07677
SOUTH WEST ASIA
ASSIGNMENT 1
“WHAT WERE THE MAJOR REASONS FOR THE CREATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL?
WAS THE BALFOUR DECLARATION THE TURNING POINT IN THE ZIONIST QUEST FOR ISRAEL?”
Lecturer: Ms S. Chappell
Student: Mark Walker-Roberts
Lecture / Tutorial Group: Wednesday 9 - 12 p.m.
Due Date: 04 September, 1996
INTRODUCTION
The state of Israel emerged on May 15, 1948. It was the first Jewish state to be established in nearly 2,000 years and was the culmination of efforts by the Jews to secure a homeland for themselves.
This paper will explore the major reasons for its creation. It will be shown to be a long enduring quest that has biblical origins. Subsequently both biblical history and geography will be worthy of
…show more content…
Palestine is the Holy Land of three of the world’s major religions - Islam, Judaism and Christianity. They all have significant historical and religious sites in this region. (Harper, 1986, p.17)
The biblical claim, supported by the historical claim by the Jews, is at the heart of the major reasons for the creation of the state of Israel. Its creation was based on the belief by Jews that the land was promised to them by God. Even though there has been a series of ‘take overs’ and occupations by others in this area and the occurrence of numerous ‘persecutions’ of Jews (which will be commented on later
4
in greater detail) worldwide since, causing other reasons for Jews to seek refuge in a homeland of their own, the Biblical reasons should not be underestimated as a major factor for the state of Israel being realised in the first place.
It was after Jewish exile and disaspora thereafter worldwide and the subsequent ramifications of this that caused renewed motivation for the creation of the Jewish state. One such example came in the form of Zionism.
ZIONISM
Since the abovementioned exile, the Jews experienced a broad disaspora and settled in numerous parts of the world, notably Europe and the United States. There had been many persecutions of the Jews during this period. In particular, this occurred during the nineteenth century in Russia and eastern Europe, where there were many
For ages the Jewish population did not have a place to call home. They had been wandering around deserts, were once slaves in Egypt, but didn’t have any land to their name. Following the Holocaust, after many Jews had been persecuted by Hitler and the Nazis, a good portion of the overall amount of Jews in the world let alone Europe had been exterminated. As a result, Harry Truman and the UN suggested Israel, a homeland for the Jews. Tensions had been growing throughout the beginning of the 20th Century regarding the Palestinian area in the Middle East. This area was off to the side of Asia, near Africa. When the Jews and Arabs were offered part of this land, war broke out and still continues today. Even though a war happened as a result
In 1948, Israel, originally known as Palestine was created. The Jews believed Israel was their ‘holy’ birthplace, this was called religious connection. In the book of Genenis, a verse states “I will bless those who bless you and cures him that cures you” (document A). When the “westerners” saw this verse they felt the need to get the Jews to get their holy land. This is called Zionism. Another reason is the Holocaust, which was the massacre of 6 million Jews. Anti-Semitism was also another reason, which was discrimination of Jews.
The creation of Israel meant that the Israeli’s were able to fulfil their long term aspiration of creating their own state, which had been fuelled by
The Promised Land delivers an entertaining perspective on discriminations against religion and the Jewish Ethnicity. This book is a perfect resource to historians, students, educators, and Jewish enthusiasts. While reviewing this book, the primary source included These problems for the Jewish ethnicity are only an insignificant diversion to the story in its entirety.
To start I was wondering “What initially sparked the desire for a modern-day Israel?”. Theodor Herzl, a German-speaking Jew, was for a large part of his early years uninterested in Jewish affairs. This changed once he found out about the Dreyfus Affair - a noted political scandal involving Alfred Dreyfus allegedly selling military secrets to Germany. The problem of determining guilt or innocence divided the third French republic(Britannica). I then wondered “How the upbringing of Herzl influences their desire to start the movement ?”. Due to Herzl's Jewish faith, he encountered much antisemitism in Germany, before realized that Jewish people would always be seen as outcasts(Founders of the Modern State of Israel). Last I wondered “ How did the movement deal with struggles to achieve the goal during WW2?”. Due to the holocaust in Europe and the extermination of millions, many Jews had illegally gone to Palestine, which escalated the conflict. This occupation alongside the back of the United States would lead to Israel receiving half of the Palestinian land(“State of Israel
er the war, as the years went on the Jewish population in Palestine grew tremendously. The growth created a lot of violence between Jews and Arabic’s. This violence ultimately led to Britain to make a big decision on the future of Palestine. This with the fueling of World War II and the Holocaust caused international support for Zionism. So, in 1948 they established official declaration of the State of Israel (Cohen, 2003; Levin, 1974.)
