ABSTRACT
British officials in the field felt the dishonor and betrayal of trust in their country's rejection of wartime pledges. Some had fought alongside the Arabs against the Turks and Germans; all had seen the death and dying, and knew the meaning of liberty in Syria. In late 1918 Arab patriots prepared to attend the Paris Peace Conference to collect their promised reward for aiding the British against the Turks. Based on popular Arab opinion and respecting President Wilson's principle of self-determination, the King-Crane Report could have formed the basis for just and lasting postwar After the Syrian move toward independence in early March 1920, European officials quickly assembled and signed the April 1920 San Remo Agreement, placing the "Arab Rectangle" under British and French mandatory rule. The Zionists who met with Clayton wanted the British government to block public and private financing and other development assistance to Palestinian cultivators that would help improve local conditions and agricultural production.
