British Christian culture held no equivalent historical aspiration for Arab restoration.

Evidence

In contrast, Sykes and other figures in the British government saw Zionism as a well-established movement that would help to bring civilisation to the backward Holy Land. Moreover, the concept of the Jewish Return was deep-rooted in British Christian culture; it resonated. The usually dry Sir Edward Grey is said to have remarked to the Jewish Minister, Sir Herbert Samuel, in November 1914 that he held a ‘sentimental attraction’ to the idea of a Jewish state: the ‘historical appeal was very strong’. There was no equivalent historical Christian aspiration for Arab restoration. — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 681

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader literature on Christian Zionism and how biblical typology shaped British policy in Palestine, e.g., the ‘Jewish Return’ as a cultural template that made Zionism legible to British elites.