Iron Wall

Question 1

What was the initial aim of Zionism?

Answer 1

the national revival of the Jewish people in its ancestral home after 2000 years of “exile”

Question 2

Who coined the term zionism and when?

Answer 2

Nathan Birnbaum in 1885

Question 3

What does zion mean?

Answer 3

Jerusalem

Question 4

Who was the founder of Zionism?

Answer 4

Theodor Herzl

Question 5

When was the the Jewish state proposed for the first time?

Answer 5

In 1886 in Herzl’s book “The Jewish State”

The book proposed two potential locations, Palestine or in Argentina

Question 6

When was the first Zionist Congress and where?

Answer 6

In Basel, Switzerland, 1897

Question 7

What was the outcome of the first Zionist Congress?

Answer 7

Two representatives were sent to the Palestinian land to investigate the land, they wrote back saying that “The Bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man”

The first Zionists shared little interest in the land and people of Palestine, an early ignorance that would stain the future process

Question 8

Explain Herzl’s high-politics approach:

Answer 8

Persuaded the Ottoman sultan to grant a charter for Jewish settlement in Palestine

Approached other world leaders in Italy, Germany and Britain

Question 9

What was the two main features of the zionist movement under the leadership of Herzl?

Answer 9

The non-recognition of a Palestine as national entity

Enlisting support of other world powers in the struggle for statehood

Question 10

What is the Yishuv?

Answer 10

the pre-independence Jewish community in Palestine

Question 11

Who was the architect of the alliance between the Zionist movement and Great Britain?

Answer 11

Chaim Weizmann

Question 12

Who served as the first president of the State of Israel?

Answer 12

Chaom Weizmann

Question 13

What was a “political zionist”?

Answer 13

The political zionist, following in the steps of Herzl, focused on diolocatic activity to ensure international support to ensure statehood

Question 14

What was “practical zionist”?

Answer 14

The practical zionist focused on immigration of Jews to the land, settlement, land acquisition and building the Jewish economy

Question 15

What was a “synthetic” zionist?

Answer 15

A term implemented by Weizmann that argued that the practical and political approach to zionism were two sides of the same coin, an should be practiced simultaneously

Question 16

What is the Balfour Declaration?

Answer 16

Letter from the Foreign Secretary of Britain that said the British government was in favour of a national home to Jewish people in Palestine

The letter consolidated the Jews effort to gain the support of Britain, with no care for the problem of the Arab population that vastly outnumbered the Jewish population

Was published the 2nd of November 1917

Question 17

What was the problem with the Balfour declaration for the Brits?

Answer 17

This went against the promise the British had given to the sharif of Mecca during the negotiations of the Sykes-Picot agreements, which had promised the sharif Palestinian land

Question 18

What is a mufti?

Answer 18

a Muslim legal expert who is empowered to give rulings on religious matters

Question 19

Who led the Palestinian national movement against the Zionists during the inter-war period?

Answer 19

Hajj Amin al-Husseini - the grand mufti of Jerusalem

Question 20

When were the first Arab Revolt against british authorities and the Jews?

Answer 20

1936-1939

Question 21

Why did the British gradually retreat from the Balfour declaration?

Answer 21

The violent resistance of the Palestinians made Britain reassess their wartime commitments to Zionism

Churchill wrote the “white paper” in 1922, limiting British support

Question 22

Who was the founder of revisionist zionism?

Answer 22

Ze’ev Jabotinsky

Question 23

What political parties did Jabotinsky create?

Answer 23

World Union of Zionists Revisionists and the youth movement Betar

Question 24

What was the irgun?

Answer 24

An underground Zionist military organization founded in 1931

Question 25

What was distinctive about Jabotinsky’s approach to zionism?

Answer 25

Jabotinsky rejected the romantic view of the East and believed in the superiority of the Western civilizations, the Jewish state would be an extension of the West.

The Jewish state would be aligned with the western colonial powers - against the Arabs

Question 26

Who used the term the “Iron Wall”? first?

Answer 26

Jabotinsky in 1923

Question 27

What was Jabotinsky’s approach to the Arab question?

Answer 27

He did not believe that a voluntary agreement would be possible between the two - and that the relationship was wholly dependent on the Arab’s attitude towards the Jews, not the Jews attitude towards the Arabs.

The settlements must not pay attention to the mood of the natives

In a nutshell: to erect an iron wall of jewish military force that the arabs would not break

Question 28

Did Jabotinsky think peaceful coexistence between the Arabs and Jews would be possible?

Answer 28

Yes, but only as a results of construction of the impregnable “iron wall”

Question 29

What was “Labour Zionism”?

Answer 29

They were reluctant to the use of force, and did not think that military force should be used to achieve the objective of zionism

They believed in the settlement approach and encouraged immigration as the means to achieve statehood

Question 30

Who is considered the founder of Israel?

Answer 30

David Ben-Gurion

Question 31

What was Mapai?

Answer 31

Israeli Labour Party

Question 32

What was Haganah?

Answer 32

paramilitary organization of the zionist settlers in palestine

Question 33

What was Lohamei Herut Yisrael, or stern gang?

Answer 33

the more militant wing of the Irgun, which separated itself in 1939.

Very hostile group against the British - sought aid from the axis powers

Question 34

What was the movement of the Hebrew revolt?

Answer 34

Between 1945 and 1946 the three zionists military organizations joined arms

Question 35

What as al-Nakba?

Answer 35

The Arab word for the war between Israel and the Arab states - the Israeli war of independence

Question 36

Which Arab leader accepted the principle of partition and the Israeli state?

Answer 36

King Abdullah of Transjordan

Question 37

What was the reason for the Hashemite-Zionist friendship?

Answer 37

both had a common protector in Britain, and had remained friends since the creation of Transjordan in 1921

Both shared the enemy of Hajj Amin al-Husseini

Question 38

Golda Meir and King Abdullah met before the UN resolution was made, what did they agree on?

Answer 38

King Abdullah wanted to preempt Hajj Amin al-Husseini and annex the Arab part of Palestine, the Jews would did not mind this as long as Transjordan did not interfere with the creation of the Jewish state

Question 39

What was the main idea of Plan D?

Answer 39

to allocate all the territory of the jewish state that had been granted to them in the UN partition resolution, as well as settlements outside these areas to consolidate Jewish presence

Question 40

When did Israel declare it was established as a state?

Answer 40

14th of May, 1948

Question 41

Who was Count Folke Bernadotte?

Answer 41

UN mediator for the conflict, was assassinated after sending a report to the UN concerning settling the conflict over Jerusalem

Question 42

Who assassinated the Bernadotte?

Answer 42

Ultranationalists of the Stern Gang