1. The Arab-Israeli Conflict Background Paper 1
Remember - you have to know the facts of history before you can analyze, interpret, evaluate, etc.

2. The Jewish Diaspora
Jews were the main population in the region until 1st century A.D. until the Romans conquered Palestine and expelled them
This expulsion is known as the Diaspora
Palestinian Arabs base their claim on the land on the continuous presence for more than 2000 years now

3. So, are the Romans to blame?

4. Complicated Religion
Both Jews and Arabs have significant religious ties to the land (as do Christians)
Jews regard Palestine as the land promised them by God
Palestinian Arabs see themselves as descendents of the Arabs who lived alongside the Jews before the Diaspora (Mohammed ascended to heaven from Jerusalem)
Palestine became part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire in the 16th century, and remained so until WWI
The Ottoman Turks were Muslims but were ethnically and culturally distinct from the Arabs

5. So, are the Turks to blame?

6. The Jews in Europe
After the Diaspora most Jews settled in either Europe or Northern Africa
They were met with hostility and prejudice from the Christian communities they lived among
They were subjected to periodic persecution and ongoing discrimination
This was particularly harsh in Russia and Eastern Europe

7. So, are the Europeans to blame?

8. Zionism
Zionism was stimulated by the upsurge of anti-Semitism in the late 19th century
They were committed to the creation of a Jewish nation-state, which should be located in Palestine
The leader was an Austrian Jew, Theodor Herzl
The Zionist movement encouraged Jewish settlement in Palestine and helped secure the purchase of land for Jewish immigrants

9. The Jewish Agency Was sort of a “shadow” government in Palestine
It set up the Jewish National Fund to help Jews buy land from Arab farmers
It also helped build schools and hospitals in Palestine. The World Zionist Organization worked closely with the Jewish Agency

10. So, are the Jews to blame?

11. Arab Nationalism Late 19th century
Aimed at setting up a series of independent Arab states, free from Ottoman rule
Was partly a response to the perceived threat posed by the influx of Jewish settlers
Was also encouraged by the decline of the Ottoman empire

12. So, is nationalism to blame?

13. Middle East on the eve of WWI
WWI quickened the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Arabs and Jews both looked forward to filling the vacuum left by its collapse
Britain and France had great interest in the Middle East and took advantage of their influence in the region
One of their priorities on the outbreak of WWI was to secure their oil supplies from Persia (present-day Iran)

14. Conflicting Promises The McMahon Declaration (1915)
Promised British support for Arab independence, if the Arabs rose up against Turkish rule
The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)
Britain and France agree on their respective spheres of influence in the Middle East
Britain would dominate Mesopotamia while France would control Syria
Palestine would be under international administration
The Balfour Declaration (1917)
British wanted US support in WWI, so it tried to win over the influential Jewish lobby in the USA
Britain declared that the government supported ‘the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’.
They also said that ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine’ ha haha yeah right!

15. So, were Great Britain and France to blame?

16. Collapse of the Ottoman Empire
From 1916 to 1918, Arab forces working with British troops seized control of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria
At the end of WWI, the Arabs expected the establishment of a series of independent states in the Middle East
But these hopes were quickly dashed and the Arabs believed that the British had deliberately deceived them

17. The Treaty of Sèvres
Stripped the Turks of their land in the Middle East and North Africa
Most of the Middle East would come under the jurisdiction of the ‘Mandate’ system created by the new League of Nations
The League authorized Britain and France to administer various parts of the Middle East in preparation for them becoming independent
The Arabs saw this as a ‘thinly veiled takeover’ of the region by Britain and France

18. The Treaty of Sèvres cont
France was given Lebanon and Syria to administer
Britain was given Palestine, Iraq (Mesopotamia), and Jordan (Transjordan)
The only Arab territory to be granted total independence, under Sherif Hussein in 1920, was Saudi Arabia
Violent Arab protests broke out and prompted Britain to install Hussein’s sons, Abdullah and Feisal, as amirs of Transjordan and Mesopotamia, as long as they maintained a close alliance with Britain

19. So, is the League of Nations or the Treaty of Sèvres to blame?

20. The Rise of Arab-Jewish Tensions
Both sides were pissed at Britain for ‘betraying’ them
But the main cause was the increasing numbers and prosperity of the Jewish settlers in Palestine.
In 1918, there were 60,000 Jews / 500,000 Arabs
In 1928, there were 150,000 Jews / 600,000 Arabs

