Dissension Among Allies : Earnest Bevin’s Palestine Policy Between Whitehall and the White House

Dissension Among Allies

by Youssef Chaitani

Ernest Bevin was Great Britain’s first Labour foreign minister in the post-WWII era. His Middle East policy rested on economic and military partnership with the Arab states and was designed to uphold Britain’s empire status in the region. Yet Arab partnership depended on the resolution of the Palestine problem, a receding prospect given Britain’s growing reliance on US economic and military assistance as exemplified in the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry and how its recommendations were utilized by the White House and President Truman to suit electoral needs. Truman’s Yom Kippur statement endorsing the creation of an independent Jewish state in Palestine finally led Bevin to surrender the problems to the United Nations. By doing so he brought an informal end to the British mandate.

About the Author

Youssef Chaitani received his MA in Contemporary Middle Eastern History from the American University of Beirut in 1995 and is preparing a doctorate at the University of London. Since 1998 he has worked as a research assistant at the United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut.

Review

‘Chaitani makes us almost feel the anguish Bevin must have felt. This human approach, combined with the clear political explanations, gives the book its strength. Refreshing …’ Tribune ‘An authoritative and well-researched work covering a critical period of Arab and Palestinian history.’
al-Hayat

Language: English
ISBN: 9780863565991
2003, paperback, 180 pages, 15.0 x 21.5 cm