Jill, Duchess of Hamilton - Jill Hamilton, God, Guns & Israel

God, Guns & Israel 3rd Edition
Britain, the Jews and the First World War Updated third edition £12.99 The roots of the present conflict in the Middle East can be traced back to the beginning of the Jewish Homeland in the First World War. God, Guns and Israel weaves together two of elements which contributed to the state’s founding: war and religion. It shows how indirect and direct military actions strengthened the platform on which the Jews eventually created their state. Indeed, each major war in which Britain participated -- the Crimean War, the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War -- resulted in actions which consolidated the position of the Jews in Palestine. Most importantly, the book shows the enormous strength given to the Jewish settlers in Palestine by the Jewish Legion, the unique units formed within the British army in 1917. It follows David Ben Gurion and other volunteers from their first tottering steps on the moors of Devonshire, to their quarter-century as members of the secret underground army, the Haganah. After Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of Independence in May 1948, this formidable army was turned into the Israeli Defense Force. By the end of that year, despite casualties, it boasted 95,441 soldiers and won the War of Independence. While looking at the other main strand of thought in the book, religion, God, Guns & Israel shows the influence of the Old Testament on British political thought. The Balfour Declaration in 1917 is usually seen as the first British commitment to creating a Jewish homeland. However, Jill Hamilton argues that it was the culmination of nearly a century of political maneuvering. Behind each diplomatic move there was a politician who been raised either as a Nonconformist or an Evangelist. Would Israel be here today if the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, a fiery Welsh Liberal and former Baptist lay preacher, had not pushed the idea of forming a Jewish homeland in 1917? Or if Woodrow Wilson, a devout Presbyterian, had not been president in 1919? Or if Harry Truman, another Baptist, had not been president in 1948? Includes new material analysing the current political situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories and relates the impact of religious Jewish nationalism on the West Bank and Gaza 1968-2009. Relevant for anyone wanting to understand the present situation of the conflict in the Middle East Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, a former journalist in Australia and Fleet Street, has written twelve books, including Thomas Cook: The Holiday Maker for The History Press. She is now completing her PhD at the School of Oriental & African Studies at London University and spends much time in Jerusalem. Available from all good bookshops, www.amazon.co.uk or www.thehistorypress.co.uk	God, Guns & Israel 3rd edition Published 2009
God, Guns & Israel
The Britain, the First World War and the Jews in the Holy Land 1914-1925 The roots of the present conflict in the Middle East can be traced back to the very foundation of the Jewish Homeland in the First World War. God, Guns and Israel weaves two threads together, the military advance and the influences of Protestant Nonconformism and the Old Testament on the founding of the modern state of Israel. The long-held Jewish dream of a homeland became a reality due to a remarkable military, political and theological confluence. The book follows the involvement of David Lloyd George from 1903 when he worked as a solicitor for the Zionists to 1916 when he became prime minister. Within days of him moving into 10 Downing Street the defensive action in the Sinai to safeguard the Suez Canal was changed into an offensive advance into Palestine. But the Turks. aided by the Germans, put up a strong In resistance. The British lost the first Battle of Gaza in April 1916, and the second in battle a month later. Lloyd George sacked the commander and called in General Sir Edmund Allenby with the instructions to seize Jerusalem ‘as a Christmas present for the British nation.’ As Allenby’s guns were poised ready to start the third Battle of Gaza at the end of October 1917, in London Lloyd George’s War Cabinet issued the Balfour Declaration with the promise to make ‘a homeland for the Jews’. For both Jews and Arabs there was a sense of betrayal as Western powers sliced up the Middle East, each pursuing its own policy. Today, these decisions are overshadowed by suicide bombers and encroaching settlers. Jill Hamilton opens a new perspective on the ideals and realities of those who sought an answer to the more than thousand year old question of Jewish national identity. The Bible, the army and the secret service all had a role. Described by A.N. Wilson in The Daily Telegraph, London, on 24 February 2004, as ‘fascinating’ and ‘excellent’. God, Guns and Israel was launched in London at the Khalili Lecture Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies, at an event organized by the London Middle East Institute and Sutton Publishers and in Wales at the Lloyd George Museum, Llanystumdwy, Criccieth, Gwynedd. Read the prologue of God, Guns & Israel The British, the First World War and the Jews in the Holy Land	God, Guns & Israel The British, the First World War and the Jews in the Holy Land (Sutton Publishing £20 in the UK; $A39.95 in Australia; $US24.95 in the US.) Issued in paperback on 6 December, 2004