WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:04.400 Hey, everybody, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends. 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.279 We're back with another episode of History Impossible. This one 3 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:13.240 another special and the first installment in something that I 4 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:15.640 don't really have a name for yet. Like I said 5 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.480 in the notes for this episode, the Grad School Files 6 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:21.480 just sounds like a bad Netflix show or something I 7 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:23.760 don't really have a name yet. But this is the 8 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:28.399 first installment of my attempt at adapting my academic papers 9 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:33.399 that I've been writing into at least somewhat entertaining podcast form. 10 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.119 Before we get into that, I want to give a 11 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:38.359 quick shout out to my executive producer level supporters over 12 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.880 on Patreon, that is John Andre Sather and Mike Maylebin. 13 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.799 You guys are as always awesome and do so much 14 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.560 to help keep the lights on here. And if the 15 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.640 rest of you listening would like to also pitch in 16 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.079 and help out supporting the show, head over to Patreon 17 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:58.640 dot com slash History Impossible, or head over to Historympossible 18 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:01.880 dot substack dot com and become a paid subscriber there. 19 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:06.280 Every little bit helps. I really cannot stress that enough. 20 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:08.959 As well as just promoting the show as best you 21 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:11.920 can to people who might be interested, especially when the 22 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:15.599 episodes have to do with events that are related to 23 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:20.359 current events. Really that seems to capture a lot of 24 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:23.920 folks imagination. So please spread the word about History Impossible. 25 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.879 Go on Reddit. People seem to be always asking for 26 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:29.439 recommendations there, So if you're a re dditor and you 27 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.959 like the show, give it a shout out on any 28 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.400 of those subreddits out there. But yes, so this was 29 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.319 a quick one in a lot of ways, even though 30 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:43.799 it's longer I think than a lot of average podcast 31 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:46.120 episodes out there. But it's a quick one compared to 32 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:50.079 what I usually get into with this show. In this case, 33 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:52.159 we are going to be looking at the Arab Revolt 34 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:54.599 of nineteen thirty six to nineteen thirty nine. As I 35 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.239 did in the paper that this is based on a 36 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:59.519 lot of stuff might seem familiar because a lot of 37 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:03.000 it is from material that I used in previous episodes 38 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.400 of History Impossible and expands upon it. There's a lot 39 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.159 of really good, interesting details in there. Though I think 40 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:13.639 I gave a pretty decent overview of the revolt and 41 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.479 why it was so important to a kind of nebulous concept, 42 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:21.360 but one that I find very interesting that I haven't. 43 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:23.360 I've talked about it a little bit in one way 44 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.360 or another, but never in this straightforward theoretical way. I 45 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:30.960 guess about collective identity and historical memory and its role 46 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:33.240 in forming those identities, and I think there's really no 47 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:39.199 better example in modern history, at least than that of 48 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.840 the Israeli Palestinian conflict, as well as the role of 49 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:45.599 the British Empire in that. There's other examples, of course, 50 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:48.039 and I do mention one or two in this episode, 51 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:51.000 but this one, I think is the one that is 52 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.719 most recognizable to people. So it's in some ways the 53 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:56.680 best way to discuss the subject of historical memory and 54 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:01.800 collective identities. So with all of that said, let's get 55 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:05.800 into some impossible history. Well, let me tell you what 56 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:08.120 you would have seen and heard. If we're not being 57 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:10.479 pleasant listening, if you're at lunch, or if you have 58 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:12.240 no appetite, now it is a good time to switch 59 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:12.800 off the radio. 60 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.280 An ancestor of mine main chaine that if you eliminate 61 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:28.560 the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, arimation musten banjiant to 62 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:32.719 that you general, one who knows that I'm going needs 63 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:36.199 by a thousand year. I wish I could say tonight 64 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.919 that a lasting peace is inside. I don't see the 65 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:48.680 amounting dream. I seeing a laughing night. Moore, I a flock. 66 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:51.240 If we care were issued to kill, if we care 67 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:52.199 for agued to kill. 68 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:54.919 Some say the world. 69 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:55.639 Will end empire. 70 00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:59.080 Some say an I, from what I've tasted of desire, 71 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.199 I hold of those with favre. But if it had 72 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.000 to perish twice, I think I know him of of 73 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.719 hate to say that the destruction ice is also great, 74 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:10.400 and look sufficed. 