Arab-Israeli Conflict Flashcards
British high commissioner in Cairo 1915
Sir Henry McMahon
McMahon declaration
1915; British high commissioner in Cairo promised British support for arab independence within the limits demanded by the sharif of Mecca, if the Arabs rose up against Turkish rule
Sykes-picot agreement
1916; Britain and France will split the Ottoman Empire between themselves
Balfour declaration
1917; the Zionist federation would pay money towards britain’s war in the Middle East and in turn Britain promises the Jews Israel
The Zionist federation
The IS American Jews
British motives in the McMahon declaration
To break up the Ottoman Empire
British motives in the Sykes-picot agreement
Greater British control/influence in the Middle East
British motives in the Balfour declaration
To get financial support to fight the Turks
Zionism purpose
Created 1897; Seeks a publicly recognized legally secured homeland in Palestine for the Jews
Arab claim to Palestine
Religious: land should have gone to Ishmael
Historical: living in Palestine for more than 2000 years
Jewish claim to Israel
Religious: is the “promised land”
Historical: kingdom of Israel was established 1000s of years ago
Contradiction in the Balfour declaration
One country (Britain) is promising another country (Israel) the land of a third (Palestine)
Collapse of the Ottoman Empire
1916-1918 - Arab forces helped British troops seize control of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.
October 1918 - Turkey surrendered
Treaty of sèvres
1920stripped the Turks of territories in the Middle East and North Africa stating that most of the Middle East would one under jurisdiction if the ‘mandate’ system
Which territories did Britain mandate?
Palestine
Mesopotamia (Iraq)
Transjordan (Jordan)
What territories did France mandate?
Lebanon
Syria
Why did Arab-Jewish tensions escalate in the 1920s?
- both peoples were disappointed at the way in which Britain had back stabbed them
- increasing numbers and prosperity of the Jewish settlers in Palestine:
1918: 60,000 v. 500,000
1928: 150,000 v. 600,000
British White paper 1930
Britain recommended restrictions on Jewish immigration and land purchases, but after protests from zionists in Britain and the USA, it shelved the proposed restrictions
Hitler’s effect on Jewish migration in Palestine
1920-1939: Jewish land holdings rose 185% (held 15% of land)
1929-1939: 450,000
The Arab revolt
1936-1939; large scale Arab protests erupted in 1936 starting with general strike and continued on through 1939
1938: +1600 Arabs killed, 290 Jews, 69 British soldiers
How did the Jewish community in Palestine respond to the Arab revolt?
- the Jewish agency expanded the haganah to defend the Jewish population
- the Irgun and lehi were formed
The haganah
The Jewish agency secret army
The lehi
Aka the stern gang
The Irgun and lehi
Terrorist paramilitaries who launched attacks on both the Arabs and the British; disapproved of by the Jewish agency
The peel commission
1936-1937; British commission recommending the partition of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states with 20% of the mandate given to the Jews
Reaction to the peel commission
Jews: divided
Arabs: uniformly against a partition
The woodhead commission
1938; in response to further violent Arab unrest 1937-1938 Britain recommended another partition
Response to the woodhead commission
Arabs rejected the idea
Palestine on the eve of ww2
20,000 British troops were tied down in Palestine in an attempt to maintain order
British white paper 1939
Created to secure goodwill of Arab oil states:
- 10,000 Jews max would be allowed to settle in Palestine over the next 5 years
- 25,000 Jewish refugees would be allowed into Palestine
- no further Jewish immigration without Arab consent
- independence of Palestine within 10 years with a joint Arab-Jewish government
Reaction to British white paper 1939
Zionists were outraged
Arabs were divided:
- extreme Arab nationalists condemned it
- uk’s Arab allies support it and helped keep the Middle East quiet during ww2
- more moderate members of the Arab higher committee who had fled Palestine during the Arab revolt were allowed by the British to return go Palestine and welcomed the paper
Why did Palestine remain peaceful during ww2?
