Political Science

The political event in consideration is the Balfour Declaration. In the course of World War I, the Middle East was under British Imperialism. In 1915, the British government through Sir Henry McMahon, who was Egypt's British High Commissioner, assured Hussein, who was Sharif of Mecca at the time, that Britain would give backing to the independence of the Arab kingdom if they took part in an Arab revolt in opposition of the Ottoman Empire. However, two years later, Britain through Lord Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration with the proclamation of guaranteeing the establishment of a home for the Jews in Palestine.[footnoteRef:1] The Balfour Declaration as a political event had both supporters who thought it was a good and fitting idea but at the same time also faced major criticism. On one hand, the Balfour Declaration was given support by the British government and the Zionism movement. On the other hand, the Arab population did not agree with this event as it not only caused a major displacement of them in their land, but also granted land to individuals that did not originally lay any claim to such land.[footnoteRef:2] [1: Shlaim, Avi. "The Balfour Declaration and its consequences." Yet More Adventures with Britannia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain (2005): 251-270.] [2: Jones, David. Impact of the Balfour Declaration. Palestine Facts, 2013.]

Significance of the Political Event

This political event had major significance on the future of the Middle East. In particular, the Balfour Declaration set the basis for the substantial enmity between... In essence, the Balfour Declaration was issued by the British government at the time handing international acknowledgement to the Zionist movement and thereafter guaranteed them a Jewish state in the Palestine territory. At the time, the Jewish population was increasing at an alarming rate not only in the United States but also in Britain. Therefore, they had come to be a significant player in the World War I. In addition, the British had been under pressure to stop the increasing Jewish population in England. With the rise of the Zionist movement, this offered great prospect to use the Jewish population to gain additional support. In particular, the Jewish people situated in Palestine at the time represented approximately 10% of the total populace prior to the Balfour Declaration. This made it permissible for the colossal migration of Jews situated in various parts and expanses across the globe; and, in the end, gave rise to the formation of the State of Israel. In the end, the Balfour Declaration can be considered to be the cradle or birthplace of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is largely for the reason that the Jewish people were given straight access to occupy a land that belonged to the Arab people without any consent or deliberation on its impact. In addition, the Arab people were forced to move away from the land.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Schneer, Jonathan. The Balfour Declaration: the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Bond Street Books, 2010.]

Positive Development

As aforementioned, the British Government and the Zionist movement…