I believe that British diplomacy in Palestine was consistently indecisive and hypocritical, but at the same time the British wanted to keep their hands in Palestine's economy and assets. The reasoning behind this statement is due to the events that occurred during the Hussein-McMahon correspondence, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and the Balfour Declaration. First, the Hussein-McMahon correspondence was a long exchange of letters between the Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali and the British High Commissioner Sir Henry McMahon dealing with the future political status of the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs were planning to rebel against the Ottoman Empire because of the promise that, after the end of the war, Britain would recognize the independence of the Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire now known as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, West Bank and Gaza, and Saudi Arabia. The British encouraged the revolt against the Ottoman Empire because they were allies of the Germans during the First World War. The British also knew that if the Arabs entered World War I and succeeded in overthrowing the Ottoman Empire, the British would be able to do so. occupy key positions that could give them an advantage over the Germans during the war. Unfortunately, after the war ended, McMahon and Hussein were unable to agree on which areas of territory to recognize the independence of the Arab areas that Hussein had wanted. For lack of better words, this made the relationship between the Arab leader, Hussein bin Ali, and the British High Commissioner Sir Henry McMahon and their people very distrustful of each other and extremely tense. The second thing that put a lot of tension on the relationship between the Arabs and the British was the Sykes-Picot agreement… at the heart of the paper… colonizing the colonizers at the very moment when other Europeans had given up on the idea?” That said, I believe this statement effectively paraphrases the source of the tension between Jews and Arabs opposed to the creation of the state of Israel. Works Cited Fromkin, David (1989). A peace to end all peace: the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Middle East. New York: Owl. pp. 286, 288. ISBN 0-8050-6884-8. Peter Mansfield, British Empire magazine, Time-Life Books, n. 75, p.2078 Balfour, Arthur J. "Balfour Declaration of 1917." Letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2 November 1917. MS.Huneidi, Sahar. A Broken Trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians 1920-1925. London: IB Tauris, 2001. Print."Quotes on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (19 citations). Network. March 10. 2012. .