Despite their determination and fortitude, however, the battle was stacked against them from the beginning. Some states, like Lebanon, had only recently achieved independence; others, like Egypt, were still under indirect colonial rule. Rivalries between governments back home undermined coordination and the brave sacrifices of volunteers. As historian Leila Parsons has noted, the volunteer forces sent to the front were small and poorly-equipped, a stark contrast with the Zionist militias that had spent the better part of the last few years and months preparing for this day and importing weapons in anticipation.
Those "volunteers", in the main, were regular soldiers from the armies of states.
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Those "volunteers", in the main, were regular soldiers from the armies of states.
And, at least in the case of Transjordan, serving in an army established and trained by Great Britain. When you look at the final years of the British Mandate in Palestine the parallels with other foreign British projects seem obvious; something obscured by treatment of Israel as a colonial power. Britain was the only major country to recognise Transjordan's rule over Jerusalem: I think we need to ask whether it was merely post-colonial realism or if it actually represented a further stage in British colonial strategy.
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