Cleveland+Chapter+13+Notes

Cleveland Chapter 13 Notes pp. 233-238


 * The Palestine Mandate and the Birth of the State of Israel

The Palestinian mandate was created from a small piece of what was then Syria. There were many repercussions to the development of the mandate. It went a ways in shaping power relationships not only in the region but on an international scale, it greatly influenced U.S. and European politics, it went on to generate 5 wars, it produced one million refugees, and finally it ignited a bitterness between all the involved parties. Ultimately created bad relations between Jews and Palestinians. The overall problem was that a small territory that had an Arab majority was promised as a national home to Jews after Jewish oppression in Europe.


 * The Emergence of Political Zionism

Since the Jewish dispersion from Palestine by the Roman conquest, the idea of return has always been kept alive. The Jews felt a very strong religious connection to the land because they had "God's promise of a chosen destiny in Zion." Also, the vast European oppression and confinement led to hope for a return to Zion as a way to escape that oppression. However, throughout the 19th century in Europe, the Jews were being assimilated into the culture like normal citizens. In reality, this is seen to Jews as a time of lost identity due to the less observance of faith. But then in the late 1800s, a great influx of persecution in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia with Alexander III, resulted in Jewish immigration to the U.S and more thoughts of Zionism. We also see the idea of modern political Zionism originate in Russia after the pogroms and antisemitic actions there. Come 1884, the Lovers of Zion was created and it began to sponsor small settlements in Palestine. However, it lacked funds and was eventually unsuccessful.

The First Zionist Congress occurred in 1897 in Basel and what it did was state the objective for a national home in Palestine. It also set up the world Zionist organization. More branches to this government would be set up later that leads to the attraction of a lot of people to the movement. Herzl, however, recognized the need of the support of one of the "Great Powers," not only political support but financial support as well. Unfortunately for the Jews, they were disappointing on both of these front for supports because they received none. All of the Great Powers thought that aligning with the Jews would produce and antisemitic backlash.


 * The Balfour Declaration:

The Ottoman Empire allied with Germany in WWI. The significance of this meant that in the case that the Allies come up victorious (we know they did), this meant that the Ottoman land would be partitioned. Ultimately, Zionism was brought to people's attention because the Jewish groups could influence the war very greatly being such a large number of people. This led to the British gesture of goodwill as one may call it in their attempt to get Jewish support for the war. Britain also had interest in the land because it would leave them with the sole control of the Suez region. Finally, on November 2, 1918, British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour, wrote of British sympathy for Jewish Zionist aspirations in the Balfour Declaration. Ultimately this promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine. As we will see this idea didn't go over so well in practice.

Leo Pinsker: Said that Jews were never going to be treated as equals and that the establishment of a Jewish state need to happen. Theodor Herzl: Brought together all of the strands of Zionism spread out across the country into one coherent international movement. His book, "The Jewish State" provided an ideological basis for political Zionism. He wrote that, ultimately the Jews constituted a nation that lacked a real political state. Jewish nationality and the absence of state made Jews aliens in all countries. His solution was Jewish sovereignty in its own state, although not specifying Palestine and the necessary region. Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist spokesman in London, constantly kept the question of Zionism before the British cabinet in an attempt to win support. He also went a ways in setting up local Zionist branches.
 * Important People

(Chapter 13 Notes Continued...pages 254-264)

__**World War II & The Birth of the State of Israel**__


 * Holocaust
 * Atonement for holocaust
 * Biltmore Program (1942)--called for open immigration to Palestine, Jewish commonwealth (endorsed by Truman)
 * Yishuv had conflicting policy
 * Allied with Britain against Hitler
 * Ready to fight Britain (in response to the 1939 White Paper) after Nazis are defeated
 * Britain trained Jewish forces
 * Consequently, Haganah has "intimate knowledge" of British military
 * Palestinian Jews still viewed British presence as a big obstacle to the formation of a future state
 * British authority continued to enforce quotas, Cyprus camps, etc.
 * Terror and Civil War
 * Phase One: Campaign of sabotage against Britain (1945-1947)
 * Jewish forces worked to forcefully seize Palestine from Britain
 * Irgun ( ex. King David Hotel)
 * Stern Gang (LEHI) (ex. Assassination of Lord Mayne)
 * Makes it apparent that Britain has lost control of the situation in Palestine, leading to the involvement of the United Nations
 * Creation of UNSCOP
 * Agreed that terminating the Palestine Mandate was necessary
 * Minority (creation of a federal state)
 * Majority (Partition of Palestine, Jerusalem would become international)
 * Arabs rejected all options presented by UNSCOP
 * General Assembly approved partition in 1947
 * Britain announces that the British mandate will end on May 15, 1948--There would be no formal transfer of power, with Britain leaving no government in Palestine and two opposing groups to continue to fight for control.
 * Ben Gurion declares an independent state of Israel (which is then recognized by the United States and USSR)
 * The First Arab-Israeli War
 * Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, and Iraq all launch attacks on Israel in May 1948
 * On the battlefield, the Arab nations were //not// unified...promoting self-serving interests
 * Outnumbered
 * Israeli (Haganah) forces were incredibly motivated because they felt that the survival of the Jewish state of Israel rested upon their performance
 * 1st Armistice was utilized to rebuild resources
 * 2nd Armistice...Israeli victory assured
 * Individual state armistice agreements with Israel
 * Ceasefire borders
 * Partition of Israel amongst Jews, Egypt, Syria, and Transjorden
 * Resulted in a huge population of refugees and no Palestinian state
 * Arabs had fled during the Civil War, intending to return after the violence had subsided, but soon realized that they were not welcome back in their homeland
 * Implementation of Plan D (systematic expulsion of Palestinian Arabs living in the Jewish state)

Cleveland, William L. //A History of the Modern Middle East//. 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2004.