During the period of 1915-1948 the British Policy toward Palestine and the creation of Israel changed frequently in the period of 1915-1948. This can be seen in many documents and reports of the British Government and their correspondences with the Jewish, Arabs and German in their quest to gain allies and an independent Jewish State. Some of these documents include Der Judenstaat, The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate by the League of Nations and the British White Papers. The first push toward an independent Jewish State began in 1896 with the publication of a pamphlet called Der Judenstaat, written by Theodor Herzl. In Der Judenstaat, Herzl aspires for a peaceful creation of an independent …show more content…
In October, 1915, McMahon wrote to Hussein on behalf of the British government about boundaries of the Arab state. The main point behind this document was that Britain would the Arabs to an Arab State, in return for their support as allies in World War One against the Ottoman Empire. In this letter, McMahon notes a few areas of Syria that would have to be excluded from the boundaries as ‘they cannot be said to be purely Arab’. This is the point at which the document greatly complicates the situation as the Arabs interpreted this as Britain promising Palestine to them at the end of the War. This document represents Britain making a ‘series of promises to the Arab people’, and convincing the Arabs to rise up and help Britain revolt against the Ottomans and Turks so that they could live freely. This document was written to gain allies for Britain and to help them expand their empire by befriending the Arabs and convincing them that they could help and protect them. The second document mentioned is the Sykes Picot Agreement, this was an agreement written in secret between Britain and France in which they ultimately divided the Middle East between themselves and Russia. This agreement was written whilst the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence was occurring and outlined the areas that would be under French,
Even though Theodor Herzl died before the Balfour Declaration was established, he is considered one of the original architects of the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration mentions the idea of establishing a Jewish homeland for the Jewish people. In Herzl’s book, Der Judenstaat, Herzl says that a homeland is needed for the Jewish people in order to end the anti-Semitism in Europe and to prove that assimilation is not possible. Herzl’s book was the foreshadowing of the Balfour Declaration.
The Balfour Declaration showed British support for the Jewish people; however, its ambiguity actually ends up hurting the Jews. The document clearly
Since the UN partition of Israel and Palestine in 1947, Israel has been placed in many instances of conflict between the Jewish migrants to the region and the Palestinian natives. Several conflicts resulted in open, declared war, such as the First Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949, and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In addition, Israel has been involved in the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of the Gaza Strip. After the last open war, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has been marked by the military governorate, taking political and institutional control of the region that is ethnically and religiously different than the population that resides in the Jewish state of Israel.
The Balfour Declaration in 1917 had been proposed to "favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, but that nothing should be done to prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine." (8 IMFA) In 1916 many Arab areas including Palestine were under British control which excited the Jewish population about having settlements on either side of the Jordan River, yet at the same time worried the Arab population with the incredibly quick advancements being made on their land. It seemed as though no matter who was being pleased, the other party would continue to grow uneasy with the advancements made by the other. Jewish immigration to Palestine continued to grow significantly while the British mandate remained in effect primarily due to the mass of anti-seminisitc feelings spreading throughout
The Balfour declaration was intended to bring together Arabs and Jewish by making a home for the Jewish population in Palestine. However, after the Balfour declaration was implemented Britain was being pressured to allow more Jews into Palestine during WWII. Britain realized that this might cause tension if they increased the influx of Jews into the state. This was the spark of the conflict between Palestinians and the Jewish communities. The conflict increased between Palestine and the Jewish populations, especially the Zionist, after Britain tried once again to settle peace for the situation with the Morrison-Grady Plan.
Britain was largely responsible for the conflict between the Arabs and Jews/Zionists in the period of the end of the nineteenth century up until May 1948. The League of Nations only ratified the British mandate of Palestine in 1922. The decisions made by Britain, both earlier and subsequent to the ratification, resulted in Britain being largely responsible for the conflict between the Arabs and Jewish/Zionists. Those pivotal decisions include issuing the McMahon Hussein letters, The Balfour Declaration, controlling Jewish immigration and the British White Papers.