75 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:27.519 This. You are now in the flush of victory, and 76 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.920 we remain under the spirit of being defeated, in downtrodden. 77 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.879 So both of us are under abnormal conditions. I consider 78 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:39.360 you just as abnormal as we are. You were not 79 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:43.519 considering the future. You were only considering the present, and 80 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.079 we are not considering the distant future, only our presence suffering. 81 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:56.279 Musa Alami, the Jews, Christians and Muslims are like three bewildered, 82 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:00.399 disconsolate children at a party. We don't want ja, we 83 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.519 don't want honey, we don't want cake, we want jelly, 84 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:14.879 Alas there is no jelly. Edward Keith Roach, the gathering 85 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.800 at the Beayrout Department in the spring of nineteen thirty 86 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:22.879 nine was full of high spirits. The members of the 87 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:29.079 Arab Higher Committee were celebrating. After three years of boycotts, protests, 88 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:33.720 fighting and suffering, they had extracted the greatest victory in 89 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:38.560 the history of their nationalist movement, concessions from the British Empire. 90 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.920 This victory was not just over their imperial oppressors, it 91 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.959 was a setback for their nationalist rivals, the Zionists, who 92 00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:52.120 up until this moment had seemed to have the world 93 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:56.720 on their side. But with the release of the document 94 00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:59.360 that came to be known as the McDonald White Paper, 95 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.199 all that had changed Jewish immigration to Palestine not only 96 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.160 would cease, but it and all immigration would be placed 97 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.560 under the jurisdiction of Arab leadership over the course of 98 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.600 a few years, with true Palestinian statehood promised in writing 99 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:23.240 to occur after that. However, one man was not smiling. 100 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.120 In fact, the founder and leader of the Committee, the 101 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:32.759 Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Jaja min Al Husseini, was firmly 102 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.639 opposed to the proposal, despite it being a victory for 103 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.000 his cause by most metrics imaginable dissenting from the near 104 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:46.839 consensus on the White Paper's qualities. This disagreement became a 105 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:51.079 feature of the still gestating Arab national identity that had 106 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:58.680 placed Palestine and its nationhood at its center. A few 107 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:01.879 weeks later, one of the most prominent Zionists in the world, 108 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.839 High Invitesmen, gave an address to the English Zionist Federation. 109 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:11.199 In this address, Wetzmen responded to the White Paper by 110 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:14.920 calling it quote the death sentence of the Jewish National 111 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:21.600 Home unquote. Continuing, Wetzmen pledged not to quote conclude on 112 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.759 a sad note unquote, and that quote, we will carry 113 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:27.240 on our work. It is an old tradition of ours, 114 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.439 and no amount of obstacles will deter us from our purpose. 115 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.759 And he concluded by claiming, quote, I do not believe 116 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.319 that very soon there will be a revulsion of feeling, 117 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:43.480 and that these temporary necessities will disappear unquote, and that quote. 118 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:47.560 Long before the Balfour Declaration, God had decreed that our 119 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.839 destiny is bound up with Palestine. And against this decree 120 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:55.000 all decrees of humans, however mighty, they may appear to themselves, 121 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:58.279 and at the time are as not they will blow 122 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:07.639 away like chaff before the wind. The British Empire, meanwhile, 123 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.920 had been attempting to thread the needle of the Palestinian 124 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:14.399 Mandate for over two decades by this point, trying to 125 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.759 strike a balance between the competing nationalist interests of the 126 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:21.040 Arabs and the Zionists, all while coping with the rise 127 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.120 of an aggressive Nazi Germany in Europe. They were also 128 00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:28.319 coming to terms with their once globe spanning empire going 129 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.639 into decline, something on which they were intent to see 130 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:37.480 done with their dignity as a nation intact. Two years earlier, 131 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:41.240 in nineteen thirty seven, a document reporting the results of 132 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:44.399 what was known as the Peo Commission made this clear, 133 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:48.320 pledging that quote the British people will not flinch from 134 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.600 the task of continuing to govern Palestine under the Mandate 135 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:55.000 if they are in honor bound to do so unquote. 136 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:01.159 Seeing colonial holdings as progressing towards self government, a frequently 137 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:03.720 stated goal in the Holy Land, was part of the 138 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:06.120 growing sense and what it would turn out to be 139 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.519 post hawk justification that the quote demise of the Empire 140 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:15.799 marked the fulfillment rather than the renunciation of Britain's imperial mission. 