British Mandate Period in Jerusalem within memoirs

After the First World War, the Middle East lands of the Ottoman state were divided between England and France through Sykes-Picot agreement. Within the scope of this agreement, Britain put a mandate over Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. Played a major role in the initiation of the anti-Ottoman Arab Revolts in the Middle East, England signed the Balfour Declaration promising a Jewish homeland in Palestine in an effort to protect its Indian and Egyptian colonies. Palestinian Arabs, aware of the danger of Zionism by the end of the 1800s, welcomed the British mandate period in general mildly, but strongly rejected the Balfour Declaration, Jewish immigration, and homeland building. This study examines the role of Britain during the nearly thirty-year Palestinian mandate through some Muslim, Christian and Jewish names in that period. Wasif Jawhariyyeh, a Christian musician from Jerusalem, is one of the notable witnesses of the period. England, which promised an independent homeland to the Arabs and a Jewish homeland to the Jews, maintained a tempestuous policy during its thirty-year rule, ultimately led to the modern Palestine and Israel question. Numerous Arab intellectuals and politicians of the period, including Wasif Jawhariyyeh, welcomed the British mandate period with hope and great enthusiasm. However, as seen in many names like Jawhariyyeh, the hope has been replaced by a feeling of betrayal and anger over time. Moreover, these feelings were not observed only in the Palestinian Arabs, but were also common among British soldiers and administrators, who were experiencing more uncertainty each year, and Zionist Jews, who are afraid of losing their promised Jewish homeland. This thesis examines the British mandate period centred on these feeling shifts and it offers a multidimensional analysis of the history of Palestine and Israel question by utilizing memoirs, biographies and correspondence of the period.