It was just a few years later
during WWI that the liner RMS Lusitania sank off the coast of Ireland with a
loss of 128 American lives. It had been hit by a single torpedo from a German
submarine that was assumed to be the cause of her sinking; however, it was
determined by divers in 2008 that the ship actually sank as the result of
secondary explosions of munitions in her hold in violation of U.S. neutrality. Although
President Wilson denied knowledge of the munitions, we will never know the
truth. In any event, the incident took us into WWI. This, was, however, not the
only or the greatest reason for our entrance. What is even lesser known is that there was a secret
proposition offered to the British. It was understood that the British would, at the end of the war, come into possession of that part of the expired Ottoman Empire known as Palestine.
The House of Rothschild and the international banking community sent a letter on
behalf of the recently formed Zionist Movement to His Majesty's government asking
the British to then designate Palestine as a homeland for the Jewish people. They
offered as a quid pro quo that they would in turn use their considerable Jewish
influence to bring America into the war on the side of the allies. The British
response came in the form of a letter from the British Foreign Secretary Arthur
James Balfour, known as the Balfour Declaration. It read as follows:
November 2nd, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in
conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following
declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been
submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government
view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement
of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which
may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities
in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other
country."
I should be grateful if you
would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour
At the end of the war, however,
the British found themselves in a very awkward situation. No one had consulted
the Arabs. Caught on the horns of a
dilemma His Majesty's government could not resolve, they were humiliated when
the Anglo-American Zionists published this threatening warning:
You forget that you did
not give us Palestine as an unsolicited gift (Balfour Declaration). It was
handed over as the result of a secret bargain concluded between ourselves. We have
scrupulously observed our part in bringing America into the war on your side.
We call on you to fulfil your obligations in turn. You are aware of our power
in the United States: take care that you do not attract the hostility of
Israel, otherwise you will come up against grave international difficulties. "
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