Israeli-Palestine conflict

Question 1

Who banished the Jewish people from Palestine and what is this called in the Bible?

Answer 1

Egyptian Emperor or Pharaoh banished the Jews from Palestine. It is called “The Great Exodus”.

Question 2

Who was the symbol of unity of every quarreling Arabian tribe?

Answer 2

The Great Sheriff King Hussein of Mecca

Question 3

What was the date of the Hussein-McMahon Letters?

Answer 3

July 15, 1915 - January 30th, 1916

Question 4

Explain the Hussein-McMahon Letters.

Answer 4

• The British wanted to drive a wedge between the Arabs and the Turks (because the Turks were allies of Germany).
• There was secret correspondence between the Arbs and the British known as the Hussien-McMahon Letters.
• In these letters, the British Government promised King Hussein an independent Arabia after the end of WW1.
• The British encouraged Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
• The letters declared that Arabs would revolt against the Turks in alliance with the UK. In return, the UK would recognize Arab independence.
• The Hussien-McMahon Letters conspicuously did not address Palestine

Question 5

What was the other name given to the Sykes-Picot Agreement of May 16th, 1916?

Answer 5

Asia Minor Agreement

Question 6

Explain the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

Answer 6

-It was a secret convention between Great Britain, France, and the partial assent of Russia for the division of the Ottoman Empire.
- This conflicted with the pledge already given by the British to Hussein.
- Russian claims in the Ottoman Empire were denied following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
- The Bolsheviks thus released the full text of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
- This embarrassed the British and the Arabs were dismayed and the Turks were delighted.

Question 7

Who started the World Zionist Movement and why?

Answer 7

Professor Dr. Wiseman started the World Zionist Movement and raised the demand for the restoration of Palestine to the Jewish people.

Question 8

The characteristics of the World Zionist Movement?

Answer 8

• The movement became well-organized and very strong.
• Rich Jewish bankers, industrialists, and intellectuals joined World Jewish Congress to place the demand for the restoration of Palestine to the Jews.

Question 9

What was the Balfour Declaration of 1917?

Answer 9

• It was highly contradictory to the Hussien-McMahon Letters.
• It promised Palestine to the Jews. But this promise did not mention the whole of Palestine.
• Now, the Jews adamantly demanded the whole of Palestine. The Arabs considered the Jews as trespassers as Palestine is a part of Arabia that belongs to the Arabs.
• Hence cultural, economic, and religious gaps between the Arabs and the Jews aggravated the Palestine Problem.

Question 10

What happened to Palestine after the First World War?

Answer 10

It was under the British-mandated area and the administration was in British hands.

Question 11

How did the British wash their hands of the Palestine Issue?

Answer 11

• The question of the conflicting pledge was raised in the League of Nations.
• British cleverly pointed out there was no duplicity and conflict.
  -If they promised Arabia to Hussein, certainly Palestine was not included. Palestine was not mentioned in Hussein-McMahon Letters.
• if homeland was assured to the Jews, it was their homeland in Palestine which meant a part, not whole.

Question 12

What are the two commissions appointed by the British before the British Peel Commission?

Answer 12

• King Crane Commission in 1919
• Hay- Craft Commission in 1920

Question 13

Briefly explain the British Peel Commission.

Answer 13

• In 1937, the British Peel Commission proposed dividing Palestine into two separate states, one for Arabs and one for Jews.
• This was rejected by the Arabs
  -The British tried again in 1939, offering an independent Arab State within 10 years, and Jewish immigration limited to 10,000 a year.
  This was rejected by the Jews.

Question 14

Briefly explain the formation of Isreal.

Answer 14

• The British, after the strain of the 2nd WW, felt unable to cope with the situation of Isreal-Palestine. Thus, Ernest Bevin asked the United Nations to deal with the problem.
• On 19th November 1947, the UN voted to divide Palestine roughly in half for the formation of an independent Jewish State.
• The British withdrew their troops.
• On May 1948, Isreal was declared independent.
  Immediately attacked by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon.