British Mandate

• The Mandate system was instituted by the League of Nations in the early 20th century to administer non-self-governing territories in palestine.
• The mandatory power, appointed by an international body, was to consider the mandated territory a temporary trust and to see to the well-being and advancement of its population.
•  In July 1922, the League of Nations entrusted Great Britain with the Mandate of Palestine.
•   Recognizing "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine," Great Britain was called upon to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine/Israel (Land of Israel). 
•    In September 1922, the League of Nations and Great Britain decided that the provisions for setting up a Jewish national home would not apply in east of the Jordan River. 
•  The British Mandate authorities granted the Jewish and Arab communities the right to run their internal affairs.
•  The economy expanded, a Hebrew education network was organized and cultural life flourished in the jewish communities. 
•  The Mandatory government did not succeed in maintaining the letter and spirit of the Mandate. - Under Arab pressure, it withdrew from its commitment. eg. immigration and land acquisition. 
• The White Papers of 1930 and 1939 restricted immigration and acquisition of land by Jews.
• After the UN general assembly adopted the resolution to divide Palestine. 
• On November 29, 1947, Britain announced the termination of its Mandate over Palestine.
• On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed.

Last years of the British Mandate; UNSCOP partition plan and the outbreak of civil war

Historic roots of the conflict:

• Both Arabs and Israelis havedeep-rooted historical and religious connections to the territoryof the 'Holy land' that is Jerusalem.
• The Jewish tradition sees Palestine as the 'promised land' of Israel that God gave to the Jewish people according to the biblical account of the Old Testament.
• The 'Kingdom of Israel' that existed before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE was 'proof' that the Jews 'were there first'. 
• On the other hand, Palestinian Arabs point to the fact that they have been living in the area continuously over the past 2,000 years.
• For both Jews and Arabs, Jerusalem is a holy site for their respective religions.
• Rather than seeing this as an ancient conflict, it can be argued that, "the Arab-Israeli conflict emerged with the advent of nationalism in the Middle East and the conflict .... is one of competing nationalisms". This is reinforced by the fact that there hasnotbeen a continuous dispute between the Arabs and the Israelis since ancient times over the land of Palestine
• These conflicting nationalist claims on the territory have their roots in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, with the emergence of modern Zionism and Arab nationalism.
• Influenced by anti-semitism in Europe and Russia in the nineteenth century, and broader European trends towards nationalist thinking.
• Zionism as a modern ideology was developed byTheodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jew and journalist who argued that the creation of a Jewish national state…