{"id":1085,"date":"2019-03-11T22:07:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T22:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsm.prolerat.org\/?page_id=1085"},"modified":"2019-10-21T14:29:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T13:29:01","slug":"palestine-and-its-problems","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/palestine-and-its-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestine and its problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
June 1948, U.K.<\/a><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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A new state has come into existence in Palestine, the Jewish State of\n Israel, and it has come into existence against the intentions of the \nBritish Labour Government. This Government which, to paraphrase Mae \nWest, has climbed the ladder of power wrong by wrong, took its stand on \nthe Balfour Declaration of 1917 guaranteeing the Jews a national home in\n Palestine, but it resisted what was bound to be the inevitable \nconsequence of the carrying out of that declaration, the demand for an \nindependent Jewish State. In 1936 the Arab landowners inspired a revolt \nagainst the continued immigration of Jews into Palestine, foreseeing a \nthreat to their interests in the existence of the highly industrial and \ncommercial community that was growing up in their midst. Since then \nBritain, which had secured a mandate over Palestine in 1922, has been \nexercising a virtual reign of terror. A significant commentary on this \nis the following statement contained in the News Chronicle:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“Palestine Government has ended its censorship, and yesterday’s papers \npublished their first uncensored editions for 12 years.\u2014News Chronicle \nCorrespondents, A.P., Reuter and B.U.P.”\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWithin a few hours of the proclamation of the new Jewish State by its \nself-appointed Provisional Government, President Truman startled the \nworld by publicly stating that America would recognise it. Commentators \nof Truman’s action attributed it to a late attempt to capture the Jewish\n vote in the forthcoming presidential election. This is too thin.  While\n in fact it may have this result there is far more behind the action \nthan electioneering propaganda. Jews and Arabs in Palestine, like the \nGreeks, the Italians and the Jugo-slavs, are pawns in a much greater \ngame which involves oil and the struggle between Russia and the Western \nPowers for economic domination. Why, for instance, has an allegedly \ndemocratic and anti-imperialist Labour Government in Britain supported \nthe semi-feudal Arab landlords against the Jews, particularly when the \nleader of the Jewish nationalists, Ben Gurion, has proclaimed himself a \nsocial democrat and labour leader in sympathy with the outlook of the \nBritish Labour Party?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Labour Government’s blundering methods in Palestine are the \noffspring of attempts to harmonise conflicting policies. For years \nanti-imperialism has been a plank in the Labour Party’s programme and \nthe withdrawal from India, Burma, and Egypt (except the canal zone) is \nheld up as an example of the implementation of this policy. But the \nLabour Government is also committed to the safeguarding of the British \ncapitalists’ commercial and industrial interests; this dictates an \nopposite policy. Torn between the two they have failed to satisfactorily\n accomplish either, disappointing their working class supporters and \nexasperating their capitalist directors. To protect capitalist interests\n they must take measures to conserve the monopoly of the oil interests \nand safeguard the supply lines of oil, a great and growing quantity of \nwhich comes from the Middle East. A glance at a map will reveal what has\n guided the blundering and hesitant steps of the Labour Government in \nPalestine and the adjacent territories.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThere are two oil pipe lines from Iraq to the Mediterranean; one through\n Syria to the Coast, and the other through Transjordan to Haifa. Thus it\n is necessary to placate or force the ruling groups in each of these \nterritories to favour the production and transport of oil on behalf of \nWestern capitalists. As the Arabs form the majority of the population in\n these territories the Arab landowners and rulers have been the \nprincipal objects of placation, not only by the Labour Government but \nalso by their predecessors, and millions of pounds have been spent, both\n directly as an annual tribute to Transjordan and Iraq and indirectly \nunder various forms of bribery, to influence a favourable attitude to \nthe oil interests. The final result of terrorism and bribery has been to\n unite the Jews and Arabs in at least one direction\u2014antipathy to the \nLabour Government. But the problem does not end with the territories \nalready mentioned. Iran and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company also come into\n the picture, in dangerous proximity to Russia.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nSo far we have only looked at a part of the picture. On Saturday, the \n15th May, the Daily Express announced, with large headlines, Truman’s \nrecognition of the Jewish State. In the very same issue of that paper we\n read the following, under the headline “Shares Boom on Wall Street”:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“New York, Friday.\u2014Shares  went up \u00a3250,000,000 today in the biggest day Wall\nStreet has seen in years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“Rises per share were as much as 35s. Experts think another boom market,\n due to rising profits and rearmament orders lies ahead.”