Arab Israeli Conflict 1880--1948Arab Israeli Conflict 1880--1948

• key features of the modern world

• political, economic, social and technological features of the origins of Arab-Israeli conflict

• forces for change that emerged during the origins of Arab-Israeli conflict

• the nature of the political, social, economic and technological change that occurred in the origins of Arab-Israeli conflict

• the impact of change and the formation of Israel

Arab Israeli ConflictArab Israeli Conflict

Concepts to learn:

• Zionism• Imperialism• Decolonisation• Aliyah• Anti-Semitism• Internationalism• Nationalism• League of Nations• United Nations• Alliances• Spheres of influence• Terrorism• Diaspora

Major Players:

• Britain• France• USA• Israel• Palestine (PLO)• Egypt• Arab League

Description

Arab Israeli conflict: an overviewArab Israeli conflict: an overview

• Local conflict – Jews and Palestinians

• Regional conflict – Israel and Arab States

• International conflict – Ottoman Empire, Britain France then USSR / US

• Conflict over land

• Conflict over religion

• Conflict over nation states

Israel

Arab Israeli conflict: an overviewArab Israeli conflict: an overview

Can be seen as a conflict between:

• Jews V Muslims• Self defence V Self determination• Competing Nationalisms• Competing Fundamentalisms• Interference from imperialist rivalries• Proxy war between competing superpowers• Oil is a ‘burning issue’ and ‘fuels’ the British and

American interference in the region

Palestinian FlagPalestinian Flag

Historical Rulers of PalestineHistorical Rulers of Palestine

• First settlement at Jericho about 8000BC Canaanites

• 15thC BC Egyptians• Moses escapes from

Egypt and returns to the promised land.

• Israeli King David conquered Jerusalem in 1000BC

• Romans conquered Palestine in 63BC and ruled for 700 years.

• Islamic Empire 8thC AD• The Crusades 1095-1291

rules by Christians• Ottoman Empire 1517-

1917• British influence 1889-

1914• British mandate 1920-

1947• UN partition 1947• Israel’s declaration of

independence 1948

Israeli FlagIsraeli Flag

ZionismZionism• The belief in the restoration of Eretz Yisrael –

Jewish homeland in Palestine to protect Jews from persecution

• Zion means hill on which a temple is built in Hebrew

• Gained currency amongst European Jews.• 1897 Zionist World Conference officially adopted

this homecoming idea.• Part of 19thC nationalism• Part of an reaction against anti-Semitism in

Europe• Russia forced Jews to live separately which was

a form of apartheid• Many Jews migrated to Europe and Palestine

ZionismZionism

• Theodore Herzl (1860-1904) published Der Judenstaat in 1896 ( see source p.68 text)

• To unite the diaspora (dispersal of Jewish communities around the world)

• Zionist Jews believed that God had chosen the Jews to carry His message.

• Centuries of persecution had created a strong national sentiment and a longing for peace and security.

• The “Holy Land” was the preferred choice due to the historical links to Palestine

ZionismZionism

• Anti-Semitism is a “special and peculiar hatred of the Jews, which derives its unique power from the historical relationship between Judaism and Christianity” Bernard Lewis

• Jews seen as satanic, root of all evil, conspiratorial, corrupt, inventors of capitalism and communism and even enslavers.

• In short, they have been made scapegoats for centuries.

The First AliyahThe First Aliyah

• Pogroms in Russia produced first exodus of Jews between 1882-1903

• 2 million went to United States

• 30,000 to Palestine increasing population to about 40,000 Jews

• 150,000 Arabs in Palestine

• Jews believed in agricultural self-sufficiency and establishing Eretz Yisrael.

22ndnd Aliyah 1904-1914 Aliyah 1904-1914• New wave of immigrants brought socialist ideas

and laid the foundations for modern Israel.• Jewish labour a vital factor in national revival• Formation of independent settlements and

collective agriculture called kibbutzim• Kibbutzes cooperated and kept costs down.• They stopped hiring Arab labour • By beginning of WW1 (1914) Jewish population

was 90,000• Forty agricultural settlements• Tel Aviv founded in 1909.

Three Important DocumentsThree Important Documents

1. The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence 1915

2. The Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916

3. The Balfour Declaration 1917

• All three lead to the British Mandate 1922-23 by the League of Nations.

Impacts of WW1Impacts of WW1• Ottoman Empire

collapsed after WW1

• Britain, France and Russia all had significant interests in Middle East

• After WW1 1918 British forces (including Australian and NZ) controlled the region

• The Middle East was divided between French sphere of interest (Syria and Lebanon) and British (Palestine and Iraq).

• Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916 (read extracts p.52)

• British and French secret security agreement which divided the region which included some area to Russia.

• Palestine was to become an international zone while Britain and France secured areas to the south and north of Jerusalem (see map p.53)

McMahon – Hussein LettersMcMahon – Hussein Letters

• Britain needed support of Arabs to help defeat Turks.

• Encouraged a revolt against Ottoman rulers in exchange for independence and land

• 1915 started letters between the High Commissioner in Egypt Sir Henry McMahon and the Sharif of Mecca Hussein ended in 1916.

• Correspondence has been subject to historical interpretation about promises made by Britain to Arabs

• British leaders are also holding secret talks with Jewish leaders about Eretz Yisrael in 1916

• June 1916 Hussein declared independence and started revolt.

• Lawrence of Arabia helped coordinate the revolt.

• After was there was confusion about the precise borders and area to be given to Arabs – especially in regards to Palestine

• British didn’t give up Palestine or Jerusalem to Arabs which angered Hussein and supporters

• (Read letters p.55-57)

Balfour Declaration Nov 2 1917Balfour Declaration Nov 2 1917

• British PM David Lloyd George favoured Jewish homeland in 1916

• He hoped the large Jewish populations in US and Russia would influence their Governments in WW1.

• Members of British Gov thought a Jewish homeland would help GB control Palestine post-war era

• They preferred this to the Sykes-Picot Agreement which ceded land to Arabs and French sphere of influence.

• Zionist leader Dr Chaim Weizmann lobbied British Gov for Eretz Yisrael through 1917.

• 2 Nov 1917 Britain issued statement called Balfour Declaration (British Foreign Secretary Alfred Balfour)

• Declaration approved by France and US

• Declaration regarded as a victory by Zionists.

• Arabs condemned it because land was promised to them in the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence. (read Balfour Declaration p.59)

British Mandate 1920-1948British Mandate 1920-1948

• San Remo conference 1920 supported the Balfour Declaration (post WW1 meeting of victors to discuss new borders and spheres of influence)

• Areas assigned by League of Nations to British and French control

• Britain officially took control in July 1922• Britain had to recognise Jewish homeland and

prepare for self governance. Also safeguard the civil and religious rights of Palestinian Arabs

British Mandate 1922British Mandate 1922

The approximate borders of the British Ma

Mandate 1919-1939Mandate 1919-1939• Period of stability undermined by periods of

rioting, strikes and armed clashes between Jews and Arabs

• First Phase 1920-28 relatively stable• Second Phase 1929-35 increased tensions• Third Phase 1936-39 Arab revolt• Governing body for Jews was The Jewish

Agency, Knesset and National Jewish Council• Palestine Arab Council and Supreme Muslim

Council administered Arab sectors.• Population growth increased tensions especially

immigration of European Jewry from Europe pre-WW2

Churchill White Paper 1922Churchill White Paper 1922

• Released by Churchill to reassure Arabs that Britain didn’t intend to impose Jewish majority on Palestine (read document p.71 Retreat from Mandate)

• Zionist accepted the White Paper but Arabs did not.• Arabs believed it supported Balfour Declaration.• Fourth Arab Congress resolved political not violent

means should be used to resolve conflict.• Fourth wave of Jewish immigration 1924-1930 added

35,000 in 1925 alone. • More Arabs attracted to the area due to increased

economic activity.• Second phase of riots start over dispute about the

Wailing Wall in 1929.

Sir Winston Churchill

Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill

Rioting and Violence 1925-1936Rioting and Violence 1925-1936

• Passfield White Paper 1930 recommended Jewish immigration be stopped if it prevented Arab employment. Further urged restriction of land sales to Jews.

• Zionists opposed the report and lobbied the Government to reject the recommendations. The British Gov agreed.

• Created further mistrust by Arabs and steeled their resolve to oppose the Mandate.

• Rise of Palestinian nationalism emerged and began to override local or village loyalties.

• Role of Haj Amin al-Husseini became more important as he led the Arab Higher Committee and mobilised Palestinian strikes and riots.

Haj Amin al-Husseini 1936Haj Amin al-Husseini 1936

Peel Commission 1937Peel Commission 1937• Riots and strikes erupted between 1936-39 with

large loss of life on both sides• Peel Commission set up and concluded that

Arab national independence and hatred and fear of Yisrael was the cause of unrest.

• PC also concluded that the sides were irreconcilable and Mandate was unworkable.

