Can We Blame it on the Brits?

Can We Blame it on the Brits?

• Can We Blame it on the Brits?

• (For a change)

West Bank

• West Bank

• Gaza Strip

• Golan Heights

• Hamas

• Fatah

• Ben Gurion Quote

The Ottoman Empire, The “Sick Man of Europe”

• The Ottoman Empire, The “Sick Man of Europe”

• Theodor Herzl and the Zionist Congress

• Hussein-McMahon Correspondence 1915-16

• Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916

• Lawrence of Arabia & The Arab Revolt 1917-18

• Balfour Declaration 1917

• Churchill White Paper 1922

• British Mandate 1919-1948

• The Israeli War for Independence 1948

• Implications for Today

Theodor Binyamin Herzl, a journalist & Hungarian Jew who lived in Vienna, wrote a book called, Judenstadt, “The Jewish State”

• Theodor Binyamin Herzl, a journalist & Hungarian Jew who lived in Vienna, wrote a book called, Judenstadt, “The Jewish State”

• Virulent anti-Semitism in Russia & France (Evidenced by Dreyfuss Affair)

• 1896, 1st World Zionist Congress.

• British offer land in East Africa

There was no Palestinian nationalsim.

• There was no Palestinian nationalsim.

• Region divided into Sanjaks

• 500k Arab Fellahin Tenant Farmers on land of absentee landlords

• 25K Sephardim, Jews of Spanish Descent

1915-1916 exchange of letters between the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, concerning the future political status of the Arab lands of the Middle East.

• 1915-1916 exchange of letters between the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, concerning the future political status of the Arab lands of the Middle East.

• The United Kingdom was seeking to bring about an armed revolt against the Ottoman Empire, a German ally during WWI. The letters indicated independence for all Arab land south of the 37th parallel would be the reward for Arab assistance.

Secret understanding between the governments of Britain, Czarist Russia and France defining their respective spheres of post-WWI influence and control in the Middle East, after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire, The boundaries of this agreement still remain in much of the common border between Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

• Secret understanding between the governments of Britain, Czarist Russia and France defining their respective spheres of post-WWI influence and control in the Middle East, after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire, The boundaries of this agreement still remain in much of the common border between Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

General Allenby takes Jerusalem in 1918

• General Allenby takes Jerusalem in 1918

• The Arab armies under Lawrence & Prince Feisel take Damascus first

• League of Nations give British Mandate in Palestine

Foreign Office

• Foreign Office

• November 2nd, 1917. Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet: "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country". I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation. Yours sincerely Arthur James Balfour

Winston Churchill, then colonial secretary, warned against establishing a Jewish State in 1922

• Winston Churchill, then colonial secretary, warned against establishing a Jewish State in 1922

• The Balfour Declaration established a Jewish Homeland, not state

• The Balfour Declaration stated not a homeland “OF” Palestine, but “IN” Palestine

stated that the Balfour Declaration could not be amended and that the Jews were in Palestine by right, but it partitioned the area of the Mandate by excluding the area east of the Jordan River from Jewish settlement. That land, 76% of the original Palestine Mandate by area but mostly very sparsely populated desert, was renamed TransJordan and was given to the Hashemite Emir Abdullah, son of King Hussein of Hejaz, a reward by the British for the Hashemite family's help in the fight against the Ottomans. Today it is the Kingdom of Jordan ruled by Abdullah's great-grandson, Abdullah II.

• stated that the Balfour Declaration could not be amended and that the Jews were in Palestine by right, but it partitioned the area of the Mandate by excluding the area east of the Jordan River from Jewish settlement. That land, 76% of the original Palestine Mandate by area but mostly very sparsely populated desert, was renamed TransJordan and was given to the Hashemite Emir Abdullah, son of King Hussein of Hejaz, a reward by the British for the Hashemite family's help in the fight against the Ottomans. Today it is the Kingdom of Jordan ruled by Abdullah's great-grandson, Abdullah II.

80K Jews in Palestine at the end of WWI (10% of population)

• 80K Jews in Palestine at the end of WWI (10% of population)

• World Zionist org established Jewish Agency in Palestine, David Ben Gurion, 1st leader

• British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel, an English Jew

1920-1932 100k Jewish immigrants

• 1920-1932 100k Jewish immigrants

• Histadrut, Jewish Labor Front, begins to buy land from Turkish, Armenian & Greek absentee landlords

• Hitler elected in Germany 1933

• 1933-35 over 145K Jewish immigrants

• Arabs demand democracy

1929 Wailing Wall incidents

• 1929 Wailing Wall incidents

• 1936 Arab High Committee demands British stop immigration and land transfer, call for democracy

• During the Arab Insurgency, 10% of adult male Arab population either killed, wounded or imprisoned

• Wingate “night squads” (including Moshe Dayan)

• 36-38 successful rural insurgency forces House of Commons to end Jewish immigration - Peel Report

Jewish Defense Agency “Haganah” & splinter group “Irgun” (led by Menachim Begin)

• Jewish Defense Agency “Haganah” & splinter group “Irgun” (led by Menachim Begin)

• WWII brought about tough urban insurgency & terrorist campaign against the British

• Jewish agency secretly continues immigration

• Nov 44, British High Commissioner in Egypt assassinated by Irgun

• July 46, Begin bombs King David Hotel in Jerusalem, 90 Brits killed, half were Jews

• British refer problem to UN and leave in May of 48

UN General Assembly Res. 181, was to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in the British Mandate of Palestine. The plan would have partitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with the greater Jerusalem area, under international control.

• UN General Assembly Res. 181, was to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in the British Mandate of Palestine. The plan would have partitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with the greater Jerusalem area, under international control.

November 29th 1948, the day after the UN general Assembly passed Res. 181., Arabs riot throughout Palestine, 7 Jews are killed

• November 29th 1948, the day after the UN general Assembly passed Res. 181., Arabs riot throughout Palestine, 7 Jews are killed

• Jews are now about 30% of all Palestine population (about 600K)

• Newly established Arab league calls for military assistance for Palestinians

The British Mandate ends on May 15th, David Ben-Gurion declares independence for Israel

• The British Mandate ends on May 15th, David Ben-Gurion declares independence for Israel

• The next day, the new Jewish state is attacked by the armies of Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen & Iraq with the help of Saudi Arabia

• By summer of 1949, Israel has signed armistices with Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan, & Syria.

• In victory, Israel’s new borders comprise 78% of Mandatory Palestine, 50% more than the UN partition proposal allotted it.

• The Gaza Strip and the West Bank were occupied by Egypt and Transjordan respectively.

• Israel lost about 1% of its population in the war: 6,373 of its people. About 4,000 were soldiers and the rest were civilians.

• 600k Jews vs. 40 million arabs

The UN estimates 700,000 Palestinian refugees leave the expanded territory of the Israeli state

• The UN estimates 700,000 Palestinian refugees leave the expanded territory of the Israeli state

• Where are they Now?

The French Mandate

• The French Mandate

• The National Pact

• Refugees from 48 and 67 Wars

“In Israel there are 3 millions prime ministers.” Golda Meir

• “In Israel there are 3 millions prime ministers.” Golda Meir

• Parliamentary system with a 2% cutoff