Creation of Israel

event

In response to these events that occurred in Palestine, the United Nations, in November of 1947, voted in favour of splitting the country in two. Two separate states were created; Palestine for the Arabs, and Israel for the Jews. The map appeared to divide the country in cross-sections, with 'kissing points'. It was believed that this would encourage tolerance and cooperation between the two groups. Jerusalem was to be internationally controlled, to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, the partition did nothing to alleviate the tension - in fact, it was increased.

cause 2

Britain, wishing to gain allies under the pressure of World War One, made several conflicting promises and agreements, which it was unable to simultaneously fulfil. The first was the McMahon-Hussein Agreement of 1915, in which Britain promised Arabic people that they could claim the right to the land the lived on after the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, including Palestine, giving Arabic Palestinians a right to the land - they did this to have allies in the middle east to help defeat Turkey. Less than a year later, the Sykes-Picot Agreement was made in secret with France, in which the middle east was divided between the French and British empires, giving them control in their assigned regions. The third promise was the Balfour declaration, giving support of the Zionist movement, in which Jews intended to return to Palestine, where they had lived nearly 2000 years before. This declaration had an ulterior motive which was to gain support of American Jews, in hopes they would encourage the United States to get involved with the war and support Britain financially. The Balfour declaration put Britain in a difficult position globally, as their apparent support Zionism meant Britain had to side with the Jews - however the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine was increasing, meaning the Arab Palestinians began to lose land to the Jews, and became discontented. Britain wanted to restrict immigration but this was impossible in the socio-political situation of the time - Britain was accused of antisemitism by Jews throughout the world, and so immigration remained unrestricted. With the post-holocaust Jewish population increasing rapidly in Palestine, the divide between the Arabs and the Jews was widened. These contradictory promises triggered more intense immigration of Jews to Palestine after WWI, and gave both Arabs and Jews a claim to the land.This became the most significant reason for the divide between the two groups, as both believed they had the right to live in Palestine, and have it as their own country.

cause 3

Increasing violence and disorder between the Jews, Arabs and the British was the main reason the UN decided a partition would be favourable. In the Sykes-Picot agreement, Britain was given the mandate over Palestine, meaning they had control of the country. For nearly 30 years, from 1919 until 1947, Britain held the power to govern Palestine, and ruled the country. Violence broke out between the two groups, even before the influx of Jewish immigrants in the 1940's. The division between Jews and Arabs grew wider and both were increasingly angry with the situation that Britain had created. Riots broke out in the 1921 in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, the largest Jewish settlement, resulting in the deaths of 200 Jews and 120 Arabs after only two days. Eight years later, Arab groups attacked Jews in Jerusalem, and spread to the rest of the country, as their leaders thought that Jews planned to take over their holy places. 133 Jewish people were killed by Arabs after four days, though the majority of the deaths of 116 Arabs was at the hands of Britain's police force in Palestine. Later in 1936, more Arab groups attacked Jewish settlements, resulting in the burning of Arab homes and the hanging of Arab leaders by the British. By the end of the Second World War, in response to learning of the Holocaust, terrorism from Jews also began, and were mainly aimed at Britain - for example the bombing of the King David Hotel, British army bases, and local infrastructure such as bridges, railways, and trains, killing over 300 British soldiers in the space of three years. By 1947, Britain had given up on trying to maintain peace between the Arabs and the Jews, accompanied by the surmounting pressure of economic difficulties and food shortage back in the United Kingdom. Britain ended the mandate over Palestine, allowing the United Nations to intervene - directly leading to the creation of Israel.

consequence 1

Many were dissatisfied by this partition, particularly the Palestinian Arabs, and refused to recognise the state of Israel. They had a number of reasons for this; the Jews were given a significantly larger amount of land; the Arabs had been living there far longer; and they should not have to give up their own land to create a Jewish state as the Holocaust was not their fault. The immediate response to the partition plan was increased fighting between the two groups - the first war being the 1948/1949 War. In May of 1948, Israel proclaimed itself as an independent state - in response, nearby Arab states attempted to invade, but were unsuccessful. The fighting ended in January of 1949, and resulted in Israel gaining a significant amount of the Palestinian land. In 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was set up by Arab leaders. Because of the their actions, tensions again increased and caused the Six-Day War - which Israel won with far fewer casualties. These two wars would most likely have not occurred if it had not been for the UN's decision to divide Palestine into two states - Palestine would not have felt the need to revolt so dramatically, and there would have been no national claim to areas of land, only claim to private property.

consequence 3

Since 1948, diplomatic relations between the state of Israel and the USA have been positive, gaining strength over time, giving Israel a lot of international power due to the USA's backing and support. On the 14th of May, 1948, President Truman officially recognised Israel as an independent state, making the USA the first country to do so. After the Suez war of 1956, Israel became richer, industrialised itself, and increased their army's capabilities - funded by the USA and American Jews. The money given to Israel each year was around 1 billion dollars. Israel most likely won the Six-Day War due to more technologically advanced weapons supplied by the USA. To this day, the USA continues to fund and arm Israel. Israel continues to settle in Palestinian land, making the state of Israel larger and stronger, and making Palestine weaker. To cross into Israel, Arabs have to gain access to special border passes, despite the land once belonging to them. They are forced off their land, and now into the main two locations for Arab Palestinians, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Even there, Israel wishes to continue development, and so bulldozes makeshift Palestinian homes to clear space. Israeli families who build in these illegally claimed areas of Palestinian land receive government subsidiaries to build, and cheaper housing. It is highly likely that much of these development projects are funded by anonymous untaxed US donors, which encourages Israel to continue these settlements. Without the creation of Israel in 1948, there wouldn't have been a specific state for the USA to support financially, only a group of people within a country, and therefore no national army to supply weapons to.

consequence 2

The creation of Israel instigated the largest refugee crisis of 20th century history. 70 years onwards, of all refugees worldwide, one in three are Palestinian, coming to an estimated total of 6.5 million people. During the war of 1948-1949, over 700,000 Palestinians left the country, in what is known as the 1948 exodus, or the Nakba. Many were frightened by the zionists, as Israel posed a threat to their security - people were especially afraid of a repeat of the Deir Yassin Massacre of April 1948, in which zionist forces murdered 107 Arab villagers. Other reasons for the exodus were direct expulsion orders from Israeli officials, and collapse of Palestinian leadership. In the 1950's, Israeli government officials passed several laws stating that the Arab refugees were not allowed to return to their homes or reclaim their property - since then, most of these people and their descendants remain refugees. Later in 1967, during the Six-Day War, around 300,000 more Arabs were forced to become refugees after being expelled from their villages which was on territory which Israel had won in the war. Palestinian refugees are unable to return to their homeland, especially as Israel gains more power globally. If the UN had not enforced the partition, there would have been no Israel to create and enforce the law to keep out Palestinian refugees, so they would have been able to return home.

cause 1

The world's outrage at the atrocities the Nazis committed increased the pressure for Jewish people to be given a separate state as there homeland. Since the first century AD, antisemitism has been a continuous factor of European and Middle Eastern history. Antisemitism culminated in the Holocaust under Hitler's rule, where Jewish were people seen as animals, and were treated in a disgusting, inhumane way, resulting in the death of 6 million Jews. Zionists wished to make Palestine their homeland, as this was where they had lived in biblical times, before being forced out by the Roman Empire. Had the anti-semitism not occurred throughout history and had the Jews not been forced to leave their homeland, the Zionist movement would not have been necessary, and would not have lead to the UN partition plan.