- Moderation shown by the leaders if the two main political groupings
- Economic prosperity resulting from US and UK military demand for food
Two main political Arab groupings
Palestine Arab Party
Istiqlal
Ww2
Zionists: suspended attacks on UK
Hanagah: prepared for armed struggle in Palestine following the end of ww2
Irgun: continued terrorist attacks on Arab and British targets in Palestine
Lehi: assassinated lord moyne, nov 1944
Lord moyne
British minister in the Middle East
Reaction to the assassination of lord moyne
Ben gurion ordered Hanagah to cooperate with British in hunting down members of the Jewish terrorist organza toons
David Ben gurion
Head of the Jewish agency
The biltmore program
1942; drawn up as a result of the conference organized between American Jews and called for:
- establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine
- unlimited Jewish immigration
Establishment of the Arab league
1945; 7 Arab states joined together and were jointly opposed to large scale Jewish immigration and to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine
Ernest Bevin
The new British foreign secretary
Ernest bevin’s policy towards Palestine
Implacably opposed to Ben gurion’s demand in August 1945 that 100,000 jewish holocaust survivors be admitted to Palestine as he:
- Feared it would result in an Arab revolt
- Was intent in maintaining britain’s trusteeship over Palestine to Britain could retain military bases in the east Mediterranean
US policy towards Palestine
Divided:
- State department officials favored securing Arab friendship in prep for the Cold War to prevent soviet influence
- Truman was sympathetic towards Jews and aware of the importance of winning the influential Zionist lobbyists. Also wanted the EU Jews to find a home in Palestine v US
Truman’s actions August 1945
Pressed Britain to admit 100,000 holocaust survivors
Britain’s response to holocaust survivors
1945-1947 - Britain shipped over 50,000 Jews, who tried to enter Palestine illegally, to internment camps in Cyprus which damaged their image internationally
The Anglo-American committee of inquiry
October 1945- April 1946; a twelve-man committee which interviewed all sides of the conflict and came up with the following report:
- immediate admission of 100,000 Jewish survivors of the holocaust
- an end to restrictions on Jews buying land in Palestine
- continuation of the British mandate
The Morrison-Grady committee
July 1946; a plan by Herbert Morrison and Henry Grady:
- autonomous Arab and Jewish provinces with a single state (still under British mandate)
- 100,000 immigration certificates within a year of the new state being set up
Response to the Morrison-Grady committee
Truman rejected it under pressure from the US Zionist lobby
Herbert Morrison
British Home Secretary
Henry Grady
US Ambassador
The Jewish insurrection
1945-1946; united Hebrew resistance movement against British
United Hebrew resistance movement
Haganah: attacked British military and infrastructure
Irgun and lehi: extreme & indiscriminate use of violence against UK & Palestine
British response to the Hebrew resistance movement
Operation agatha
Operation agatha
A round-up of leading figures in the Jewish agency and Hebrew resistance:
- 2,700 arrested (not Ben gurion)
- Jerusalem, Haifa, tel aviv sealed off by British forces
The king david hotel bombing
July 1946; planned a joint operation by the Hebrew resistance:
- haganah: seize the bat galim
- lehi: target PIO in Jerusalem
- Irgun: attack king david hotel
Was eventually called off, but Irgun stilled bombed
Result of the king david hotel bombing
91 dead
- Created a rift between the Jewish agency and the Irgun & lehi
- Jewish agency denounced bombing and suspended haganah attacks on the British
The London conference
Sep. 1946; British government called for a Palestine conference with Arab and Jewish leaders, but Jews and palestines didn’t attend
Truman’s “yom kippur statement”
October 1946; announced his support for the partition if Palestine and immediate admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees
The London conference reconvenes
Feb 1947; Palestinian Arab higher executive attended, but still no representation from the Jewish agency. Proposition:
- Palestine should rein an under British trusteeship for the next 5 years after which a Palestinian state (compromising Arab and Jewish provinces) would be established
- 96,000 immigrants be allowed into Palestine over the next 2 years, after which immigration would only be permitted in line with the country’s economic ability to absorb more
Reaction to the bevin’s proposal at the London conference reconvention
Jews: rejected; wanted unlimited immigration
Arabs: rejected; wanted the immediate declaration of an independent Palestine and an end to immigration
Britain’s move following the London conferences
Hands problem over to the UN, feb 1947
Why did Britain give Arab-Israeli conflict to UN?
Britain’s forces and finances were too stretched to deal with the ongoing violence in Palestine:
- 1/10 of britain’s armed forces were in Palestine costing £40 million
- British power was in retreat as it prepared to pull out of India and Greece (unless USA paid for them to stay)