• It recommended the Mandate be terminated and separate Jewish and Palestinian states be established.

• Jews accepted this but Arabs rejected saying there would be no partition of Palestine.

• Further attacks from Arabs continued and Jews set up the Havlagah (restraint) as self-defence.

1939 White Paper1939 White Paper• British now rejected the Peel Commission’s

recommendations• Arabs refused to meet with Jewish leaders at the Round

Table Conference in Jan 1939.• British Gov facing war in Europe had to appease Arabs

to secure oil rich Middle East.• British abandoned Balfour Declaration.• White Paper recommended establishment of

independent democratic Palestinian state and restriction of Jewish immigration.

• Arab Higher Committee rejected these proposals demanding an immediate Arab state and no more Jewish immigration.

• Britain maintains this policy throughout war years.

Hitler’s pledge – “To rid Germany of Hitler’s pledge – “To rid Germany of the Jews”the Jews”

Chronology of anti-Semitic events Chronology of anti-Semitic events in Europe 1933-1945in Europe 1933-1945

• 1933 – Boycott of Jewish shops. Burning of books.

• 1935 - Nuremburg Laws. Jews deprived of German citizenship., No Jew can marry a German.

• 1938 - Crystal Night. organised anti-Jewish violence and expulsion of Polish Jews from Germany

• WW2 begin 1 September with invasion of Poland

• 1940 creation of Ghettoes and relocation of Jews

• 1941 Invasion of USSR and mass shooting of Jews

• 1942 Wannsee Conference. The Final Solution – mass killing by gassing

• April 1945. Germany surrenders and the ‘Final Solution’ is revealed.

The Shoah (Holocaust)The Shoah (Holocaust)

WWII and Middle EastWWII and Middle East

• Palestine was an important strategic area for Allies during WW2 – access to Mediterranean and oil fields.

• British gave in to Arab demands to restrict Jewish immigration – angered Zionists

• 1942/3 German’s advanced in North Africa, Balkans and into the Soviet Union threatening oil fields at Baku.

• French Vichy Gov (Fascist sympathises) took over Syrian administration

• British navy enforced immigration restriction and turned Jews away fleeing Europe to appease Arabs.

• Two refugee ships sank after being intercepted by British in 1940/41 killing nearly a thousand Jews fleeing Europe.

•

Jewish Response to WWIIJewish Response to WWII• 18000 Jews joined the British Army to fight the Germans

in Palestine.• Strong resistance still remained against British because

of appeasement of Arabs• Zionist leaders turned to USA for support.• Biltmore Program established by Ben Gurion. He called

for Jewish state in the whole of Western Palestine and unlimited immigration. US very sympathetic.

• Haganah (Jewish defence force) continued to work against the British and Germans. The Irgun broke away and formed a more militant response than Haganah.

• This culminated in the bombing of the bridges and the King David Hotel (British headquarters) in 1946 which killed 91 people

Arab response to WWIIArab response to WWII• Arabs still saw British and French as common

enemy• Amin al-Husseini collaborated with the Germans

and helped organise a revolt against the British in Iraq.

• A fatwa (call to holy war) was issued against the British by al-Husseini in 1941

• However, moderate Arabs supported the British war effort and 8000 Palestinians joined the British Army.

• In 1945 the Arab League (Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Transjordan was formed and maintained their opposition to Yisrael and immigration of Jews after the holocaust.

Post WWII Post WWII

• British Labour Government under PM Attlee continued policy of 1939 White Paper which outraged Zionists

• Britain wanted to maintain control in region and now threatened by the Soviet Union’s growing influence (later to become the Cold War 1948-1990)

• USA under President Truman took on cause of Jewish displaced persons.

• US also had rival interests to Soviet Union in region and attempted to block them.

• The US supported partitioning Palestine but Britain rejected this idea and referred the problem to the newly formed United Nations in 1947.

UN Resolution 181UN Resolution 181

• Proposal to partition Palestine was hotly debated and finally agreed upon 29 Nov 1947. Votes 33 for, 13 against, 19 abstained (Britain abstained, Australia supported).

• Arabs rejected outright because they received 6400 km and Jews received nearly 10,000

• Arabs saw it as a denial of their rights, betrayal by the British and unfair that they had to atone the sins of the Nazis for the holocaust.

• Newly formed Arab League warned the UN they would intervene militarily and called the UN vote invalid.

• Most Zionists supported the UN 181 but some rejected it because Jerusalem was not part of the Jewish state.

• By now the conflict had grown from a local one to a regional clash between Jews and the surrounding Arab nations (Arab League).