Introduction to the history of Israel/Palestine Week 1 Introduction to the history of Israel/Palestine

Aims To introduce the history of the land called Israel/Palestine. To look at the early history of Israel/Palestine. To examine the consequences of WWI for the region. To see how WWII and its aftermath precipitated the conditions and conflicts we will explore in the module.

MidEastWeb www.mideastweb.org

Part one The early history of Israel/Palestine

Canaan Circa 1200 BCE From: The Cambridge  Ancient History Vol II Part 2A: The Amarna Letters from Palestine, W.F. Albright, Cambridge Univ. Press 1980 (Taken from MidEastWeb)

The Roman Period (Taken from MidEastWeb)

Map of Palestine under the Caliphs From James Parkes, Whose Land? A History of the Peoples of Palestine, 1949, 1970 (Taken from MidEastWeb)

The Crusader Period (Taken from MidEastWeb)

The Ottoman Empire

Part two World War I and its aftermath

Sykes-Picot Agreement:

The Balfour Declaration The declaration was contained in a letter dated 2 November 1917 from the UK’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community. It announced support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

League of Nations Mandates

The British Mandate

The population of Palestine According to the 1921 British census a total of 752,048 people lived in Palestine. Of this group, 78.34% were Moslems, 9.5% Christians (making an Arab majority of 87.84%), and 11.4% were Jewish.

The Arab Revolt, 1936-39 The 1936-39 Arab revolt in Palestine was an uprising in protest against mass Jewish Immigration, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, by Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine. The dissent was influenced by the Qassamite rebellion following the killing of Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam in 1935 as well as the declaration by Hajj Mohammad Amin al-Husayni of 16 May 1930 as 'Palestine Day' and calling for a General Strike.

Part three World War II and its aftermath

Aliyah Bet “Illegal" immigration ship "Tiger Hill," carrying Jewish refugees from Europe, lands in Tel Aviv, Palestine. Jewish residents of Palestine greet the ship. September 1, 1939. Source: Jabotinsky Institute

Detailed partition map of UNSCOP Proposal (Taken from MidEastWeb)

UN Palestine Partition Plan Map - 1947 (Taken from MidEastWeb)

Map of Central Palestine/Israel Showing Armistice Lines of Israel and Jordan, 1949 (Taken from MidEastWeb)

Conclusions During its long history, the area, population and ownership of the land variously called Israel and Palestine varied greatly. The present state of Israel occupies all the land from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean ocean, bounded by Egypt in the south, Lebanon in the north, and Jordan in the East. The recognized borders of Israel constitute c. 78% of the land. The remainder is divided between land occupied by Israel since the 1967 6-day war and the autonomous regions under the control of the Palestinian autonomy. The Gaza strip occupies an additional 141 square miles south of Israel, and is under the control of the Palestinian authority. The origins of the conflict in Israel/Palestine post 1948 can be traced to decisions made by world powers earlier in the century.