21. The White Paper, 1930
In 1929 there had been a week of violence killing 133 Jews and 116 Arabs
The White Paper of 1930 recommended restrictions on Jewish immigration and land purchases
But after protests in Britain and the US from Zionists, the British government shelved the proposed restrictions

22. Increased Jewish Immigration
The 1930s saw an increase in immigration
From 1929 to 1939 the population of Jews in Palestine tripled to 450,000
The main reason for this was Hitler’s rise to power by 1933 in Germany and the subsequent persecution of Jews
Between 1920 and 1939 Jewish landholdings had increased by 185%
The Arabs still controlled 85% of the arable land
But the value of Jewish land and property holdings exceeded the Arabs by 1939

23. So, are the Jews to blame?

24. The Arab Revolt ( )
The Arabs perceived that the Jews constituted a growing threat to their way of life
Large-scale Arab protests erupted in 1936
Started with a general strike
Continued on and off through 1939
In 1938 alone, over 1600 Arabs, 290 Jews and 69 British soldiers were killed

25. So, are the Arabs to blame?

26. The Jewish Response?
The Jewish Agency expanded its secret army, the Hegenah
The Irgun and the Lehi were formed
Terrorist paramilitaries who launched attacks on both Arabs and British
They were not approved by the Jewish Agency
The British responded to the increased violence by bringing in more troops and tried several commissions in order to find a political solution to the problem

27. So now it’s the Jews again?
Do you get what I’m trying to say yet???

28. The Peel Commission Published its findings in 1937
Recommended the partition of Palestine into two states: one Jewish, one Arab (the Jews would receive 20% of the mandate)
Jews were mixed in their attitude toward the Peel Commission
Chaim Weizmann of the World Zionist Organization was prepared to accept it
The Arabs were unanimously opposed to it

29. The Woodhead Commission
1938
Was in response to further Arab violence in
It also recommended partition
The Arabs rejected the idea

30. The Eve of WWII
Britain was increasingly concerned over the situation in Palestine, as it had over 20,000 soldiers tied down there to maintain order
Britain was also concerned with protecting its oil supplies in the event of war
So Britain decided to secure the goodwill of the Arab oil states by conciliating Arab opinion over Palestine, so…

31. The British White Paper (1939)
Proposed:
Over the next 5 years, a maximum of 10,000 Jews each year would be allowed to settle in Palestine
In addition, a quota of 25,000 Jewish refugees would be allowed in to Palestine
Thereafter, there would be no further Jewish immigration unless the Arabs agreed
Independence for Palestine within 10 years, with Palestine preserved as a single state with a joint Arab-Jewish government

32. This time it was the Zionists that were outraged by the proposals, especially at a time when Jewish communities were threatened with destruction by the Nazis

33. The Arab Response Arabs were divided over the proposals
Extreme Arab nationalists opposed it
Britain’s Arab allies, Saudi Arabia and Transjordan supported it and helped keep the Middle East quiet during WWII
More moderate members of the Arab Higher Committee, who had fled Palestine during the Arab Revolt, were allowed to return by the British. They welcomed the 1939 White Paper with caution
Palestine remained relatively peaceful during WWII

34. WWII
During the war most Zionists saw the defeat of Germany as the priority and so suspended the attacks on the British.
20,000 Jews enlisted in the British Army
The Haganah stockpiled weapons for continued armed struggle when the war ended
The Irgun and Lehi continued their terrorist attacks on Palestinian and British targets
David Ben Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency, ordered the Haganah to hunt down members of the Jewish terrorist organizations

35. The Biltmore Program (1942)
David Ben Gurion realized that the key to the post-war Middle East would be the US, not war-torn Great Britain.
Biltmore Hotel in New York, 1942, called for
The establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine
Unlimited Jewish immigration
As news of the Holocaust spread in the early 1940s, American Jews became more committed to Zionism and a Jewish state in Palestine (and heavily lobbied both political parties)

36. The next ppt will be on the last years of the British Mandate ( ), the UNSCOP partition plan, and the outbreak of Civil War ( ).
This is the first bullet of the Paper 1 outline.