BBC Explores Century-Old Roots of Middle East Conflict in New Radio Series

A new BBC Radio 4 documentary series examines how Britain’s 1917 promise to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine set the stage for decades of conflict.

Unpacking History’s Most Controversial Promise

The BBC has launched an ambitious 10-part radio series examining one of history’s most contentious documents: the Balfour Declaration of 1917. ‘How Did We Get Here? Israel and the Palestinians’ takes listeners through the complex origins of the Middle East conflict, starting with Britain’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour‘s fateful 67-word promise to establish ‘a national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine.

The fourth episode, which aired recently, focuses on the period from 1917 to 1939 – a crucial era that saw the establishment of the British Mandate, massive demographic changes, and the eruption of the Arab Revolt. Presenter Jonny Dymond is joined by leading historians including Professor Gudrun Kraemer from the Free University of Berlin and Professor Eugene Rogan from Oxford.

The Declaration That Changed Everything

The Balfour Declaration emerged from Britain’s wartime strategy during World War I. By November 1917, British forces were advancing through Palestine, having already captured Jerusalem just weeks after the declaration was issued. The document represented a dramatic shift in British policy – from initial disinterest to a determination to secure Palestine for imperial control.

What made the declaration so controversial was its timing and context. Britain had already made conflicting promises to Arab leaders through the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, encouraging the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for independence. The British had also signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement with France, dividing the Middle East into spheres of influence. Now they were adding a third commitment – to the Zionist movement.

The declaration’s language was deliberately vague, promising a ‘national home’ rather than a state, while pledging that ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.’ This ambiguity would prove to be a source of endless conflict.

Immigration and Rising Tensions

Under the British Mandate, established formally in 1922, Jewish immigration to Palestine accelerated dramatically. By 1931, the Jewish population had grown to 176,000 – representing 17% of the total population, up from just 11% in 1922. This demographic shift created mounting tensions with the Arab majority, who comprised nearly 90% of Palestine’s inhabitants.

The mandate system, ostensibly designed to prepare territories for independence, instead created structures that favored the Zionist project. The British appointed Sir Herbert Samuel, an avowed Zionist, as Palestine’s first High Commissioner. Immigration ordinances opened the territory to Jewish settlement, while the Zionist Organization was given quasi-governmental powers.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Arabs found their political and national rights largely ignored. The mandate referred to them merely as ‘non-Jewish communities,’ acknowledging only their civil and religious – but not political – rights.

The Arab Revolt and Peel Commission

Tensions exploded in April 1936 with the outbreak of the Arab Revolt. What began as a general strike by the Arab community evolved into a sustained insurgency that would last until 1939. The revolt had two distinct phases, with a temporary ceasefire in October 1936 allowing for the dispatch of the Peel Commission.

The commission’s 1937 report was damning. It declared the mandate a failure, stating: ‘An irrepressible conflict has arisen between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country.’ The report noted that about one million Arabs were ‘in strife, open or latent, with some 400,000 Jews.’

The Peel Commission proposed an early ‘two-state solution’ – partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. However, the plan was deeply flawed, as even the proposed Jewish state would contain 225,000 Arabs. The commission suggested population transfer as a solution, drawing on the ‘instructive precedent’ of the Greek-Turkish population exchange after 1922.

Legacy of Broken Promises

The Arab rejection of the Peel partition plan led to the revolt’s second phase, forcing Britain to deploy 25,000 soldiers and police to restore order. By the time the uprising ended in March 1939, more than 5,000 Arabs, 400 Jews, and 200 British personnel had been killed.

The revolt’s aftermath left Palestinian Arab society devastated, with its leadership decimated and social cohesion shattered. This would prove crucial during the 1947-1949 period, when Palestinians faced their ‘most fateful challenge’ without unified leadership.

The BBC series reveals how the Balfour Declaration set in motion a chain of events that continues to reverberate today. As one UN report noted, the declaration can be considered ‘the root of the problem of Palestine.’ The promise of a Jewish homeland, made without consulting the territory’s inhabitants, created what historians describe as ‘rival and incompatible nationalisms’ within the narrow confines of a single territory.

The series airs Monday evenings at 8 PM on BBC Radio 4, offering listeners a comprehensive examination of how a century-old promise continues to shape Middle Eastern politics today.