The Middle East: Chapter 1 [Build Up of Tension in Palestine 1917 - 48] Flashcards
1
Q
IMPACT OF WW1
A
- Britain made 3 contrasting agreements
- MCMAHON-HUSSEIN AGREEMENT [1915]
- Arabs to help British defeat Ottomans for British support of Arab Independence
- Arabs defeated Ottomans by 1918
- 10 million Arabs “freed” but British planned to stay in Jerusalem
- SYKES PICOT AGREEMENT [1916]
- French and British to divide Ottoman Empire to protect oil access and control of Suez
- BALFOR DECLARATION
2
Q
THE BALFOUR DECLARATION [NOV 1917]
A
- British troops closing on Jerusalem
- Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour wrote to Baron Rothschild [leader of British Jews]
- British government would look favourably upon Zionist plans for Jewish homeland in Palestine so long as Arab rights were unharmed
- Balfour may have sent this because he was sympathetic towards Zionist aims, because he hoped American Zionists would pressure their gov to send more troops or because he hoped America would support Britain’s future plans in the Middle East and Suez
3
Q
BRITISH MANDATE TO 1945
A
- 1923: League of Nations gave Britain mandate of Palestine to protect Arabs, establish Jewish homeland and prepare nation for independence
- Palestinians enraged and Jews overjoyed
- 1922: Jewish Agency set up to encourage immigration and Haganah formed to protect new settlements
- by 1936: 1/4 of Palestine = Jewish
4
Q
CLASHES
A
- Arabs threatened by immigration and land purchase
- May Day 1921: rumours of Jewish attacks on Arabs led to Arabs in Jaffa killing 47 Jews and 48 of their own
- August 1929: 4 days of bloody riots over Jerusalem’s holy sites
- Jews angered by lack of British protection formed Jewish state desiring terrorist group Irgun
5
Q
ARAB STRIKE [1936]
A
- inspired by success of Iraqi and Syrian strikes
- refused to work, pay taxes and boycotted British trade
- attacked infrastructure and British troops until all Jewish immigration and land sale stopped and until they had their own gov
- British arrested Palestinian leaders and flogged rebels
- 6 months: 20,000 British troops struggling for control
- Oct 1936: Arab states called for calm
6
Q
THE PEEL COMMISSION [1936-1937]
A
- set up by British gov
- 6 months of questioning
- July 1937: report published
- Mandate could never succeed and should be traded for partition
- no common ground
- only small part should remain British and Jewish migration to Arab territories should stop
7
Q
PEEL PROPOSAL REACTIONS
A
- Jews accepted
- ‘better than nothing’ - David Ben Gurion
- Arabs despised
- 300,000 Arabs to be living under Jews
- Jews had most fertile land with 90% of orange groves
8
Q
THE ARAB REVOLT [1937-1939]
A
- 15,0000 Haganah men and 50,000 British troops reacted harshly to Arab attacks
- suspect villages occupied, curfews installed, Arabs held without trial and hostages tied to bonnets of British lorries
- 5,000 Arab, 300 Jewish 250 British deaths
- Palestinians = leaderless, weaponless and weak
9
Q
PALESTINE AND WORLD WAR II
A
- British needed Middle-Eastern oil to win war [early 1939]
- Peel Plan shelved and Jewish immigration limited to 10,000 annually for 6 years
- Jewish protests
- BUT Jews truced with British at war outbreak
- 27,000 Jews [Haganah and Irgun] and 25,000 Arabs fought alongside British
- disagreeing Jews formed anti-British extremist group Lehi
10
Q
THE BRITISH MANDATE [1945-1947]
A
- 1945: London Conference - Zionists demanded immediate creation of Jewish state in Palestine
- Bevin still limited Jewish immigration to 1,500 monthly fearing civil war and knowing importance of oil
11
Q
JEWISH INSURGENCY IN PALESTINE [1945-1947]
A
- Zionist organizations ignored previous British truce
- Extremist Irgun and Lehi: wanted campaign of violence and to horrify British public to push for British withdrawal
- Moderate Haganah: wanted worldwide sympathy for state and to help as many Holocaust survivors as possible
- Oct 1945: both sides joined to blow up Palestinian railway to hamper British communication
- 1946: 2 Irgun members arrested and caned and leader of Irgun (Menachem Begin) had 4 British soldiers kidnapped and caned
12
Q
KING DAVID HOTEL [22 JULY 1946]
A
- HQ of British Army and Mandate Administration
- lorry to basement entrance of hotel
- Irgun members dressed as Arabs
- explosives disguised in milk churns
- Begin claimed 3 telephoned warnings
- bombs to go off at 12:37 pm
- 91 killed [41 Arab, 28 Brits, 17 Jews]
- British announced high alert but immigration policy remained unchanged
13
Q
IMPACT OF JEWISH TERRORISM
A
- Mandate = expensive for post-war Britain
- British opinion turning against Mandate with troops growing demoralized
14
Q
THE SS EXODUS
A
- Jewish Agency and Haganah smuggling Jews in
- ships broke through British blockade
- few ships = successful but Zionist publicity success because denial of ships meant damaged British reputation and increased sympathy for Jews
- July 1947: 4,500 Jews from France on Exodus where Royal Navy deferred ship and where, upon hunger-strike, passengers taken back to Hamburg refugee camps
15
Q
US SUPPORT FOR ZIONISM
A
- 1945: sent $46 million to cause]
- printed articles
- put pressure on already sympathetic Truman
- 150,000 refugees accepted post-war
- asked Britain’s Bevin repeatedly to allow 100,000 refugees into Palestine and applied economic pressure
- post-war Britain needed aid
- Mandate ended
