The Sinai Peninsula: A British View in 1921

The Continuity of History and Politics...

31-7-2018

-        Lord or General "Allenby" (born in 1861, died in 1936), who commanded the British armies that invaded Palestine and expelled the Turks from it, was appointed Britain’s accredited representative in Egypt. In 1921..and in the course of his discussions of Britain’s overall strategic situation in the Middle East, he wrote recommendations in the form of a memorandum written by Colonel "Richard Manserghagen" Director of Operations in the Middle East, who was based in Cairo at that time, and Allenby forwarded the memorandum to the British Prime Minister at that time 1921...."Lloyd George":

-        "Dear Prime Minister....Field Marshal Allenby asked me to send you an informal memorandum on sovereignty over Sinai, which is a subject of special importance not only with respect to present circumstances but also for the years to come"

-        The memorandum reviewed the British determination to implement the Balfour Promise to establish a national home for the Jews in Palestine, and to harness all efforts to make such a promise succeed...Comparisons were made between Jewish nationalism and Arab nationalism, describing Jewish nationalism as more active, more educated, and more loyal...than Arab nationalism, which was described as lazy due to the "attributes it has acquired from the desert," and it presented a vision of the future of British presence in the Middle East, noting that this presence in Egypt, for example, is not permanent, and it predicted that Britain would lose the Suez Canal in 1968... Accordingly, steps must be taken to compensate for the contraction of British centers in the Middle East over the coming decades, and to strengthen these centers, he proposed annexing the Sinai Peninsula to Palestine...and the memorandum reviewed the importance of the Sinai Peninsula, explaining that the Turkish-Egyptian boundary in Sinai, before 1906, extended from Rafah in the north to near the Canal, and that eastern and southern Sinai were part of the Hejaz subject to the Ottomans, and in October 1906 Egypt was granted the right to administer Sinai up to the line extending from Rafah to the head of the Gulf of Aqaba...as for its ownership, it remained with Turkey, in addition Lord Allenby occupied it with his British army without the assistance of the Egyptian army, so its fate became contingent on a decision by the British government....the occupier..and if Sinai were annexed to Palestine, it would, as he envisaged, constitute a separating frontier between Egypt and Palestine, where he adds to Britain a strong center in the Middle East, with easy access to the two seas: the Mediterranean and the Red, and a broad strategic base, with the excellent port of Haifa, which it was affirmed Britain would use, with the agreement of the Jews...

-        And one of the benefits of this annexation is that it would frustrate any Egyptian attempt to close the Canal to British navigation, and this annexation would enable Britain to dig a canal linking the two seas, the Mediterranean and the Red, then "the annexation of Sinai will not arouse any national question against Britain, "since the nomadic Bedouin residing there do not exceed a few thousand."....
The name of the Sinai Peninsula has been heard frequently recently in connection with initiatives in the 1980s, where the media revealed a British proposal that was reportedly agreed to by former Egyptian President "Mohamed Hosni Mubarak". In it solutions were drawn up and proposed for the Middle East issue, but former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak completely denied that...The media also reported that discussions were held with former Egyptian President " Mohamed Morsi" by certain countries regarding the status of the Sinai Peninsula as part of a solution to the Palestinian issue, and these reports were denied by some circles close to President Morsi...

-        Then came the Deal of the Century..2018..and talk continues to leak out about the Sinai Peninsula....which many expect will bury the Palestinian cause in its sands....Will this happen?.....