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Part 3 of 3. Homelands: Conflict in the Middle East. How was the British Mandate a ‘poisoned chalice’? What was the reaction to Jewish immigration to Palestine?. Focus Questions:. Post war British Mandate. 1919 League of Nations gives Britain mandate over Palestine
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Part 3 of 3 Homelands: Conflict in the Middle East
How was the British Mandate a ‘poisoned chalice’? What was the reaction to Jewish immigration to Palestine? Focus Questions:
Post war British Mandate • 1919 League of Nations gives Britain mandate over Palestine • Britain had authority over Palestine until the region was ready for self-government • Some said that Britain was given a “poisoned chalice” • What might this mean?
1917-1947 “The Mandate Years” • After WWI, the area had become the British mandate of Palestine. • When Jewish immigration accelerated, friction was created between Jews and Palestinian Arabs • After 1945, Zionists and Palestinian Arabs wanted individual nations and both felt they had claim to Palestine. • Britain withdrew in 1947 and the U.N. proposed that the country be partitioned 50/50
Kibbutzקיבוץ,קִבּוּץ • 1920’s and 30’s socialist Kibbutzim movement • New cities such as Tel Aviv developed next to Arab Jaffa. • Arab tenant farmers were often evicted from land bought by Zionists from absentee Arab landlords.
Defense/Offence • Jewish % rose from 20% to 30% in 3 years 1933-36 • Arab guerrilla groups attacked railways, Jewish settlements, destroyed orchards etc • Jewish defense group – the Haganah • radicals created Irgun and the Stern Gang.
Jewish Immigration to Palestine • Why do you think immigration increased so dramatically in 1941? • Why are the British in a difficult position? • Much of the immigration to Palestine was illegal. • There were Arab riots and attacks on Jews. • What should the British do? What are their options?
Illustration from a children's book. The headlines say "Jews are our misfortune" and "How the Jew cheats." Germany, 1936.
“The bride is beautiful but she’s married to another man” • Watch Part 1 BBC Documentary - The Birth of Israel • Explain what is meant by the quote above • What did some of the early Zionists warn the conference after visiting Palestine? • Other Zionists argued that Arabs would be glad to see them – why?
Illegal Jewish Immigration • The US and many European powers tried to slow the flow of Jewish immigration to Palestine. • 1939 British threatened to cut immigration to 25,000 a year • Haganah established an intelligence arm – Mossad – to help illegal immigrants
Jewish ‘Terrorism’ / ‘Freedom Fighters’ Stern gang argued the British were like Nazis and terrorism was justifiable in order to expel them. One member was future Israeli PM Yitzhak Shamir. Irgun leader – Menachem Begin, also a future PM. Shamir ordered the killing of Lord Moyne, a close friend of Churchill in Cairo 1944.