The Welsh Hands That Shaped the Middle-East Conflict ; Almost 90 Years Ago, a Man From Gwynedd Led Arab Fighters to an Amazing Victory Over the Mighty Ottoman Empire, Having Inspired Them with His Vision of Arab Self-Government in the Middle East. But Another Man, From the Same Part of Wales, Had Already Promised Some of That Land to the Jewish People. Hodri Clark Compares the Welshmen Who Shaped the Modern Middle Eas

Summary

---

TAKE the Pwllheli road from outside TE Lawrence's childhood home in Tremogand six miles later you'll come to Llanystumdwy, where David Lloyd George grew up.

Their upbringing in these peaceful villages, both a short distance inland from the northernmost coastline of Cardigan Bay, is not the only thing these men have in common. Both made their mark on world history - by supporting opposing claimants to lands in the Middle East.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

The Welsh Hands That Shaped the Middle-East Conflict ; Almost 90 Years Ago, a Man From Gwynedd Led Arab Fighters to an Amazing Victory Over the Mighty Ottoman Empire, Having Inspired Them with His Vision of Arab Self-Government in the Middle East. But Another Man, From the Same Part of Wales, Had Already Promised Some of That Land to the Jewish People. Hodri Clark Compares the Welshmen Who Shaped the Modern Middle Eas

Both may have been carried away by their own ideals and their enthusiasm to create a better post-war world. By going that extra mile, they helped to put Britain into the embarrassing position of having promised the same territory to rival claimants.

Neither could have imagined that their actions could have sown the seeds for decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Should Welsh people today feel a sense of culpability? One councillor from the South Wale...

See the full content of this document

---