Why is peace between Israel and Palestine so difficult today?

🇮🇱 Why is peace between Israel and Palestine so difficult today? 🇵🇸 To understand that, we need to rewind to 1939, when newly elected Neville Chamberlain was dealing with the aftermath of the Arab Revolt in British Palestine... Who better to take us through the story than *the* authority on this subject, the great Simon Sebag Montefiore? In 1939, Neville Chamberlain realised that, with war encroaching in Europe, the Middle East was going to be key. The empire had almost totally collapsed, and he came to the conclusion that Britain had backed the wrong side between the peoples of the Holy Land, thinking: why were the British "risking it all for this kind of tiny group of Jews"? And so, in 1939, the Arabs were offered a whole state in the land of Israel, where the Jews would be a tiny minority, and where their migration quotas would be dramatically reduced. But this was not enough for the Mufti; he needed it to be totally Arab. So he rejected the plan. The same happened in 1947. This, Simon argues, is still the ethos of a large part of the Palestinian community today too, and hence why the issue is so hard to resolve. Understanding the contemporary Middle East and its conflicts is impossible without knowing the history of the region over the last 100 years. Simon’s book, The Cauldron, is an enthralling guide to the whole terrain. It was a pleasure to host him last week to hear about his new book.