In 1917 the British government started to bring their own ideas on how history of Palestine should emerge. For gaining Jews support they issued “Balfour declaration”, which promised establishment of Jewish people in territory of Palestinians. Which meant developing state for Jews. Of course we can see that British government were over promising, because at that time results of First World War were unknown and unseen for participants. Palestine was still under the Ottoman Empire. British government was confident about wining in war, so they started to dream about what they will do after it and how they will divide territories. This emerged in there communication with France. A year before they issued “Balfour declaration” they already deviated
The United Kingdom expended great effort to give the appearance of neutrality and maintaining a balanced approach during their administration of the British Mandate of Palestine. Notwithstanding, an examination of British Policies during the period of 1917 to 1947 shows that they greatly contributed to the defeat of the Arabs and emergence of the Jewish homeland- the State of Israel, in 1948. The pre-Mandate actions of the British showed a clear preference for the Zionist agenda, and directly influenced the creation of the Mandate. During the mandate, the British claimed, “that Jews and Arabs would live in harmony together.” They openly resisted Jewish designs for the establishment of a home state, but their policy was inherently favourable
Ninety nine years ago on November 2, 1917, Lord Balfour, Foreign Secretary of the British Government, wrote a letter that stated the British support to facilitate a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. This letter, the Balfour Declaration, is viewed as one of the founding documents of the State of Israel that was birthed some years later in 1948. However, the foundation of the formation of the State of Israel was not an easy task. It is important to understand the historical context to the Balfour Declaration, but more importantly, whether it is considered a valid document under international law.
Britain began to support Jewish immigration to the area because of a few key reasons. Foremost was the destruction of enemies and gaining of allies. Britain looked to help the Arabs establish independent states as a way to gain support against the Ottomans (Immell 16). Britain also wanted to assist the Jews in their transition to Palestine because it felt Russia would be grateful for such a maneuver with its own population (17). Of course, Britain didn’t want to make new enemies in this process. They decided to stay as neutral as possible, doing so through the Balfour Declaration, issued in 1917. This document encouraged a Jewish homeland in Palestine without being a detriment to the rights of Arabs in the region – a clever but difficult balance between both sides (Immell 17). As many politicians discover, it was because of Britain’s awkward, double-edged stance that it found it to be a struggle to support both sides. Instead of focusing on both at the same time, Britain bounced from interest to interest, shifting its focus by favoring both sides at different times (Immell 19). Thus Great Britain’s investment in the affairs of Palestine declined.
During the time of the Mandatory Palestine, the Balfour Declaration signed in 1917, stated that the government of Great Britain supported the establishment of a "Jewish national home" in Palestine. This exacerbated tensions between the Arabs living in Mandate Palestine and the Jews who emigrated there during the Ottoman period. Signed in January 1919, the Faisal–Weizmann Agreement promoted Arab-Jewish cooperation on the development of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East, though this event had little to no effect on the conflict.
The Hussein-McMahon Correspondence (October 1915) was a “series of letters between Hussein ibn Ali emir of Mecca, and Sir Henry McMahon, the British high commissioner in Egypt.”(Encyclopaedia Britannica, N.D.) The correspondence effectively traded British support of an independent Arab state for Arab assistance in the Ottoman Empire. It was an effort to create a 3rd front against the central powers (Germany, Austria and Turkey), by encouraging the Arab people in the Ottoman Empire to rise up against their Turkish overlords. It has been a cause of problems between the Arabs and the Jews and a direct clash with the Balfour Declaration and the Sykes-Picot agreement. It was interpreted by Hussein that Palestine would be given back to the Arabs after the war had ended, later claimed by Britain was that any land to be given back to the Arabs was only approximate and Palestine was excluded from the land to be given back. The confusion arose from one small phrase in the series of letters between
The end of the 19th century brought with it the rise of Arab nationalism and Zionism, which called for the existence of a permanent Jewish State. Herzl’s 1896 manifesto “The Jewish State”, popularized the idea of Isaac’s promised land and influenced the Jewish peoples of Eastern Europe and Russia to proclaim Israel their own. The Jewish people took their first steps
In 1948, the British mandate announced their intentions to terminate its mandate in Palestine due to the conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews. Britain faced difficulties trying to bring peace to Palestine. After the British mandate left Palestine, the Jewish people declared the establishment of a Jewish state (Israel). On the same day, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq intervened and this marked the first Arab-Israeli war. After this war, over 800,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees as a result of the independence of Israel. Also, Jews in the Arab countries were made to abandon their properties and flee.
The decision on the Mandate did not take into account the wishes of the people of Palestine, despite the Covenant's requirements that "the wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory". This assumed special significance because, almost five years before receiving the mandate from the League of Nations, the British Government had given commitments to the Zionist Organization regarding the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, for which Zionist leaders had pressed a claim of "historical connection" since their ancestors had lived in Palestine two thousand years earlier before dispersing in the "Diaspora". During the period of the Mandate, the Zionist Organization worked to secure the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. The indigenous people of Palestine, whose forefathers had inhabited the land for virtually the two preceding millennia, felt this design to be a violation of their natural and inalienable rights. They also viewed it as an infringement of assurances of independence given by the Allied Powers to Arab leaders in return for their support during the war.