Thesis
‘I could not serve a government in whose policy I did not believe’. Gertrude Bell, Zionism and the Foreign Office
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2023
- Thesis identifier
- T16613
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 202079878
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Abstract
- Gertrude Bell presents a curious position; in her work as a diplomat, she acted on behalf of a pro-Zionist British government whilst partaking in diplomacy in a largely anti-Zionist region. Her own views on Zionism were vocally articulated in private: ‘Between ourselves, we both [Bell and her father, Sir Hugh Bell] think Zionism tosh’, said Bell to her stepmother in 1922; in her line of work, however, she had to strike a fine balance between her concerns about the impact of the Balfour declaration on the future of Palestine and the Arab community, the British government’s commitment to Zionism and the pro-Arab views of the Foreign Office. Transcending much of the literature on Bell’s time in the Middle East and coinciding with the adoption of pro-Zionist British foreign policy is the theme of Britain’s continuance to govern in the Middle East despite increasing criticism of imperialism internationally and despite growing unrest in the region as a result of non-native governments. As the following discussion of the historiography sets out, it is helpful to view Bell’s role as neither simply part of the British establishment nor an individual actor, but what it meant to exist as both. Bell’s relationship with Zionism is an understudied theme. Bell aligned herself closely and compassionately with the Arabs, yet apparently involved herself so little with the Zionist movement. The major question still unanswered by the literature is how closely Bell can be associated with the British Government on the issue of Zionism.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Williams, Manuela A., 1968-
- Wesolowska, Ksenia
- Resource Type
- DOI
- Embargo Note
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File | 2023-06-19 | University of Strathclyde |