In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth The McMahon-Husayn correspondence has been at the heart of Anglo-Arab relations since the end of the First World War. Written in obscure and ambiguous terms, it has aroused great controversy, particularly over the issue of Palestine. This acclaimed study brings together for the first time all the available evidence from British, French and Arabic sources and elucidates the meaning of the correspondence. In following the genesis and fortunes of the documents, this book is at once an account of a central episode in the modern history of the Middle East, a contribution to the history of British diplomacy during the First World War, and an enquiry into official historiography. 2 In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth The McMahon-Husayn Correspondence and its Interpretations 1914-1939 ELIE KEDOURIE 3 First published in 1976 by Frank Cass Publishers This edition published in 2000 in Great Britain by FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informabusiness Copyright © 2000 Sylvia Kedourie British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Kedourie, Elie In the Anglo-Arab labyrinth: the McMahon-Husayn correspondence and its interpretations, 1914-1939. - 2nd ed. 1. Husein ibn ’Ali, King of the Hijaz - Correspondence 2. McMahon, Sir Henry - Correspondence 3. Great Britain - Foreign relations -Arab Countries- 1910-1936 4. Arab countries - Foreign relations - Great Britain 4 I. Title 327.4’1’0174927’09041 ISBN 978-0-714-65097-5 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-714-68139-9 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kedourie, Elie In the Anglo-Arab labyrinth: the McMahon-Husayn correspondence and its interpretations, 1914-1939/Elie Kedourie; with a foreword by Sylvia Kedourie. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7146-5097-8 (cloth) - ISBN 0-7146-8139-3 (pbk.) 1. Great Britain - Foreign relations - Middle East. 2. Middle East - Foreign relations - Great Britain. 3. McMahon, A. H. 4. Husayn ibn Ali, King of Hejaz, 1853?-1931. I. Title DS63.2.G7 K4 2000 5 327.41056-dc21 00-034040 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher of this book.. ISBN 978-1-315-03988-6 (eISBN) 6 Philochorus says the Cretans…will not allow the Labryrinth to have been anything but a prison, which had no other inconvenience than this, that those who were confined there could not escape. PLUTARCH …diplomatic history… the record of what one clerk said to another clerk G.M. YOUNG 7 Contents Foreword to New Edition Preface PART I: THE QUICKSAND 1 Cairo, London and the Sharif of Mecca 2 Kitchener, Grey and the Arab Question 3 Mysteries of the McMahon-Husayn Correspondence PART II: THE FLY IN THE FLY-BOTTLE 4 Husayn Interprets McMahon’s Promises, 1916-17 5 Sykes, Picot and Husayn 6 Wingate, Hogarth and Husayn 7 Varieties of Official Historiography I: The Arab Bureau, Nicolson, Toynbee 8 The Correspondence in the Peace Settlement: Faysal and Young 9 Varieties of Official Historiography II: The Colonial Office, McMahon, Childs 8 10 The Foreign Office Wrestles with the Correspondence: Baggallay’s Hour Epilogue: Knowledge, Power and Guilt Works Cited Appendix: In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth: Genesis of a History Index 9 Maps Ottoman administrative divisions in the Levant The Asia Minor, ‘Sykes-Picot’, agreement 10