Four major constants have emerged during the last over a hundred years, the 20th Century, for the Middle East and nothing substantial has changed since. These are: (a) the establishment of a Jewish state in the region; (b) the relevance and value of energy resources for the world; (c) the trade route from China and India to the western world and (d) sub-ordinated and oppressed mindset of the masses, except the Iranians after 1979.
Will the war that started on 28th February 2026 disturb these constants? The USA stresses that the war has been started to limit the nuclear capabilities of Iran. In the author’s view this is not true. The real story has been envisioned in the following paragraphs in the backdrop of history.
Balfour Agreement & creation of Israel
During and after World War I, the British wanted to destroy the Ottoman’s rule over Arabia to pave the way for the establishment of a Jewish state in this region. This was promised to Jews under the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Israel may be the only country on earth that is located on purchased or gifted land of other people.
The Rothschild family, particularly Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, played a crucial role in establishing Jewish settlements in Palestine by financing land purchases, totaling over 50,000 hectares (approx. 200,000 dunams) from the 1880s. This private initiative aligned with British political interests, culminating in the 1917 Balfour Declaration, a formal letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lionel Walter Rothschild supporting a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
Although the official state of Israel came into being in 1948 the support under the Balfour Agreement was more than a promise as by 1920 whole Palestine had become a British Protectorate.
In order to understand Israel, it is essential to understand what happened in these areas from 1920 to 1948. On July 24, 1922, the League of Nations Council approved the “Mandate for Palestine,” which incorporated the 1917 Balfour Declaration, committing Britain to facilitate the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people”. This shows who made Israel.
Earlier, all the Arabs under the leadership of Sharif Hussain of Mecca connived with the British, through Sir Henry McMohan, the High Commissioner in Egypt, against the Ottomans on June 10, 1916 to expel the Ottomans and bring in British and French imperialists.
As expected he was betrayed. The subsequent political divisions are a product of colonisers and in most of the areas straight lines were drawn in the desert like a chess board. This division and segregation was made to (i) eliminate the influence of Ottoman Turks, (ii) create excuses for the establishment of Israel, and (iii) weaken the united strength of Arabs particularly Muslims. Furthermore, there was a desire to maintain safe passage through Suez Canal which had been opened in 1869 and was owned by Anglo-French companies.
People of India, both Muslims and Hindus, who were politically enlightened, correctly understood the underlying imperial game and stalwarts like Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar launched the ‘Khalifat Movement’ against that conspiracy. However, as usual, the movement was completely wrongly named as ‘Khilafat Movement’. It was not there to protect a particular form of governance called ‘Khilafat’ or any form of theocracy. It was a movement to stop the British in conniving against the people of Arabia and establishing Israel through stooges like Sharif Hussain of Mecca.
At the time of the start of World War I in 1914, Arabia was part of the Ottoman Empire. This included Hejaz, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Levant (Syria and Lebanon) and Palestine. The desert of Najd, where Riyadh is located, was not relevant. Under a promise to Sharif Hussain of Mecca by Henry McMohan these provinces became independent states and protracted areas viz: Hejaz (1916 to 1925); Iraq 1925, Syria 1920 (French Control), Lebanon (1920) and Palestine 1920 (British Control).
There was a desert kingdom in Rabb-ul-Khali in Central Arabia. This reflects that after the Balfour Agreement the whole of Arabia was cut into pieces like a cake to make way for Israel. This is unnatural. The whole of Arabia has been one region for over 10 centuries. The cities of Mecca and Madina always had strong cultural, historical, linguistic, political and religious relations with cities like Kufa, Baghdad, Damascus and Jerusalem. They are one civilization.
The Ottomans had a clear understanding of British and Jewish aspirations about Jewish homeland in the holy areas much before the Balfour Agreement. It is therefore relevant to examine the process of creation of the state of Israel.
In 1881, the Ottoman governmental administration (the Sublime Porte) decreed that foreign Jews could immigrate to and settle anywhere within the Ottoman Empire, except in Palestine and from 1882 until their defeat in 1918, the Ottomans continuously restricted Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine.
In 1918, after the British conquest of Palestine, the military administration closed the Land Register and prohibited all sale of land. The Register was reopened in 1920. By December 31, 1945 only two Jewish corporations, JNF and PICA, had purchased 660 and 193 square kilometers of land in Palestine, respectively. There were many others holding big pieces of land. This was mainly financed by the Rothschild family.
Between 1922 and 1935, the Jewish population rose from nine percent to nearly 27 percent of the total population, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinian tenants from their lands as Zionists bought land from absentee landlords. When the state of Israel came into existence 7 percent of the land of Israel was purchased.
The bulk of the land (Negev Desert) which constitutes around +50 percent of the area of Israel in 1948 was the State of Ottoman which became Britishers’ in 1920 by acquiring Protracted Rights in 1920. This was gifted by Britishers to the State of Israel. The remaining +30 had been purchased illegally by expelling the occupants. This shows that Israel is the booty of the World War acquired by Britishers which was gifted to Jews to make a state.
The Britishers won the war in this area without fight as Arabs themselves expelled Turks and provided the opportunity to Britishers to establish Israel. There should not be any excuse for the Arabs to complain now.
When Israel was created in Palestine there was no commercial dimension of oil as a precious resource in this region. It was only a fulfilment of a desire of a wealthy Jew, Walter Rothschild to the British.
The commercial dimension is a subsequent event. Oil was discovered in Arab countries later on: Iraq 1934, Bahrain 1934, Saudi Arabia 1938, Kuwait 1938, Qatar 1940, Abu Dhabi 1953, Oman 1956. In all these cases, as expected, the discoveries were made by US or European companies. These companies had substantial shares in the produce or ownership from inception to around 1970.
In other words, US companies were direct participants for around 40 years. Even after 1970 almost all of the drilling and refining activity was done using western expertise which provided substantial earnings to the US.
After these discoveries these Arab countries became major exporters of energy for the reason that their own consumption was minimal. Now, subsequent to the occupation of Iraq almost all of the oil resources in the Arab areas are controlled by the US and its allies. All the discoveries in these areas are around the Persian Gulf. The combined population of all the countries around the Persian Gulf is around 190 million.
However, out of the same around 140 million live close to the oil field; out of which, around 130 million are from the Shia sect.
This all led the self-acclaimed super power US to interfere in the area for the reason to: (a) protect Israel and (b) control and manage the supply of energy and (c) to sell arms and maintain her bases. The relevant regimes, whosoever be in Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, is just a face. As a common factor these states are totally dependent on the US for their security.
A nation state concept is being promoted; however, on account of the same cultural, linguistic, political and religious reasons the same will evaporate if the shield of the USA is removed. This means that the future of Arabs is to be examined as one unit with reference to the aforesaid history, demography and economy.
(To be continued)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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