\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nYes! The vultures are gathering again! What is America’s interest in the\n Middle East and what does it portend? Why, for instance, was America so\n frantically concerned about the Italian elections, and why does it back\n British policy in Greece? In the main the immediate answer is the same \nas that which concerns Britain–and which finally decided the British \nGovernment to give up the Mandate in Palestine convinced that America \nwould be forced to help carry the burden. The answer is Oil and Russian \nexpansion; in other words Oil and Strategy. UNO, as usual, has been \nignored where matters of fundamental importance to the leading powers \nare concerned.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nEconomic necessity has forced America to become a Mediterranean power to\n whom the future policy of Italy, Greece and the Middle East is a vital \nmatter. The Commander of the US Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Bieri, \nrecently pointed out that the US Fleet intends to stay in the \nMediterranean and “American forces will be allocated wherever there are \nAmerican interests, in closest co-operation with the British.” \n(Manchester Guardian, U.K., 10\/9\/1947). Modern mechanisation, both for \nindustrial and for military purposes, has converted oil into priority \nnumber one. In spite of their own large oil reserves neither America nor\n Russia can meet their growing needs out of their own production. \nAmerican oil interests are pressing into the Middle East and the \nsafeguarding of the oil life line is of paramount importance. Russia has\n already shown its interest in Iranian oil, and it is trying to get a \nstrategic foothold in the Mediterranean. The whole area from the oil \nfields of Iran, covering the coast of Palestine and the Mediterranean, \nis as much a matter of concern to American capitalists as to British. So\n far the British capitalists have borne the costs of maintaining the oil\n life line. What the British Government has now done is simply throw the\n ball to America, and America is compelled to take the pass.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Palestine episode is thus another move in the strategical line-up of\n the two major imperialistic powers\u2014America and Russia. Russia \noriginally backed the Arabs\u2014then they changed over to support of the \nJews. Truman’s quick response was obviously aimed at getting in first \nand forestalling Russia. Russia has since also announced its willingness\n to recognise the Jewish State, but this need not prevent them from also\n backing the Arabs. It may be that Russia will find that its \nimperialistic interests will be better served by backing the Arabs. If \nit comes to that conclusion it will have no difficulty in finding a \npretext for doing so, and we shall witness another somersault in Russian\n foreign policy. As an imperialist power the Russian Government is not \ncluttered up or inhibited by any ideals relating to democracy or the \nself-determination of small nations, Its methods are essentially the \nsame as those of the Western Governments but lacking in the finesse and \npolish of the latter.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhether the turmoil in the Middle East will be contained or will involve\n a wider conflagration (as American investors appear to anticipate) no \none can at the moment determine with certainty, but what can be said is \nthat it brings nearer the inevitable clash between Russia and the West. \nBoth Jews and Arabs are in a position to block the oil supply but they \nwould only ruin themselves by attempting to do so. Therefore the \nquestion is will either of them be able to turn East or West \nsuccessfully for assistance.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWithin the tormented area of the struggle Arab and Jewish workers have \nalready given evidence of where the chains rub them by the strikes that \nhave taken place against Jewish, Arab and alien masters. These Jewish \nand Arab workers form the vast mass of the population of the territories\n involved; they are the poverty-stricken exploitable material without \nwhich neither the Jewish nor Arab capitalists and landowners, nor \noutside capitalists, would be able to reap their harvest of profit from \nthose rich areas. Industrially and commercially Jewish capitalists have \nbeen the progressive force. They have brought highly developed Western \nmethods to a backward area, and in places have made the desert bloom. \nBut with Western methods they have brought Western forms of wage-slavery\n and expanded under cover of nationalist ideals. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nFinally the personnel of the Provisional Government of Israel bears a \nstriking likeness to the personnel of the British Labour Government. \nWhile this will not make for harmony between the two Governments it will\n provide another instance of how faithfully Labour Governments reflect \ncapitalist interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back to the History Index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back to the World Socialist Movement home page<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 1948, U.K. A new state has come into existence in Palestine, the Jewish State of Israel, and it has come into existence against the intentions of the British Labour Government. This Government which, to paraphrase Mae West, has climbed the ladder of power wrong by wrong, took its stand on the Balfour Declaration of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2657,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"magazine_newspaper_sidebar_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1085","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1085"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2658,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1085\/revisions\/2658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}