ABSTRACT

By the end of World War I, the idea of an “equitable” Near Eastern settlement had long been on the mind of Woodrow Wilson. The twelfth of President Wilson's Fourteen Points favored popular sovereignty for resident subject nationalities within the Ottoman empire with appropriate opportunities for their development. There were, however, disturbing reports about certain portions of Ottoman Turkey. American observers reported the duplicity of Great Britain as an occupying power in Ottoman Palestine; it appeared that British officials were permitting Zionist propaganda to flourish, but at the same time were employing repressive measures to muzzle the Arab populace. It was rumored that Britain encouraged the situation “in order to attain certain political and military aims.” The United States Department of State received many communiqu6s suggesting that “in the Southern zone of Palestine, violent hatred of the Jews and Zionists and general dissatisfaction with British administration” would lead to civil war. 1