Footprints in the Desert
Page 32
The British mandate for Palestine included present-day Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 1921, on the land east of the Jordan River, Britain carved out Transjordan and placed Faisal’s brother Abdullah on the throne.
West of the Jordan River, the issue of a Jewish homeland played out over the next two decades. Most Arab leaders opposed the creation of a new Jewish state in Palestine, where the population was largely Arab.
In 1920, Syria became a protectorate of France, claiming a special responsibility for safeguarding Christian enclaves in the Ottoman Empire. France carved out Syria’s coastal region into the separate state of Lebanon, whose legitimacy the Syrians still don’t recognize.
In 1919, there was no Iraq. To create the new nation in ancient Mesopotamia, Britain cobbled together the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, mostly Sunni; Basra, mostly Shiite; and Mosul, mostly Kurdish.
Egypt probably fared best. It remained a British protectorate, achieving full independence in 1922, but British troops remained in the country until 1956.
Today, three generations after the end of World War I, the American president’s aide was right in his dire prediction for the Middle East. The question is, will the conflicts there ever cease?
Acknowledgments
My sincere gratitude to Duncan Macaulay for being by my side when I wrote this book; to Gay Walley, my friend and editor, for her inexhaustible patience; to Blanca Rosa Roca for her eternal confidence.
About the Author
Maha Akhtar (b. 1966) is a journalist, author, and speechwriter. A contributor to Departures magazine, she also writes about wine for several influential restaurateurs in New York City. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Akhtar started her career in the music business as assistant manager for the Cure. Six years later, she moved into public relations for Zagat Survey before entering CBS News, where she worked closely with Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News. Akhtar is the author of two memoirs and two novels previously published in Spanish. She lives in New York City.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Maha Akhtar
Originally published in Spanish as Las huellas en el desierto by Roca Editorial de Libros, S.L. in Spain in 2014.
Cover design by Sophie Guët
ISBN: 978-1-4976-9038-7
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