In 1918 the Ottoman Empire lost control of the Middle East and a new era began.  The Arab nations, occupy some 13,333,296 sq kms. However, in 1920, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lord Arthur Balfour warned: “So far as the Arabs are concerned, I hope they will remember that it is we who have established an independent Arab sovereignty of the Hedjaz…  and I hope that, remembering all that, they will not grudge that small notch – for it is no more than that geographically – that small notch in what are now Arab territories being given to the [Jews]. Read more  >>