The State of Israel formerly known as Palestine is known as one of the most conflict infected areas. Problems between the Palestinian Arab population and the Israeli one constantly happen. But how did this come to be? Palestine was an area that was home to an Arab majority prior to World War II, but do to many factors the Jewish population increased. These factors included heavy migration into Palestine after the establishment of the British mandate and the Balfour Declaration, which was signed in 1917. Migration increased as well due to anti-Semitism in Europe and the Holocaust. Due to Britain’s lack of control of migration, and problems arising in the region as well, the decision was given to the U.N. It was a partition plan in 1947 between the Arabs and the Jewish population, but soon after that Israel declared its independence.
6 million Jews by the Nazi regime from the years 1933 to 1945. It took
The dichotomy of historical events, personalities and concepts are central to devising a sense of both triumph and tragedy, varying in perspective for the individuals and groups directly involved. The creation of the state of Israel accommodates this dichotomy, in which the event can simply be recognised as a success for the Jewish people whose religious land was regained, and a calamity for the Arab-Palestinians who became displaced refugees as a result. Since the inception of the Israeli nation-state in 1948, religious and political difference have played a major role in bringing about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The dominance of the Jewish people, driven by religious and cultural ties to the land following their Diaspora, has seen the formation of Israel as a short-term social triumph. However, the resultant dispossession of Arab refugees in the elicited conflict, consolidated by the increase in Arab rebel terrorist activity and interference of other states has
A common adage is that the pen is mightier than the sword. The amount of power that a pen truly holds can be observed by viewing the influence writing has had on the formation of the Jewish state of Israel. Before there was a Jewish state, around the time of 1,300 BCE there was a Jewish nation that rose up in response to Moses’ leadership and contribution of the Torah. Over 3,000 years later, Theodor Herzl’s pamphlet “The Jewish State” sparked the nationalist movement of Zionism that eventually led to the formation of the state of Israel. The immense impact written works can have on the development of nations and eventually states is exhibited through the influence of Moses’ writing of the Torah and Herzl’s creation of “The Jewish State” on
Since biblical times Jewish communities lived in Arab lands, in Persia, India, East and North Africa and indeed in Palestine. However more modern times have seen them as a nomadic people, living in various countries but never truly finding a land to call there own. In the late 19th and early 20th century an idea began to gain solidarity and momentum, that of Zionism. The idea of Zionism, to create a Jewish state, is arguably one of modern society’s most polarizing and influential movements. Zionism has influenced political, religious, and social groups in a variety of ways that culminated in the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.(Cohen, week 10)
But after Mass murdering of Jews n Germany under Hitler’s rule, they were made an independent Jewish state in Middle East known as “Israel” Jews started to struggle for their own state in late 19th century, but the reason for their independence was Holocaust. So, as a result in 1948 under UN resolution Israel was declared as sovereign state. The Israel’s independence declaration says “We extend our hands to all neighboring states and their people in an offer of peace and good neighborliness and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation, with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own
The story of the Jewish people is that of struggle and oppression. From the biblical accounts of slavery in Egypt, to the mass genocide perorated at the hands of the Nazi’s, the over arching facet of Jewish history is clear, that of crisis. Many time the Jewish community has sought to find answers to their problems of national identity.
The nation of Israel was originally a nation of nomadic people who were isolated and oppressed. After the horrific events of the Holocaust some Jewish people made homes in Israel. The people who made their homes came to be known as Israelites. They were given this name because the nation was named after Israel who was originally known as Jacob (Fisher, 2005). The nation of Israel has always been in a state of disorder and confusion, and in 1947 the United Nations gave Israel to the Jewish people who declared it an independent state in 1948. Israel’s Arabic neighbors did not support this decision and war followed. Battles are still being fought today. Tension also exists within the Jewish community in Israel. There have been many Jewish people who have settled in Israel. These settlers have diverse backgrounds. Some are orthodox and some are not which can bring tension. Even
The Arab-Israeli Conflict, and the struggle for a religious homeland, is a complex and somewhat mystified conflict. The tensions between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples can be traced back to Biblical times, when Abraham allocated for one of his sons, Isaac, to lay claim to Judea or modern day Israel. Muslims claimed that the elder son Ishmael had been allocated the region in the Qur’an. Although many historians believe otherwise, these claims are still the more popular historical context amongst monotheistic practitioners.