The Balfour Declaration is one of the most important events in the history of the Jewish people and of the Middle East prior to the Holocaust, signaling the beginning of a new era of self-determination in the reconstituted Jewish homeland after nearly 2000 years of life in exile.
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This book provides an all-inclusive understanding of the complex geopolitical elements that shaped the facts on the ground in the Middle East. Analyzing the chain of events that led to the Balfour Declaration through a uniquely holistic approach it demonstrates how the national interests of the nations involved in World War I theater intersected with those of the Jewish nation in the final phase of its long march towards political sovereignty.
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Dr. Goldstein's groundbreaking PhD dissertation was published as a book under the same title by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
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Original letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, conveying The Balfour Declaration to Lord Lionel Rothschild, Head of the British Zionist Federation
The following review by Dr. Elad Ben-Dror, senior lecturer in the department of Middle Eastern studies at Bar Ilan University confirms that Dr. Goldstein's work fills the glaring gaps in the existing literature on the subject of the Balfour Declaration.
(Translated from Hebrew by Dr. Eyal Lewin of Ariel University)
March 30, 2020
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The Serendipitous Evolution of the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917
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I have carefully read Mr. Goldstein’s dissertation, which reviews and analyzes the complex processes that led to the Balfour Declaration. This is a fascinating work that is well-written and addresses a critical and fundamental issue in the history of Zionism. The work shines fully and comprehensively on the deep and underground processes that led to the Balfour Declaration.
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In conventional historical research, the British Balfour Declaration is described and explained in light of the time it was given - World War I. The British made their war machine a declaration of intent whose purpose was to facilitate the occupation of Palestine, improve the level of British allies’ commitment to war (a prominent example of which was the United States), to strategically position the British in the struggle against the French for Israel, at the end of the war and more. It also added value and religious tastes to British policymakers who were involved in the work.
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The research argument presented in our PhD is that the event of the Balfour Declaration cannot only be explained by the description and understanding of British motives in the limited timeframe prior to publication of the decision, but that the correct historical understanding of this step requires a much broader discussion, and in fact a correct description of the course begins 128 years earlier with the French Revolution that influenced Jewish thought. Hence, the work details broad processes that took place in various arenas of the Diaspora Jews: emancipation and education; the harsh pogroms and persecution that were among the Jews in Russia; the emigration of Russian Jews to the United States and the land of Israel and Zionist unrest - detailed from both the conceptual point of view through its principal thinkers and in Herzl’s political activity in particular.
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Mr. Goldstein manages to tie these altogether quite convincingly. His writing is effervescent (partly accompanied by images from different worlds), his summaries are clear and, in general, he manages to lead his thesis confidently and rhyme the various events in the link in the chain that led to the Balfour Declaration. The technical submission of the work was also done fine. The discussion of the exhausting and lengthy process of drafting the Balfour Declaration is detailed here in a very enlightening and very good way that includes important analyses, as are the events that are the background for the declaration (e.g. the French agreement that paved the way for the British to respond to the Zionist claim). In other words – it is true that the central innovation of the work is the light beam that expands the perspective and roots of the process that preceded the statement, but even in the historical chapters adjacent to the statement there is detailed discussion, important insights and probably innovations Because of all this, it is a worthwhile and important work, and I
approve it as a doctoral dissertation.
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I believe that this is an important and worthwhile work and the contribution of a new perspective on the history of Zionism.
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Best regards,
Dr. Elad Ben-Dror
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About the Author
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Paul Goldstein is a Holocaust survivor born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1932. He immigrated to Canada in 1954. In 1958, he received his BA (Hons.) in Economics and Political Science from Sir George Williams college in Montreal (now Carleton University) and did post-graduate work in the same fields at McGill and Carleton University.
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After 10 years of employment in the manufacturing industry where he rose to the top of one of the major packaging companies in Montréal, he became totally engrossed in combating the resurgence of neo-Nazi movements in Canada and in the world. Later, he embarked on what turned out to be a successful and distinguished 50-year financial planning career.
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Paul has spent a huge amount of his life learning and reading. One of the things that puzzled him was why the Jewish people, after more than 2000 years of persecution, still have to fight for survival. Everyone who I met kept telling me “well, you know so much about antisemitism, why don’t you write a book.” Paul wasn’t interested in writing about his feelings or opinions — he wanted to do base his conclusions on scholarly research, on undisputable facts. So, he decided, at age 81, to go back to school full-time, to get his Master’s degree and to become an academic.
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He tried to enrol at the University of Toronto and dutifully applied online. He was immediately rejected. “They said I was too old and that I had graduated from college too many years before and that I had no current support system.” Paul was adamant about becoming a student and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He eventually convinced the University to allow him to take three Master’s courses see if he could qualify for this kind of academic work. I wound up getting three A’s.”