141 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:22.559 According to the historian A. J. Stockwell, there was also 142 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:27.200 a longstanding undercurrent of Christian Zionism, informing much of the 143 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.279 decision making that was in play. This was seen most 144 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:35.440 dramatically when British Army officer Orda Wingate stated, quote, there 145 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:38.000 is only one important book on the subject of Zionism, 146 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:44.360 the Bible, and I have read it thoroughly unquote. This attitude, 147 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.480 while not wholly representative of the British imperial authorities in 148 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:53.159 the Palestinian Mandate, would still loom pretty large as a 149 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:59.440 motivating factor alongside their more geopolitical concerns. This confluence of 150 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:04.039 motives ultimately what led to the British Empire to attempt 151 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:09.120 their balancing act behind the scenes. Little did they know 152 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:12.279 that in their efforts to placate their Arab enemies and 153 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:15.279 cushion the fall of their alien empire, while some of 154 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:17.840 them also attempted to fulfill their own sense of mission 155 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:22.600 via their Christian Zionism, they had managed to make themselves 156 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:31.120 an enemy of everyone. The Arab revolt of nineteen thirty 157 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.000 six in nineteen thirty nine has done relatively little to 158 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.919 arouse the historical imagination, either among the populace or even 159 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:44.799 among historians studying the long running conflict in the Holy Land. 160 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.240 In both the Arabic speaking and English speaking worlds, it 161 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:51.519 has been overshadowed by other events in the conflict's history. 162 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.240 As writer, historian and friend of the podcast or In 163 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:00.639 Kessler explains, quote, no single general interest account has yet 164 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:05.320 been written of this formative but forgotten insurgency unquote, apart 165 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.919 from about three books written in English since the mid 166 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.320 nineteen nineties, a single book written in Hebrew, and very 167 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:17.159 little work written in Arabic. This historiographic neglect is due 168 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:20.159 to many reasons, most of which go beyond the scope 169 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:24.360 of this special episode and the paper from which it's derived, 170 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.080 but it is usually overshadowed, it being the Arab revolt 171 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:30.519 by the official formation of the State of Israel in 172 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.360 nineteen forty eight, known to Arab nationalists as the Nakba 173 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:38.240 or catastrophe, marking it as a foundational date in the 174 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:44.000 Arab nationalist historical memory. Quoting the Syrian academic Constantine Zurak, 175 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.879 historian Gilbert Ascar explains that the Nakba took on a 176 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:51.200 greater significance than other events because it was quote not 177 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:55.240 a mere setback or a simple transitory misfortune, but a 178 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.559 catastrophe in every sense of the word, a calamitous ordeal 179 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.480 of among the most difficult that the Arabs have undergone 180 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:05.320 in the course of a long history full of ordeals 181 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:10.879 and calamities. This appears to be a sufficient explanation for 182 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:15.799 how large the Nakba looms in the historical memory. However, 183 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:20.879 according to Mustapha Caaba, a deeper reason that the Arab 184 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.000 revolt has been quote completely overshadowed by the memory of 185 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.960 the Nagma unquote is because quote dealing with nineteen thirty 186 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.679 six to nineteen thirty nine requires more soul searching quote. 187 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.440 This is in part because the Arab volt's outcome came 188 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.039 to represent one of the greatest failures of Arab nationalism, 189 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.000 paving the way for the future Nakba, making it an 190 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:51.440 inglorious event in their history that their leadership brought upon themselves. 191 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.840 As Kaba explains, quote, it resulted in a self inflicted 192 00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:04.320 wound that weakened Palestinian ability to cope with future challenges unquote. Similarly, 193 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.879 the Zionist would frequently invoke nineteen forty eight as a 194 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.879 historically definitional event in their history in defending his new 195 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.159 state's war with the Arab states and against accusations of 196 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:19.159 quote unwanted in transigence unquote. Chiam Weitzman would write in 197 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.519 nineteen forty eight that quote for treat would be fatal quote, 198 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.799 and that quote independence is never given to a people. 