LOGICAL IDEA THAT COULD HAVE PREVENTED STRIFE
Michael Binyon
Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq
Oct 12 2005
HAD Lawrence’s plan been accepted, much of the anti-Western bitterness
of Arab nationalism might have been avoided. There would have been no
quasi-colonial rule over Syria and Jordan; a state between Iraq and
Turkey might have become a homeland for the Kurds; and the Armenians
might have found refuge in a state north of Syria.
The plan would probably have done little to forestall the partition
of Palestine. Lawrence knew of the Balfour Declaration, which offered
the Jews a national homeland. On his map Palestine is marked as a
separate entity not awarded to any Arab ruler.
His map was drawn up at the height of his influence, when he was
attending the Versailles conference as an aide of Prince Feisal,
the leader of the Arab delegation. It is unclear whether it was an
attempt to sabotage the Anglo-French plan for Middle East “mandates”,
or a genuine attempt to reward the sons of Sherif Hussein of Mecca
with kingdoms of their own.
Lawrence proposes a Frenchcontrolled state in the mountains inland
from Beirut, the traditional Christian enclave around Mount Lebanon.
This later was enlarged by France to include an equal number of
Muslims and separated from Syria to form Lebanon.
Lawrence did not specify that the kingdom awarded to Zaid, the youngest
son of Sherif Hussein, would be a Kurdish state, but its boundaries
are very close to the area now populated by Kurds, who resent the
failure to award them a homeland after the First World War.
Since the map does not split Ottoman Syria into northern, French and
British zones, the state awarded to Feisal would have had geographic
and historical coherence. Iraq is placed under British administration,
but unites only two of the three Ottoman provinces, comprising the
Shia region in the south and the Sunnis around Baghdad. This would
not have prevented anti-British uprisings and Shia-Sunni tensions.
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