pg 11 to 15: partition, Der Yassin, Wars Flashcards
How did the Zionists increased their efforts to establish a Jewish state?
The Zionists increased their efforts to establish a Jewish state by smuggling immigrants
into Palestine.
They also launched a propaganda campaign in the United States to set
support for the Zionist cause. Extremist Zionist groups, such as the Irgun and the Lehi
(Stern Gang), used terror tactics to force the British to give up the mandate. They
attacked British military bases, police stations, railway lines and bridges.
What attack was done by the Irgun?
The most daring attack came when Irgun commandos blew up the King David Hotel, which was the British military headquarters in Jerusalem. At the same time, the Arab League, an organisation of independent Arab states formed in 1945, urged Britain not to change its policy.
What plan did the UN create?
The Partition Plan
As violence in Palestine increased, the British government decided to hand over the issue of Palestine to the newly formed United Nations (UN). The UN established a committee, UNSCOP (UN Special Committee of Palestine), to investigate the issue.
lt recommended the partition of Palestine into two separate states - one Arab and one Jewish.
How did the arabs and zionists respond to the plan and what did the UN do?
The Zionists accepted the plan even though there were aspects of it that they did not like. The
Arabs rejected the partition plan outright, but there was nothing they could do to prevent it
from happening.
In November 1947, the UN formally accepted the partition plan. Britain announced that it would withdraw from Palestine in May 1948.
What plan did Israel launch?
Plan D
In the last few months of the mandate there was civil war in Palestine, as the Jews tried
to strengthen their position before the mandate ended.
In April 1948 they launched Plan
D (short for Dalet, the Hebrew word for the letter D). Jewish forces occupied over 200
Arab villages. In the most controversial incident of the civil war, over 250 civilians in the Arab village of Deir Yassin were killed by Irgun commandos
When did Britain withdraw and what happned afterwards?
On 14 May 1948, the final British forces withdrew and the Jewish Agency declared the
establishment of the state of Israel. On the following day the armies of five Arab countries
(Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq) invaded and the first Arab-israeli War began.
What were the consequences of the war for the arabs?
The war dragged on until 1949, when Israel signed separate armistice agreements with
each Arab state. By then Israel had defeated the Arab armies and had occupied 75%o of
Palestine, instead of 56% allocated as the Jewish State in the UN partition plan. There
was no Palestinian state; those areas were under Israeli, Jordanian and Egyptian control.
Where did Arabs flee to?
By the end of the war 760 000 Arabs had fled from Palestine to neighbouring countries as
refugees, where they were placed in camps run by the United Nations.
Most of them ended up in Gaza and the West Bank, under Egyptian or Jordanian control respectively.
What resolution was passed by the UN?
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181 that would divide the British area called the Palestinian mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state in May 1948. According to the resolution, the area around Jerusalem that was important to religions would stay under international control run by the United Nations.
How did the Arabs respond to this resolution and what did it cause?
The Palestinian Arabs did not accept this because they thought it favored the Jews and was unfair to the Arab people who would still live in the Jewish part of the divided land.
The United Nations resolution caused fighting between Jewish and Arab groups within Palestine. The fighting began with attacks by irregular bands of Palestinian Arabs connected to local units of the Arab Liberation Army. These groups attacked Jewish cities, settlements, and
armed forces.
What were the Jewish forces were made up of and what did they hope to gain?
The Jewish forces were made up of the Haganah, the underground militia of the Jewish community in Palestine, and two smaller irregular groups, the Irgun, and LEHI. The goal of the Arabs was originally to stop the Partition Resolution and prevent the Jewish state from being created.
The Jews hoped to gain control over the land given to them in the Partition Plan. After Israel announced its independence on May 14, 1948, the fighting got worse as other Arab forces joined the Palestinian Arabs in attacking territory in the former Palestinian mandate.
When and who agreed to a cease fire and how was the land divided or kept?
After some intense early fighting, Israeli forces, now under joint command, were able to go on the offensive. Even though the United Nations set up two cease-fires during the conflict, fighting continued into 1949. Israel and the neighboring Arab states did not officially agree to end fighting, called armistice agreements, until February.
Under separate agreements between Israel and the countries of Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan, and Syria bordering it, these countries agreed to official cease-fire lines. Israel gained some land that had been meant for Palestinian.
Egypt and Jordan kept control over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively. These cease-fire lines stayed the same until 1967.
How was the 1948 war interpreted by both countries and what did Zionist historians believe?
The 1948 War is called the War of Independence by the israelis. The Palestinian Arabs call it al-Nakba, which is an Arabic word meaning disaster, or catastrophe. These two names for the war give some idea of the very different ways that It has been interpreted.
Zionist historians see the war as a heroic victory for Israel over huge odds. Some compare it to the biblical story of David’s s victory over Goliath. They believe that the Israelis won because they were better trained and led, and because they were more determined as they were fighting for survival.
Who do Zionist historians blame and what do they claim?
They blame the flight of Palestintans refugees on Arab propaganda: they claim that the refugees were encouraged to flee by Arab leaders who promised that they would return once Israel had been destroyed. They blame the Palestinians for rejecting the UN partition plan.
They claim that the refusal of the Arab states to recognise Israel, and their. aggressive attitude towards Israel, are the cause of the ongoing conflict.
How are Zionist historian views challenged?
However, these views are challenged by other historians who say that Israel won the war because they had a larger force of experienced soldiers than the Arabs did; that there was rivalry and distrust between the Arab leaders and therefore they did not work as a united force; and that the Palestinians themselves were divided and not well organised.
What have Palestinian historians always claimed and what did the events of The Deir Yassin Massacre serve as?
Palestinian historians have always claimed that the refugees were forced to leave by the actions of the Israeli army who used acts of terror, such as the massacre at Deir Yassin. They claim that forcing the Palestinians to leave had always been part of the Zionist plan in Palestine. They accuse them of a policy of ethnic cleansing.
The Deir Yassin Massacre was a significant event during the 1948 War in Palestine. It served as a turning point and symbolised the Zionist plans to forcefully remove Palestinians from their towns and villages.
How did the balance of power shift in 1948 and why was the decision to attack Deri Yasin made?
In April 1948, the balance of power shifted dramatically, and the Zionist leadership initiated Plan Dalet. This plan was to occupy and forcibly remove Arabs from the area allocated to the proposed Jewish state, Jerusalem and its surrounding area.
The decision to attack Deir Yasin was made after the Haganah forces occupied the strategically located village of al- Qastal. The Irgun and Stern Gang militias, with limited resources, planned the attack on Deir Yasin. Their goal was to take revenge, loot, and find an outlet for their racist hatred.
What league was formed in 1945 and what did the defeat in the 1948 war help to promote?
In 1945, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia and North Yemen formed the Arab League, Its aim was to promote closer relations between Arab states, but
it did not take any further steps to establish closer union between them.
The defeat of the Arab states by lsrael in the 1948 War helped to promote support for Arab nationalism. The Arab states wanted revenge for their
defeat, and they were also united by their support for the Palestinian.
