Palestine vs Israel Ep 2 – Betrayals: The Arab Revolt, Sykes-Picot, and the Balfour Declaration

The Middle East is one of the world’s most volatile regions. Much of it is composed of Arab States ruled by dictators or monarchs. Most of these states are low on human development and freedom indicators, while some are wracked by devastating civil wars. But, a stark anomaly stands out in the Middle East in the form of a democratic, prosperous, and powerful state of Israel. A Jewish island in the middle of an Arab sea, Israel was envisioned as a “wall of defense for Europe in Asia” by the man who is widely credited as one of the founders of Israel and political Zionism – Theodore Herzl. Celebrated by some as the only democracy in the Middle East and reviled by some as a settler-colonial state that illegally occupied Palestine, the history of Israel and Palestine is a tragic and fascinating story. In this episode of “Palestine vs Israel” we are discussing the impact of the 1st world war on Palestine, the Sharif-McMahon correspondence, the Arab revolt, the Sykes-Picot agreement, and the Balfour declaration.