istory teaches us that sometimes apparently modest beginnings have severe and far-reaching consequences. There are many examples of this in history. Here is a tale of two fateful letters. One of these letters was written by Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, to Mr Rothschild, a capitalist and a Jewis leader, in 1917, in the midst of cataclysmic World War I. He wrote that the Jewish people would be facilitated to gain a ‘national home’ in Palestine.

The letter consisted of only 67 words. However, it has had immense consequences for the Middle East and its inhabitants. For the last three-quarters of a century, the materialisation of the proposition in this letter has vitiated peace of a region that lies at the crossroads of the most populated landmasses of Eurasia and Africa. The letter has gone down in history as the Balfour Declaration.

In this letter, Balfour conveyed his satisfaction with the approval of the British cabinet regarding the establishment in Palestine of “a national home for the Jewish people.” He also stated that the British government will use its endeavours to realise this objective. While pursuing this objective, it will not harm the local people. “Nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” It also assured that “the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country” will not be jeopardised.

This letter started a long series of events that eventuated in the establishment of a Zionist state of Israel in the heart of Palestine. This ‘settled colonial state’ unfolded its expansionist designs just on the model of the expansionist colonial empires, which had given birth, justified and supported the state of Israel. The classical colonial states as well as the neo-colonial state of the United States continued their support for Israel to pursue its imperial and expansionist plans. At the receiving end of this were the Palestinian Arabs and the neighbouring states.

Subsequent to the withdrawal of the British mandate, the conflicting national aspirations of the Arabs and Jews started recurring wars and violence in the region. The first Arab-Israel war was started in the year of the establishment of Israel, i.e. 1948. It lasted till 1949. It was followed by another war in 1967, called the Six-Day War. The third cycle of violence took place in 1973. It is called the Yom Kippur War. This led to Arab countries’ blocking the supply of fossil fuels to the Western world to press for a fair solution to the issue. The fourth cycle of violence started on October 7 this year with desperate attacks by Hamas and brutal retaliation by Israel. None of these wars has resulted in progress towards peace.

For the last three-quarters of a century, the materialisation of the proposition of this letter has vitiated peace of a region that lies at the crossroads of the most populated landmasses of Eurasia and Africa. 

The ongoing war is as brutal as the earlier wars. Israel is indiscriminately attacking all kinds of targets. This include houses, schools, hospitals and worship places such as mosques and churches. More than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed. Forty per cent of those killed have been children. This has made Gaza a ‘graveyard for children.’ The damage to infrastructure has been immeasurable. All of Gaza has been turned into a concentration camp. Its residents have been forced to live in nothing but tents. The world is waiting for a permanent end to this conflict.

A similarly brief letter – consisting of 53 words – was written by then US president Jimmy Carter. It was declassified in the middle of December this year. It sanctioned permission for assistance by the United States to Afghanistan to enable it to fight a war against Soviet Russia that started in 1979. The document has been released by the Washington-based National Security Archive after nearly forty-two years of the start of the war that affected not only Afghanistan but also Pakistan. This letter laid the basis of the CIA-funded war called Afghan Jihad.

The letter allowed pumping of $2.1 billion by the United States, matched by $2.1 billion provided by Saudi Arabia, to Pakistan to play its role in the war. The letter stated that the US would provide lethal military equipment directly or through third countries so that it could be used against the Soviets in Afghanistan. It also stated that the US would provide selective training, conducted out of Afghanistan, in the use of military equipment provided by the United States.

The Afghan War proved fateful for the Pakistani state and society. Pakistan has not recovered from the setbacks and repercussions of the conflicts and violence in its neighbourhood. It brought around 3.7 million Afghan refugees to Pakistan as well as an abundance of automatic weapons and a militarised society, a narcotics economy, radicalisation, mushroom growth of madrassahs, militant organisations and more extreme sectarianism.

These factors became a push factor for foreign direct investment. The kind of diversification Pakistan needed in its economy to meet the needs of its burgeoning population and socio-economic development did not materialise.

The writer has a PhD in history from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He heads the History Department at University of Sargodha. He has worked as a research fellow at Royal Holloway College, University of London. He can be reached at abrar.zahoor@hotmail.com. His X handle: @AbrarZahoor1