Tension in Palestine Flashcards
1
Q
What was the Jewish VS Arab historic claim?
A
- Jewish = Jewish people had lived in Palestine since 1500 BC - many were forced to flee in AD 70 and AD 135 due to persecution from the Romans
- In the Middle Ages, Muslim Arabs produced one of the richest civilisaions in the world and took over the Middle East and North Africa - including Palestine. Were conquered by the Ottomans in the 16th Century but had been fighting for independence
2
Q
How was Jewish persecution a claim and how did this go against Arab nationalism?
A
- Nicholas II was anti-semitic who encouraged the ultra-conservative Russian nationalist group, the ‘Black Hundreds’. Russification increased the number of progroms - the progroms of 1881 to 1882 led to ‘The First Aliyah’ (1882 to 1903) - the first wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine
- Arab nationalism was built on a strong anti - Turkish, imperialist, and Zionist ideology. Arabs dominated the land - in 1914 there was 657,000 Muslim Arabs, 81,000 Christian Arabs, and 60,000 Jews
3
Q
What was Zionism and how did it rise?
A
- In 1896 Theodor Herzl published ‘The Jewish State’ arguing that Jews should be given “a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation”
- In 1901 Jewish National Fund was established to buy land and settle Jews in Palestine
- In 1914, Zionists formally agreed their homeland would be Palestine as this was the ‘Promised Land’ and Jews traditionally prayed for “next year in Jerusalem”
4
Q
What were tensions like before 1914?
A
- At first relations were amicable - even when Jews had purchased all the surrounding land - there were usually too few of them to successfully farm all of it
- In December 1882, an Arab man was accidentally shot at a wedding in Safed. In response, 200 Arabs threw stones and vandalised the Jewish settlement
5
Q
How did the Young Turks Revolt allow for a Zionist counter movement?
A
- 24th July 1908: a group of Turkish officers seized power of the Ottoman Empire
- The Young Turks reinstated the Constitution - press censorship was repealed and new political parties were allowed to form
- e.g. Al-Karmil, an anti Zionist newspaper founded in Haifa in 1908 ran 134 articles about zionism between 1908 - 1913
6
Q
How does policy show Britain was inconsistent in their support?
A
- In July 1915, Hussein the Sharif of Mecca, sent a letter to the British High Commissioner, Sir Herbert McMahon detailing the conditions for him to consider partnering with Britain. McMahon said Britain would “assist the Arabs to establish what may appear to be the most suitable forms of government” “when situation allows”
- May 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement: secret treaty between France and Britain - parts of Syria Turkey owned, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine were split between France and Britain
- November 1917: Britain declared support for a Jewish “national home” through a letter from the Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leading British Jew but said this shouldn’t come at the cost of Palestinian civil and religious rights
7
Q
How did Jews and Arabs contribute to WW1?
A
- By 1918, Britain were paying their Arab allies £220,000 a month in gold to fight the Ottomans
- David Ben Gurion and Isac Ben Zevie who served in the 40th regiment of The Jewish Legion went on to be founders of the State of Israel in 1948
8
Q
How did Britain get control of Palestine?
A
- 1919 Treaty of Versailles gave Britain mandates over Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq
- The Balfour Declaration was incorporated into the second article of the mandate
In 1922 the League of Nations confirmed the mandate would “secure the establishment of a Jewish national home” while protecting the rights of all Palestinians regardless of race or religion
9
Q
How did Britain cause conflict during the mandate?
A
- In 1921 on a visit to Palestine, Churchill was asked by a group of Arab leaders to refute the Balfour Declaration and stop immigration and he said: “this is not in my power, and it is not in my wish”
- August 1922: Britain unveiled a draft constitution for Palestine - would have a legislative council of 8 Muslims, 2 Christians, and 2 Jews - but Christians and Muslims boycotted as they weren’t given right to advise on matters concerning Zionists
- Called in air support to bomb Arab crowds during the 1921 Jaffa Riots
- October 1930 Passfield White Paper: limited Jewish immigration and condemned the actions of the Jewish Agency, especially the expulsion of Arabs from newly purchased land. BUT due to hostility from Zionists PM MacDonald wrote a letter to Weizmann clarifying British support for Jewish immigration and land purchase - dubbed ‘the black paper’ by Arabs - broken promises
10
Q
How did Zionist actions cause conflict during the mandate?
A
- Jabotinsky: founded the Hagannah in 1920 - underground military organisation for Jews in Palestine. Founded the Revisionist Party in 1925 - extreme nationalists that called for force if necessary and even had a youth wing - Betar
- Third and Fouth Aliyahs during 1919 - 1928 brought over 100,000 Jews in total and by the end of 1928 there were over 100 Jewish settlements
- 1920 Land Transfer Ordinance made it easier for Jews to buy large tracts of lands from Arab peasants went from buying only 262 acres in 1920 to 44,000 acres in 1925
11
Q
How did the 1921 Jaffa Riots cause tension?
A
- May 1st 1921: 2 rival Jewish Labour groups clashed. 2 police fired shots in the air to disperse crowds
- Arabs thought the Jews were shooting at them so started murdering Jewish inhabitants and destroying buildings. Armed Arab policemen soon joined in and attacked a hostel where Jewish migrants were staying - killed 13 and injured 24 others
- Britain called in air support to bomb Arab crowds
12
Q
How did the Western Wall Incident cause conflict during the mandate?
A
- The wall had religious significance to both Jews and Muslims
- Yom Kippur - September 24th 1928: Jews brought a screen to the wall to divide male and female worshippers. British take it down and forcibly remove jews the next day
- Weizmann wrote an open letter to the Jews in November saying that the only option was to “pour Jews into Palestine” and establish sovereignty
- August 23rd: Hebron Massacre resulted in 67 jews being killed
- In response, Zionist groups invaded a mosque in Jaffa and killing a religious figure and 6 others
13
Q
How did Jewish immigration and land purchasing increase tension?
A
- From 1931 - 1933 the British government set up the Landless Arab Enquiry - investigated the problem of Arab peasants being moved off land by Jewish buyers. Due to pressure from the Jewish Agency only 900 of a potential 4,000 claims of landlessness were accepted
- Jewish land increased by 250% - 650,000 dunums were held by Jewish organisations in 1920 increased to 1,625,000 by the end of 1946
14
Q
What was the first phase of the Arab Revolt?
A
- April 1936: 6 Arab leaders settled their differences and united to form the Arab Higher Committee
- They declared a national strike in support of three basic demands: ending Jewish immigration, an end to all further land sales to the Jews, and the establishment of an Arab national government
- 80 Jews were murdered in terrorist attacks during the strikes while many Arab rebels attacked Jewish settlements in the north
15
Q
What was the Peel Commission?
A
July 1937 Peel Commission:
- Admitted mandate was unworkable due to conflicting Jewish and Arab interests
- Proposed that Palestine be partitioned into three zones: an Arab state, a Jewish state, and a neutral territory containing the holy places
- The Twentieth Zionist Congress rejected the proposed boundaries but agreed to partition in principle whereas Palestinian Arab nationalists rejected it
- November 1937 Woodhead Commission: reversed the Peel Commission’s findings and reported that partition was impracticable
