David Cameron and the long history of the posh Arabist

Anyone with a smattering of knowledge of Britain’s troubled history in the Middle East will be unsurprised by Lord Cameron’s increasingly pro-Palestinian pronouncements on the Gaza war. 

Twice in recent days Cameron has called on Israel to ‘pause’ its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, and he says he has personally challenged the Israeli government and urged it to abide by humanitarian law. He has also reiterated Britain’s support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem and the endless feud between Israel and her implacable Arab enemies.

Ever since T.E. Lawrence went around Paris in flowing Bedouin robes putting the case for a united Arab nation to the peacemakers of Versailles after the first world war, the British Foreign Office has had a core of upper crust Arabists at its heart. These influential chaps, who are often also Tory politicians and clearly entranced by the romance of the desert, have been a decisive influence on British policy in the Middle East for more than a century.