Arab-Israeli Conflict: Complete Revision Notes

Background:

-Palestine was the Jewish people's home during the biblical times. Palestine is considered to be the 'Holy Land' to Jews, Christians and Islamics.

-The Romans came to rule Palestine, and the Jews were driven out by the Romans after they revolted twice: 70AD and 135 AD. The Jews dispersed all over the world, with many settling in Europe.

-These Jews were persecuted throughout history,

-Palestine became home to Arabs after the 7th century.

-The idea of 'Zionism' developed from this persecution- Zionists believed that if the Jews had their own national home, there would be no more persecution. Zionists believed that Palestine, being the Jewish peoples' home during the biblical times, should be their rightful homeland. As a result there were many Jews emigrating to Palestine during the 1930s, especially during the start of the WW2 as they were seeking to escape Hitler's antisemitism.

-The local Arab-Palestinians felt threatened by the steady influx of Jews into Palestine, and they fought with the Jewish immigrants. The Arab-Palestinians were supported by the surrounding Arab nations.

-While WW2 was going on, the British promised the Arabs Palestine and their independence in return for their help in the war and to revolt against the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire.

-In the meantime, the British also promised the Zionists Palestine as their homeland in return for putting pressure on the Americans for staying in the war (Britain knew they had little chance of victory without America). The Balfour Declaration 1917 stated that Palestine would be a Jewish National Home.

-After WW2 was over, Britain was given the mandate over Palestine by the League of Nations.

Palestine Under the British Mandate:

-the early 1900's saw the British government allowing Jews from eastern Europe to enter Palestine. These immigrants were Zionists and built up the Jewish community in Palestine.When the USA closed its doors to large scale immigration, Palestine became the only possible destination for the Jews who wanted to escape persecution in Europe.

-There was much fighting between the Jewish immigrants and the native Palestinians during the 1920s. The Palestinians were less successful than the Zionists in influencing the British government because they were less wealthy than many of these Zionists were, and had less political influence.

-The Haganah was set up as the Jewish Defense Force. Irgun and later Stern were set up, and these were much more hardline than Haganah was.

-July 1964, the Irgun blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing and injuring many.

-Even after Hitler began exterminating Jews, Britain limited the amounts of Jewish immigrants allowed in during and after WW2, and this was against Global Opinion.The British did this because of the violence between the Haganah, Stern and Irgun and the Arab Palestinians. The Jews were unhappy that the Holocaust survivors were not being allowed into Palestine and so clashed with the British forces.

-Also in 1964, many Holocaust survivors wanted to emigrate to Palestine. The ship Exodus arrived in Palestine bearing many Jewish refugees, but were turned away…