199 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:29.360 It has to be earned, and having been earned, it 200 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:34.879 has to be defended quote. Weitzmann, like many who echoed 201 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:38.519 him in the years and decades that followed, was mistaken 202 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.919 if he believed that the idea of Zionis statehood needing 203 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.840 to be earned as opposed to negotiated, was borne by 204 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:51.879 the struggles of nineteen forty eight. The Arab revolt of 205 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:55.679 nineteen thirty six. In nineteen thirty nine was thus significant 206 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:01.799 for multiple reasons in the history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Overtly, 207 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.759 it was a conflict between a semi unified front of 208 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:10.960 Arab nationalists and the British authorities of Mandatory Palestine, with 209 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.840 the Zionists both taking part and getting caught in the crossfire, 210 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.919 drawing them further into the conflict and deepening the divides 211 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:21.840 that already existed and continued to exist in the region 212 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:27.480 between these three factions. Less obviously, however, it was a 213 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:31.360 conflict that served as a logical endpoint in the formation 214 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:36.000 of these different groups, very identities that came to define 215 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:40.679 them in the years that followed. This was thanks in 216 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:45.200 large part to the historical memory that revolt itself and 217 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:50.960 what its outcomes represented. Therefore, it is important for us 218 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.840 to ask to what extent were the respective identities of 219 00:14:54.879 --> 00:15:00.480 the Arab nationalists, the Zionists, and the British Empire the 220 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:05.159 events of the Arab Revolt. The short answer is to 221 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:10.919 a significant extent. When examining the events of the revolt themselves, 222 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.600 combined with the contemporaneous observations and later reflections of those 223 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:19.200 involved and the three factions involved, it is clear that 224 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.840 each major power involved in the revolt largely developed and 225 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:28.120 even in some cases finalized, their collective identities visa vis 226 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:32.519 the revolt's events, turning the revolt itself into a powerful 227 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:38.360 example of historical memory that informed future behavior, including that 228 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.720 of the State of Israel and the Arab nationalist movements 229 00:15:42.720 --> 00:16:58.000 that opposed it. Historical memory and the formation of identity, 230 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:03.799 thanks to its invocation of a collective past, social memory 231 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:08.039 is tied tightly to the creation of communities and nations. 232 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:15.240 This is the basis for historical memory. As Jeffrey Cubitt observes, quote, 233 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.519 the past takes mental shape by being viewed as the 234 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.119 breeding and testing ground of today's social collectivities, which are 235 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.960 themselves interpreted by the same token as the possessors of 236 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:30.799 an organic durability rooted in the deep continuities of an 237 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:39.000 earlier history. Now, some might understandably assume that historical memory 238 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:43.160 begins after some time is passed, similar to the regular 239 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:48.440 individual memories that populate our minds. However, this is not 240 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:53.799 the case, as Cubit notes, with the obvious exceptions of 241 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:58.359 events that likely never happened in the first place. Quote, 242 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.359 the memory of an event or of a historical experience 243 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:08.279 begins with the event or experience itself, while a consensus 244 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:12.039 on the contents of an event can never be reached 245 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:16.440 through objective measures. I mean, this is history, after all, 246 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:21.119 It's not exactly a hard science. This does very little 247 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:25.599 to prevent the events in question from taking on significance 248 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:29.880 in the minds of those who experience them firsthand. We're 249 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:33.759 talking about national myth here, both in this particular case 250 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:38.920 but broadly speaking as well. Now, in fact, this lack 251 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:43.839 of consensus is why historical memory is so powerful. Now, 252 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:48.920 counterintuitive as it might seem, this lack of consensus, in fact, 253 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:54.039 is why historical memory is so powerful. Interpretations of the 254 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:57.480 events themselves lies in the eye of the beholder. Like 255 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:00.279 I was basically saying, just a moment ago, which is 256 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:05.119 subject to all kinds of bias, preconceived notions and political 257 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:11.079 concerns of the moment. Now, these biases, notions, and concerns 258 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.559 affect people at all times. So it is obvious that 259 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:18.079 events which take on greater meaning with time become meaningful 260 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:23.119 almost immediately upon their occurrence, though it by no means 261 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.759 is always the case, Cubid explains, quote, the establishment of 262 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.799 this status as potential objects of memory can be more 263 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:38.599 or less instantaneous. Whether or not this status is conferred 264 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:43.799 immediately following the event or years later is less relevant 265 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:47.279 than the power that such memory possesses to change or 266 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.960 even create a new collective identity, i e. A community 267 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:59.680 based largely on imagined kinship through shared experiences. As Benedict 268 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.519 Anderson and writes, this identity is built on imagined kinship 269 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.279 because quote, the members of even the smallest nation will 270 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.519 never know most of