In 1897 the World Zionist Organization was founded to solve Europe's "Jewish problem" through Zionism -- the return of the Jews to the area once known as Israel, but which had not existed as such for nearly 2000 years and which, in any case, was not an uninhabited country. As a result of the Zionist movement, Jewish immigration to Palestine increased dramatically.
This immigration, as well as Jewish purchases of Palestinian land and Jewish claims to be returning to "their land", were viewed with alarm by some Palestinian leaders who naturally became vigorously opposed to Zionism.
With Arab help, the British took Palestine from the Ottomans at the end of World War I in 1917-18. The Arabs willingly helped the British because they had been promised independence after the war.
Unfortunately, Britain had also made promises to the Jews -- and the two sets of promises were scarcely compatible. In the Sykes-Picot agreement made with France and Russia in 1916, Britain had promised to divide the regions and rule it with its allies. In 1917 in the notorious Balfour Declaration, Britain promised, in exchange for Jewish help, a Jewish "national home" in Palestine.
The Balfour Declaration of 2 November 1917 was originally a letter sent from the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, to Edmond J. Rothschild, a prominent British Jew and supporter of Zionism. The letter stated the British government's support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
It made a further commitment on the part of the British government to make "the best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
With the Balfour Declaration, Britain's aim was to win the support of Jews for the Allied cause in World War I -- both those Jews in nations at war and those in neutral nations such as the United States. On 24 July 1922 the declaration was incorporated into the League of Nations mandate for Palestine which enumerated the terms under which Britain was given responsibility for temporary administration of the country on behalf of the Jews and Arabs living there.
The mandate lasted from 1922-1948, during which time the British found themselves, because of their contradictory promises, in a most difficult and untenable situation -- but one primarily of their own making. On one hand, the Zionists anticipated large numbers of Jews immigrating to Palestine and even begin to speak of the establishment of a Jewish state. On the other hand, the Palestinians feared dispossession at the hands of the Zionists and naturally rejected British promises to deliver their country into the hands of what were, by virtually any definition, outsiders.
Anti-Zionist attacks took place in both Jerusalem and Jaffa in 1920 and 1921, and a British policy statement in 1922 denied Zionist claims to all of Palestine, limited Jewish immigration but nonetheless supported the idea of a Jewish national home. The British proposed setting up a legislative council as had been done in many of their other territories, but the Palestinians, upon learning of how this was to be done, rejected the idea as discriminatory.
Despite British policy and its back-and-forth nature, first supporting one side and then the other, Jewish immigration did in fact increase. Indeed, after the Nazi victory in Germany in 1933, immigration rose sharply and in 1935 over 60,000 Jews came into Palestine. An Arab revolt based on fears of Jewish domination broke out in 1936 and lasted intermittently until 1939. By that date, Britain had once again limited Jewish immigration and purchases of land and by 1940, the struggle for Palestine had abated for the duration of World War II.
After the war, the struggle resumed and though Britain refused to admit 100,000 Jewish survivors of Nazi death-camps, large numbers gained entry to Palestine by illegal means. In 1947 Britain declared the mandate unworkable and passed the problem over to the United Nations.
After World War II, both Jews and Palestinians began to prepare for a decisive showdown.
Despite Palestinian numerical superiority (1,300,000 to 600,000), the Jews were better prepared. They had a working government under David Ben-Gurion and also possessed a well-trained and experienced army. The Palestinians were still in disarray from the Arab revolt and most of their leaders had been exiled.
The principal spokesman for the Palestinians, the Mufti of Jerusalem, refused to accept the existence of a Jewish state. The UN's suggestion of partition in 1947 was rejected by the Mufti, though the Jews agreed to it. Armed fighting by the military broke out and both sides used what is now called terrorism. The Palestinians were defeated.
The state of Israel was established as of 14 May 1948. At once, five Arab armies, in support of the Palestinians, attacked the new state but were ultimately defeated. At the end of what is known as the first Arab-Israeli War, Israel's victory gave it more territory while Jordan took the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip.
As a result of the war, 780,000 Palestinians became refugees. About half that number left in fear and panic while those remaining were compelled to make room for Jewish immigrants from both European and Arab countries.
The refugees spread into neighboring countries where they have maintained their Palestinian identity plus the desire to return to their homeland. With the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, they had a governing authority. In 1967 during the war between Israel and the Arabs, Israel gained control of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and other previously Arab-controlled areas. My apologies for the soap box approach. These are the facts and they are indisputable.....To assert that the problems in the Middle East can be blamed on U.S. foreign policy is ridiculous and that we should somehow sympathize with terrorism because of our governments actions in maintaining Democracies around the world is insulting. Nice try, but I, for one ain't buyin'.
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hardly any american actually knows the history of the middle east. how america not only was involved but actively took charge of many decisions brought forward about the future of the middle east...
decisions which america does not have the right to take.
israel is not surrounded by terrorists!!! american politics placed the jews, that america did not want, into a place where they never belonged. so, if you kill people, terrorise them, threaten them, and drive them out of their homes in order to give jews that you do not want yourself a home; give this new country, Israel, the military needs to "protect" itself... !!! often enough used to ATTACK!!! then you are killing thousands of innocent people.
this is american politics.
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