administration. Apart from this, it was decided to give the remaining areas to Russia and Italy.
British Brigadier General George McDonogh had said on this agreement –
It seems to me that we are like hunters who have divided the skin of a bear before killing it. Now we should think about 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 Hussein Ibn Ali Hashimi of the Hashemite family of Saudi Arabia.
It was decided that the Hashemites would fight against the Ottoman umpire. After victory, they would be given some part of the land of the Ottoman Empire. The division of boundaries was not made clear in this deal. However, this agreement was a violation of the agreement between Britain and France.
3. Balfour Agreement 1917- The Zionist movement was at its peak in the 19th century. Its Jews were demanding a separate country. Jewish thinker Theodore Herzl thought about settling Jews in many places but Palestine seemed the most suitable place for him. They claimed that this was the old homeland of the Jews. Some Jews also lived there. Even before the First World War, Jews started settling in Palestine.
During this time, Britain felt that if they supported the Jews in fulfilling this demand, then the Jews would support them in the war.
On November 2, 1917, Britain's Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sent a letter to the Jewish Organization. It promised that the British Government was in favor of the creation 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. The Allied countries won in November 1918. But it took many years to establish the system after the war.
Treaty of Lohjan 1923 Finally, on 24 July 1923, an agreement was reached in Switzerland between Turkey and all the Allied countries (Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Romania, Serbia, and Yugoslavia). This is called the Treaty of Lohjan. This agreement laid the foundation of today's map of the Middle East. However, many ground disputes and differences were ignored in this agreement. Due to this, stability has not been achieved in the Middle East till date.
Partition of the Middle East and the resulting wars
Kurds conflict between Iran and Turkey In the partition of the Middle East, no country was created for the Kurdish people. The area where Kurds lived was divided between Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Syria, while their culture and language are different from those countries. Kurds became a minority in these areas and have been demanding a separate country ever since. Due to this, violence has taken place many times in Iran and Turkey.
battle of kuwait The British agreement made Kuwait a separate country, which had previously been part of Iraq. This partition became the cause of war after about 67 years. In 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait to annex it.
lebanese civil war Under the Treaty of Lohjan, Syria was divided into a separate country named Lebanon. It was occupied by the French. Mostly Christians lived in Lebanon. Despite this, France also added some Muslim areas to create one Lebanon.
Due to this, there were three types of population, Shia, Sunni and Christian. This created an imbalance and civil war broke out in Lebanon from 1975 to 1990.
This civil war, which started in 1975, continued for the next 15 years.
Battle of Palestine… Under the Balfour Agreement, the British government began settling Jews in Palestine. From 1919 to 1923, approximately 35 thousand Jews had settled in Palestine. The Jews started demanding a separate country. After this, differences between Arab Muslims and Jews started increasing in Palestine.
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 reducing the value of land and property and at the same time giving rise to a financial crisis. Can Europe expect Arabs to live and work with such a neighbor?”
The British ignored the Palestinians. Tension increased between the two groups. Jews started forming an army for their own security. This project was named Iron Wall.
In 1947, the UN divided Palestine into two parts. One part was made for Jews and the other for Palestinians. Jerusalem was placed under the authority of International Administration. The Jews were less in number, but they were given 62% of Palestine to Israel. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared itself a sovereign state in Palestine.
After the formation of Israel, 4 major wars have been fought in Palestine in the Middle East. In this way, Britain's wartime promises created a dispute in the Middle East that continues to this day.
Shia-Sunni dispute and the plight of the Middle East
Due to the revolution in Iran in 1979, a fundamentalist government was formed there. He started promoting Shia agenda. Due to this the surrounding Sunni countries felt challenged. Neighboring country Iraq also felt threatened by this. Actually, Iraq is a Shia majority country, while there was the rule of Saddam Hussein.
In such a situation, with the help of Saudi Arabia, he attacked Iran. No country was victorious in this war that lasted for 8 years. Later, because of this, conflict started in the Gulf countries. Conflict has been going on in Yemen for many years. About 60% of the population here is Sunni and 40% is Shia.
This country has been unstable for the last several years. Most of the area here is occupied by Houthi rebels. It is supported by Iran, while Saudi Arabia supports the government of Yemen. This country has been unstable for the last several years. Most of the area here is occupied by Houthi rebels.
It is supported by Iran, while Saudi Arabia supports the government of Yemen. There is also a Shia-Sunni dispute going on in Syria, the majority of the population there is Sunni while the government is run by Shias. Because of this, war has been going on there for the last 12 years. According to United Nations figures, more than 5 lakh people have been killed in this conflict and more than 50 lakh people have had to leave their country.
See in the map where Shia-Sunni community dominates in Arab countries
War for oil in the Middle East
The imbalanced distribution in the Treaty of Lohjan in 1923 became the reason for border disputes in the Middle East, only then oil reserves started being found in these countries. This increased the troubles of the Middle East further.
Now every country and group wanted to take control of this oil. The borders of all the countries were already disputed and different tribal and religious groups living in the country were fighting among themselves. Oil started new wars in the Middle East.
Big powers like America and Britain also wanted their rights on these oil reserves. In 1927, oil reserves were also found near Mosul and Basra in Iraq and the eastern border of Saudi Arabia.
One special thing was that mostly Shia Muslims lived in all these areas. Similarly, in 1956, oil reserves were found in the north-eastern region of Syria. Kurdish Shia people lived in this area. About 50% of the world's oil reserves were here.
Therefore all the super powers of the world started showing interest in this area. America, Russia and Britain increased their interference here.
Government toppled in Iran for oil – Britain liberated the Gulf and Middle East countries in 1971. After this America started increasing its interference in these countries. Iran also had huge oil reserves, after independence in 1951, the government of Mohammad Mosedek nationalized the oil production of his country.
This caused loss to British companies. Angered, Britain, with the help of America, overthrew Mosaddeq's government there and made Reza Shah Pahlavi the ruler of Iran as its puppet.
Saddam and America's war for Kuwait's oil- Iraq's economy suffered a major setback after 8 years of war with Iran. Saddam Hussein wanted to bring it back on track. For this he set his sights on Kuwait's oil and attacked there in 1990.
Now Saddam had control over 25% of the world's oil reserves. America attacked Iraq in 1990, liberated Kuwait and deployed its army in this area.
The picture is of August 2, 1990 when the Iraqi army took to the streets of Kuwait with tanks.
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