their fellow members meet them or 271 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.000 even hear of them. Yet in the minds of each 272 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:20.559 lives the image of their communion. Anderson also persuasively argues 273 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:25.119 that this collective identity quote is imagined as a community because, 274 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.720 regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail 275 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:32.400 in each the nation is always conceived as a deep, 276 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:40.559 horizontal comradeship. The power of the imagined community comes from 277 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:44.440 the historical memory, and this historical memory can form just 278 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.960 as the event that created that memory is happening. As 279 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:52.319 Jeffrey Cubit explains, Quote, the ways in which an event 280 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.400 or collective experience is registered in public and private consciousness 281 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.000 at the time of its occurrence and during the period 282 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.039 when it is still in living memory exert a powerful, 283 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.240 though not necessarily a determining influence on the meanings it 284 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:07.519 may later be invested with. 285 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:09.039 Quote. 286 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:16.559 The past, even the immediate past, is indeed a laboratory, 287 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:22.119 and from the laboratory emerges the compounds that we recognize 288 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:29.000 as shared identities. This laboratory breeding and testing ground of 289 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:33.559 today's social collectivities, to use Cuba's words again, can be 290 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:37.960 seen through a variety of historical events, often violent ones, 291 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:43.519 that provide evidence of collective suffering. We've seen that in 292 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:47.240 a lot of episodes of history impossible, particularly the ones 293 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.960 that concern Israel and Palestine, but also the ones that 294 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.599 concern places like Yugoslavia and its own constituent identities. And indeed, 295 00:21:55.640 --> 00:22:00.480 as Jeffrey Cubitt explains, quote, civil wars, national des feats, 296 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.680 foreign occupations, with their accompanying experiences of resistance and collaboration, 297 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:10.839 genocidal atrocities, episodes of state sponsored terror produce ruptures, conflicts, 298 00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:14.160 and insecurities within society at large and within the lives 299 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:22.559 of countless individuals unquote. However, even though violence often plays 300 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.160 a role in this process of identity formation, I mean again, 301 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:28.720 this is history. A lot of history is built on violence, 302 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.799 if not most of it, at least the history that 303 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:34.160 gets written about. But that's a whole other story. Even 304 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:36.279 though violence does play a part, though, like I was saying, 305 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:41.279 it is not always framed in a negative light. Sometimes 306 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.200 the social memory is one of overcoming impossible odds to 307 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:51.160 achieve greatness or even quote unquote mirror survival. Good examples 308 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:53.839 of that include a lot of the histories of the Holocaust, 309 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:59.039 as well as those of anybody who survived the genocide. 310 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:05.279 Sometimes the framing reflects a desire to justify investments of capital, time, effort, 311 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:10.119 or even lives. These different manifestations of historical memory, and 312 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:14.640 certainly others, can be seen in various examples across human history. 313 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:20.039 Like I was saying, and this includes everything, not just 314 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:22.480 the examples I gave, but also ones like the dropping 315 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:25.599 of the atomic bombs on Japan or the conclusion of 316 00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:29.079 the American Civil War, which are examples given by Jeffrey 317 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:34.920 Cubitt when he's talking about historical memory. However, I believe 318 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:40.200 among the most pointed examples of identity formation via historical memory, 319 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.359 and most relevant to this special episode that we're doing, 320 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:49.039 are those of the Arab nationalists, the Zionists, and the 321 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.839 British Empire. During the Arab Revolt of nineteen thirty six 322 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:59.880 to nineteen thirty nine, all three factions developed and constructed 323 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:04.799 their identities around their relationship to Empire and connections to 324 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:10.559 a particular place, that is, the Holy Land. This was 325 00:24:10.599 --> 00:24:14.039 even recognized in the years leading up to the revols itself, 326 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.799 with the journalist Neil McNeil observing in The New York 327 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:19.359 Times in July fifth, nineteen thirty one, and I was 328 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:21.599 actually able to look at this issue of the newspaper. 