July 12th 1920 Sir Arthur Balfour on Great Britain’s Role in Freeing the Arab Race from Tyranny

“The great powers, and among all the great powers most especially Great Britain, has freed them, the Arab race, from the tyranny of their brutal conqueror, who had kept them under his heel for these many centuries. I hope they will remember that it is we who have established the independent Arab sovereignty of the Hedjaz. I hope they will remember that it is we who desire in Mesopotamia (e.g. Iraq) to prepare the way for the future of a self-governing, autonomous Arab state.”

Source: Palestine Royal (Peel) Commission Report Cmd. 5479 Chapter II pg 27)