Each
of us sees the world through his or her eyes, but when we look at the “same” thing
what we see may vary – a little or a lot.
This is an important blog and I believe
that I need to provide you with some background information about my way of
looking at the world so you can understand “how” I see, even if you what you
see looks different.
● 1980 – I was at a critical juncture in
my life and had just recommitted my life to God. I purchased a new Bible and,
while sitting at the kitchen table, opened it prayed, “Show me what I need to know.” Instantly, this came into my mind – “Unless you know how words work you cannot
understand one word of the Bible.” I took that as an answer to my prayer
and set out to discover How Words Work.
● 1984 – I created what I called The Law of Language -- A word is a symbol or group of symbols with
an attached bundle of associations and those associations are a product of the
Source’s culture, historical time period, geographical location and personal
experiences. (A Source is the sender of the words [author or speaker] and a
Receptor is the receiver of the words [reader or hearer]). I became aware of
the importance of identifying the Source when trying to understand any message,
especially of the words of my Bible. My goal became to learning as much as
possible about the Source – the Source’s culture,
historical time period, geographical location and personal experiences.
● 1988 – I created the Guiding Principle for Bible Study – My beliefs will be large enough to include
all of the facts; open enough to be tested; and, flexible enough to change when
error or new facts are discovered. I began classifying what I was hearing
and reading as opinion, belief, truth or fact. Even though they all may sound
the same – only facts are verifiable and
a red flag goes up when opinions, beliefs or truths conflict with facts.
● 1996 – I read The New Science of the Meme by Richard Brodie and was introduced to
“memes” -- A meme is a unit of information in a mind whose existence influences
events such that more copies of it are created in other minds. Our brain is
like the hardware of a computer and memes are like the software. It is through
memes that we assign meaning to things and create strategies and associations
related to those meanings.
● 2010 – I created the TOV Standard as a result of research focused
on the first chapter of Genesis. The TOV Standard is the standard the Creator
used to measure His actions -- For
something to be TOV it must protect life, preserve life, make life more
functional and improve the quality of life. Instead of using terms like “god”
or “bad” / “right” or “wrong” as a standard I changed to TOV or RA -- For something to be RA it must destroy or
harm life, threaten life, make life less functional and diminish the quality of
life. No matter what one calls their actions – good, bad, right, or wrong – what we need to know is how those
actions affect the real lives of people.
Please
keep the above things in mind as you read about events that you have probably
never heard anything about before and weren’t taught in school. The source of
this information is Edwin Black and his book – British Petroleum and the Redline Agreement (a book that should be
must reading for anyone interested in the events taking place in the Middle
East).
An
event that set a series of events in motion that are affecting millions of
lives today took place 95 years ago today (underlines
have been added to highlight points).
● April 24, 1920 – Berthelot-Cadman Agreement, a secret deal between France and Great Britain to
divide up the oil of Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and Mesopotamia, was
initialed by Frenchman M. Philippe Berthelot, director-general of the
commercial affairs section of the Foreign Ministry, and John Cadman, Britain’s
latest oil czar. The following are found in the agreement:
“By order of the two Governments of
France and Great Britain the undersigned representatives have resumed, by
mutual consent, the consideration of an agreement regarding petroleum.
This agreement is based on the principles of cordial co-operation and
reciprocity in those countries where oil interest of the two nations can be
usefully united.”
“Mesopotamia – The British Government
undertake to grant to the French Government, or its nominee, 25 per cent of the
net output of crude oil at current market rates which His Majesty’s
Government may secure from the Mesopotamian oilfields, in the event of their
being developed by Government action; or in the event of a private petroleum
company being used to develop the Mesopotamian oilfields, the British
Government will place at the disposal of the French Government a share of 25
per cent in such a company . . . It is also understood that the said petroleum
company shall be under permanent British control.”
Clause 8 committed both France and
England to each offer a 10 percent participation of the private company
to a Mesopotamian government if such a government emerged.
Clause 9 assured that “the British
Government agree to support arrangements by which the French Government may
procure from the Anglo-Persian Company supplies of oil, which may be piped from
Persia to the Mediterranean through any pipeline which may have been
constructed within the French mandated territory and in regard to which France
has given special facilities, up to the extent of 25 per cent of the oil so
piped, on such terms and conditions as my be mutually agreed between the French
Government and the Anglo-Persian Company.”
● April 25, 1920 – The initialed
Berthelot-Cadman agree confirmed and then signed by the two heads of state,
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and newly elected French president
Alexandre Millerand.