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Paul so impressed one of his professors that she went to the admissions board on his behalf asking that he be granted permission to enrol in the Master’s program. As a result, the university accepted Paul as a full-time student. He received A’s in all his courses and for his Master’s thesis, he received an A+. This was the first time in six years that a student in the political science department had received this mark. He obtained his Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Toronto in 2015. (Click here to see the testimonial letter from the supervisor of the Master's programs.).
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After he received his Master’s degree, Paul decided to pursue a PhD on the dramatic developments that took place in the Middle East between the two World Wars and their impact on the current state of affairs in the area.
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He had come to realize that Britain, by virtue of their Mandate for Palestine, had played a crucial role in shaping the current political landscape in the area.
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He found that the historically most impactful of Britain’s Mandatory policy decisions, was its complete volte face in the execution of their Mandatory obligations.
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In 1922, Britain undertook, under the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine, pursuant to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, to “reconstitute” the national home of the Jewish people in Palestine.
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In the McDonald White paper of May 17, 1939, which prevented further Jewish immigration to Palestine, Britain completely reversed its undertaking under the Mandate, thereby condemning millions of Jews in Europe to death at the hands of the Nazis.
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Paul realized that to come to grips with the turbulent situation in the Middle East today, it was necessary to illuminate the path that led to it. Paul decided to focus his PhD research on the geopolitical dynamics that shaped that path. To learn how the tracing of that path led Paul to discover the historic significance of the Balfour Declaration please read Book in Focus below.
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Book in Focus
by Dr. Paul Goldstein PhD
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The seed that grew into this book was planted on May 10, 1940, when Nazi Germany invaded the country of my birth, Belgium. I was seven years-old. Unbeknownst to me, it was also the date of my death sentence, as well as my family’s and that of the entire Jewish population in Belgium and the rest of Europe. While I clearly remember the life-altering changes that happened to me between 1940 and 1945, I had no idea as to their cause and meaning. It was only after the war, when, as an adult, I started asking questions, that I began to understand. I learned that it had been the Nazis’ intent to destroy the entire Jewish people and that it was only the timeline of World War II that did not allow them to complete their objective.
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That I was one of the few survivors of the most destructive episode in the history of my people, bestowed on me opportunities and responsibilities. I became part of that gossamer thread of life that links the lost generation of the Holocaust with the reborn nation of Israel. I felt that I owed it to the millions who perished to devote all the energy and resources I could muster to help ensure that their precious memories are preserved for all time. In the final analysis, I was strongly motivated by the martyrdom of the Jewish people in the Diaspora, before, during, and after the period covered in this book.
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As a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Canada from Belgium, I have spent a lifetime trying to understand how such a horrendous catastrophe could happen in a so-called civilized world. The overriding impetus that cemented my determination to pursue the exploration of this seminal episode in the history of the Jewish people was the responsibility that my own survival bestowed on me to help ensure that the story be known and never forgotten.
“It will be welcomed by anyone interested in an unbiased account of the path that led to the situation in the Middle East today”
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One of the most burning questions I have been asking throughout the years was how it came about that, after almost 2000 years of oppression, persecution, and impotent ghetto life, there has arisen, like a phoenix out of the ashes of history, a small sovereign state of Israel, where Jews can live in freedom without fear of being persecuted by their own government, for who they are.
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My concomitant question was why this tiny state, which had come about at such an enormous cost, has been, to this day, subject to so much hostility and existential threats.
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My seven-year-long academic search for answers led me to discover that the Balfour Declaration was one of the most important events in the history of the Jewish people prior to the Holocaust. Not only did it signal the beginning of a new era of self-determination in the reconstituted Jewish homeland after nearly 2000 years of life in exile, it also played a seminal role in the process that shaped the facts on the ground in the Middle East today.
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During my research, I found that the existing literature provided only episodic fragments of the subject matter and were often tainted by hindsight-driven subjective biases. As I state in the book’s preface, by limiting their research to specific aspects episodic timeframes, the various authors did not provide an overall explanation of the processes that led to the proclamation of the Balfour Declaration. Consequently, the focus of my study moved to seek information in primary sources which included archives, diaries, autobiographies, and first-hand accounts.
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As outlined in the preface to my book, by methodically tracking the stages that transformed the Jewish ethos from the amorphous stage of social and political impotence in the oppressive world of the Diaspora to the politically dynamic pursuit of the return to sovereign nationhood in the ancestral homeland, I identified three major developments that fueled this arduous journey, which are mostly wanting in the existing literature. Without the development of these crucial independent variables, there would have been no political Jewish representation for the British government to engage with as part of its World War I strategy in the Middle East. There also would not have been a Balfour Declaration, and the state of Israel would never have come into being.
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Without knowing and understanding the past, it is impossible to comprehend and deal with the present. This book makes a significant contribution to both these essential requirements. I believe that it belongs on the bookshelves of every institution of higher learning and that it will be welcomed by anyone interested in an unbiased account of the path that led to the situation in the Middle East today.
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The Times of Israel interviewed Dr. Goldstein about the book.