150 likes | 234 Views
Arab-Israeli conflict . “a real estate dispute” ( Gelvin ) Palestine, by any yardstick, is less than prime real estate (Rodgers). Zionism. Diaspora, history, religion and hope dream of return to the Holy Land
E N D
Arab-Israeli conflict “a real estate dispute” (Gelvin) Palestine, by any yardstick, is less than prime real estate (Rodgers)
Zionism • Diaspora, history, religion and hope dream of return to the Holy Land • “God would in the future bring about an ingathering of the exiles and restore the children of Israel to the Promised Land” (Tessler) • 19th century Western Europe: liberal nationalism legal emancipation of the Jews • 19th century Eastern Europe: intensified persecution of the Jews (pogroms) emigration to USA or Palestine • Pinsker; question of national identity
Political Zionism Theodor Herzl Created Zionist “coherent international movement” Existence of a Jewish nation, absence of a Jewish state Did not find a power willing to sponsor the movement
Definitions of modern political Zionism • Cleveland: Jewish nationalism focusing on Palestine • Gelvin: a nationalism movement that redefined a religious community – Jews – as a national community … [which] asserts the right to an independent existence in its historic homeland. • The politics of Zionism was influenced by nationalist ideology, and by colonial ideas about Europeans’ rights to claim and settle other parts of the world (www.merip.org)
The Balfour Declaration • Unilateral British declaration • Result of belief that Jewish groups in the US and Russia (and Germany) could influence their governments’ war policies • Aimed to win the “hearts and minds” of Jews around the world
Balfour Declaration • Unilateral British declaration • Result of belief that Jewish groups in the US and Russia (and Germany) could influence their governments’ war policies • Aimed to win the “hearts and minds” of Jews around the world
Chaim Weizmann Lloyd George
Palestine What was Palestine? • To the Muslims: A geographical expression • To the Christians: historical memory with religious significance • To the Jews: roughly conterminous with the land of Israel (Yapp)
The Palestinians • Majority were cultivators living in villages • Less than 1/3 of Arabs lived in towns • Many merchants and professionals were Christian • Sunni Muslim urban notables had become more powerful under the late Ottoman period (50 urban notable families identified) Rivalry • No cities comparable to Aleppo, Baghdad or Damascus • 1936 – Palestine Arab politics were the politics of notables (Yapp)
Palestinian identity? • Very little idea of Palestine before 1918 • Arabism not so prominent in Palestine as in Syria • Two options: • Palestine = southern Syria; Faysal in Damascus a potential leader • Palestinian identity; Muslim-Christian cooperation • Strongest identity linked to local, ethnic or religious group
The Palestine Mandate • Britain awarded the mandate for Palestine at San Remo in 1920 • The League of Nation’s mandate (1922) incorporated the Balfour Declaration • No stipulation of independence or constitution in the mandate • Yapp: The original draft of the mandate agreement had been prepared by the Zionist Organization which had been closely involved throughout the discussion the thrust of the mandate plainly towards the fulfillment of the Zionist programme
British Administration • 1920: Civilian administration replaced the military administration • Sir Herbert Samuel appointed High Commissioner; a Jewish ardent Zionist • Goal for mandate? Weizmann: to make “Palestine as Jewish as England was English” • Additional obligation to uphold the rights and privileges of the “non-Jewish” population Dual obligation; insoluble contradiction
Jewish-Arab cooperation? • Riots in 1920-21 Samuel reconsidered his policy: Goal to create an integrated political community in a unitary state • Attempts to establish representative institutions • Negotiations led nowhere because of the Zionist issue; the Arabs wanted control over the Jewish immigration, the British did not want to abandon their obligation nor mandate • Yapp: little doubt that the Palestinian Arabs missed a great opportunity during the years 1921-23 Palestine never had a constitution, a parliament, or mandatewide elections
The White Paper of 1922 • Emphasised Britain’s commitment to support of Zionism but played down the implications of Zionism for Palestine (Yapp) • If the white paper was intended to removed the ambiguities contained in the Balfour Declaration, it failed utterly to do so. (Cleveland)
Leadership Arabs Jews – the Yishuv Well organized, well financed and well connected Jewish Agency a quasi government National Assembly Histadrut separate Jewish economy Control of Haganah, defense force • Politics of provincial notables • Moderate opposition and cautious cooperation with the British • Collective leadership weakened by factionalism