News
of the mandates, denying Arab sovereignty in Syria quickly burned throughout
the Arab world.
● May 8, 1920 – Sharif Faisal sent a formal protest to the Supreme
Council of the Peace Conference that he “was much surprised to learn,
through public channels, the decision taken at the Conference of San Remo
on the Arab countries detached from Turkey . . . The wishes of the inhabitants
have not been taken into accounts in the assignment of these mandates . . . The
Arabs, fully conscious of their rights and their duties, did not hesitate to
take up arms against their co-religionists, and to sacrifice their noblest
blood in defense of the Right, thereby rendering abortive the threatened
Holy War [declared by the Ottoman Empire], which the Turks and Germans
wished to exploit in their struggle with the Entente [the Allies]. . . nothing
less than their complete deliverance from a foreign yoke, and the
establishment of a free and independent government, which would allow them [the
Arabs] to resume their place in the concert of nations . . . The decision
of San Remo puts an end to this hope. The moderate elements in the young
nation, who have endeavored, and are still endeavoring, to guide it towards a
policy of sincere collaboration with the Allies, are now discouraged and
rendered powerless by this decision.” Arab militancy and violence across the
occupied Mideast ratcheted up.
● May 18, 1920 – Britain’s foreign
secretary cabled Paris: “The French authorities must be the best judges of the
military measures necessary to control the local situation, and . . . they have
complete authority in taking such measures.” Quickly, French president
Millerand confirmed to General Gourand, “Action against Faisal in indispensable
and urgent.” Gourand issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Faisal to desist and
facilitate French efforts to restore order – or else. The ultimatum was calculated
to be unanswerable because of the sheer difficulties of rapid
communication. Faisal instantly agreed to the demand, but his reply
came one day late.
● July 24, 1920 – French forces continued
their invasion toward Damascus. The Arabs were no match for the modern warfare
that had emerged over the recent years. The French slaughtered the Arabs
within eight hours.
● July 24, 1920 – The same day the secret
agreement became public. Clearly the French and British had divided up the
Middle East for its oil.
● July 24, 1920 – The same day the
Zionist Conference concluded in London. Its crowning resolution created Karen
Hayesod organization to support the Jewish National Fund with cash donations
from Jews worldwide to legally purchase lands for kibbutizin and to finance the
formation of new Jewish villages in Palestine.
● July 24, 1920 – The same day, for
the Arabs, it was over. The Jews
had gained Palestine. The West had gained oil. The Arabs had lost Syria.
For the Arab world this was to be Am
al-Nakba – “The Year of the
Catastrophe.”
The
three intertwined evils – the infidel
European Allies, the infidel Zionists, and the black substance the West craved
– became conflated in the Arab mind to create one great Satan. Indeed,
these three evils would galvanize the Arab consciousness for virtually the next
century. For the first time in centuries, the Arabs stopped fighting each
other. Sunni and Shi’a, tribal enemies, those of the desert and those of the
city, the intellectual and the peasant – all could unite under one Islamic
banner, because this was Am al-Nakba.
Forevermore, 1920 would be a black year in the collective Arab Consciousness.
Britain and France dreamed of and could taste the oil that had not yet been
drilled and that had not yet flowed. The Arabs wanted that taste to be
bitter and bloody. Now, 95 years later – has anything changed?
Remember
the date April 24, 1920 -- and the events it set in motion that would lead to
millions of lost lives, billions of dollars of profits for an elite few, over a
trillion dollars spent on war and charged to taxpayers, millions who live with hatred,
fear and anger of people they know nothing about – because of a single secret agreement.
Add the above facts to your knowledge of the problems that exist in the Middle
East today. Become aware of the memes that have been created to reflect and
feed the hatred, fear and anger – by
those on all sides.
When
I use the guidelines and TOV Standard to measure the above events -- they are RA
(destroy or harm life, threaten life,
make life less functional and diminish the quality of life) for millions of
people on all sides involved. At least, that’s how my mind sees it. Mark your
calendars and remember April 24, 1920.
The
research that revealed the above the information was done by Edwin Black and is
found in his book – British Petroleum and
the Redline Agreement – on pages 130-134. For information about this book
and his many other books go to -- http://edwinblack.com/
Shalom,
Jim
Myers
If
you consider the above information valuable please do two things:
(1) Share it with others.
If
you consider my guidelines for doing research and measuring historical events valuable
and important enough to be worthy of your support -- make a donation by clicking
here.
Comments
Post a Comment