329 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:23.400 I was able to find a digital copy of it. 330 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:28.319 That the factions quote conflicting elements make their conflicting claims, 331 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:32.519 each backed by an extensive propaganda that disputes everything put 332 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:36.119 forth by the rival organizations, while insisting on its own 333 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:44.160 as alone, just and fair. While both the Arab nationalists 334 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:48.599 and the Zionists' relationships to Empire were those of opposition 335 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:53.480 in the interest of particular national self determination, the British 336 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:58.319 relationship to Empire was one of maintenance. These are the 337 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:02.039 waning days speak of the British Empire, or at least 338 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:05.799 of the dominance of the British Empire, were only a 339 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:10.519 couple decades removed from the era of decolonization. So at 340 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:13.920 this point the British relationship to Empire was, like I said, 341 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:19.960 one of maintenance. Their notion of maintenance was particularly tied 342 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:26.319 to their imperial self concept, but broadly speaking, all three 343 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:31.440 factions relationships to Empire were determined by their own particular 344 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:37.680 connections to the land that would become Israel. These connections 345 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:41.960 were both internal and external, with the former manifesting and 346 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:47.680 spiritual and religious connections and the latter being more secular 347 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:52.759 and political in nature. These connections would be forged and 348 00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:57.200 strengthened through the historical memory that was created by the 349 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:00.960 collective experiences that occurred during the Arab v of nineteen 350 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:05.440 thirty six to nineteen thirty nine. In the most generalized 351 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:10.559 framing possible, the Arab nationalist's historical memory would be one 352 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:16.839 characterized by notions of suffering and humiliation, which led to 353 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:20.920 a fractured identity that would ultimately be defined in significant 354 00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:26.160 part by the revolt's primary leaderships lethal obsession with Jews 355 00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:33.720 as a people. The Zionist's historical memory would be one 356 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.920 of overcoming impossible odds in the face of existential destruction, 357 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.039 both from their Arab rivals and more to the point, 358 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:46.319 from the growing threat of Nazi Germany and Europe, which 359 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.079 would lead to a more unified identity that would be 360 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:53.440 defined by a sense of being isolated and without meaningful allies. 361 00:26:56.759 --> 00:27:01.160 And finally, the British Empire's historical memory of the Arab 362 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:06.480 Revolt would be defined as one of imperial failure thanks 363 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:11.359 to their inability to force really a compromise between either 364 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:15.920 the Zionists or the Arab nationalists who would continue their 365 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:23.680 agitation and even violent revolt against colonial authority. This would 366 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:28.599 manifest in a desire to justify their imperial investments, which 367 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:32.160 included not just untold amounts of money and thousands of 368 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:36.119 lives by the revolt's end, by framing their presence and 369 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:42.000 thus their identity as one of peacekeeper, guide and the builder, 370 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:48.960 the shepherd maybe of new nations. This identity would be 371 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:52.839 further complicated by the ever present existence of the Christian 372 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:57.680 Zionist beliefs held by many colonial authorities and British politicians 373 00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:03.359 involved in colonial affairs. It is to this complex relationship 374 00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:07.319 within the British Empire that we now turn for the 375 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:11.440 first part of our deeper examination into the formation of 376 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:16.480 these factions collective identities through the historical memory of the 377 00:28:16.519 --> 00:29:11.759 Arab Revolt the identity of imperial decline. Some aspects of 378 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.400 British identity underwent a major transformation in the early years 379 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.920 of the twentieth century, especially when it became clear that 380 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:24.279 their new Palestinian mandate was eventually one from the Ottomans. 381 00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:29.000 After the First World War ended. However, it began to 382 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:33.200 become much clearer almost a year before the Armistice that 383 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:37.640 this would be the case. On November ninth, nineteen seventeen, 384 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:41.640 five days after it was written, the British press released 385 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:45.400 what would become known as the Balfour Declaration, which guaranteed 386 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:48.960 quote a national home for the Jewish people unquote, as 387 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.880 well as the promise that the government would quote use 388 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:55.160 their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object. 389 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:59.599 Clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice 390 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:03.640 the sin and religious rights of existing non Jewish communities 391 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:10.680 in Palestine. This pledge from the Declaration marks what is 392 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:14.440 often considered to be the official beginning of the British 393 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:19.559 Zionist relationship, but in truth, the relationship predated the Declaration 394 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:24.359 by many years. Many members of the British government were 395 00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:28.079 already in support of the idea of a Jewish national home, 396 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:32.279 with Winston Churchill proclaiming in nineteen oh eight that quote 397 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:36.039 I am in full sympathy with the historical traditional aspirations 398 00:30:36.039 --> 00:30:38.920 of the Jews. The restoration to them of a center 399 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:42.759 of true racial and political integrity would be a tremendous 400 00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:49.079 event in the history of the world. Lord Balfour himself 401 00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:53.279