Jordan and the Mandate for Palestine

Daniel Pipes replies:

I stand by my position. Here is an excerpt from Martin Sicker, Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831-1922 (199), pp. 157-58.

On August 7, 1920, Herbert Samuel, the recently appointed high commissioner in Palestine, cabled London requesting permission to include Trans-Jordan directly under his administrative control, thereby allowing him to take the necessary steps to restore order in the territory. This would eliminate the threat of a French attempt to control the region from Damascus.

London, however, troubled by a declining economy at home and seeking ways to reduce military expenditures, was unwilling to commit any significant resources to an area that it considered to be of only marginal value. Curzon therefore rejected Samuel's appeal and proposed instead that a few political officers be sent to "such places as Salt and Kerak, provided that no military escorts are necessary to ensure their safety…. The duties of these officers should be confined to encouraging local self-government and to giving such advice as is asked for by the people…. There must be no question of setting up any British Administration in that area."