How did it all start? [Archive]

Yazman

30th November 2012, 07:08

At the earliest I believe it started with the zionist movement in the 1880s and really got going going in the 1890s when the World Zionist Organisation formed to provide an international co-ordionation for it.

Basically they wanted a Jewish state in what is now Israel, but what was back then, Palestine in the Ottoman Empire. They actually tried to get support from the Caliph but failed, so what they did during those days was get in through simple immigration, they would buy up land, farms, and large tracts of land and just move in. As far as I know, there are documented cases of Ottoman police actually evicting Palestinians who wouldn't leave their lands when they were sold. The vast majority of these settlers were Europeans and they built up two dozen villages or so in these years. It's worth mentioning that before the Europeans came along there was already a sizable minority of palestinian jews in Palestine and there was no real conflict between them and the the other palestinians (muslims and christians). In fact, from what I have read, the Palestinian Jews were known for their opposition to zionism/the creation of an Israeli state because they were fearful that it would make life difficult for them and cause inter-ethnic and religious conflicts.

Then, basically World War 1 rolled around and the British control of Palestine came along under the British Mandate of Palestine. The British government was an open supporter of the Zionist movement and the WZO. An interesting fact here is that when they were discussing the issue of Zionism after they gained control in 1917, the only member of the British cabinet who was against Zionism and did not support the creation of an ethnic Jewish state was a man by the name of Edwin Montagu, who was actually the only Jewish member of the cabinet at the time! Here's a quote from the guy:

Click spoiler for quote:

"...I assume that it means that Mahommedans and Christians are to make way for the Jews and that the Jews should be put in all positions of preference and should be peculiarly associated with Palestine in the same way that England is with the English or France with the French, that Turks and other Mahommedans in Palestine will be regarded as foreigners, just in the same way as Jews will hereafter be treated as foreigners in every country but Palestine. Perhaps also citizenship must be granted only as a result of a religious test."

So this was a huge turning point. Finally the WZO had, in the British government, the support of the state controlling Palestine for the first time. The Ottomans allowed them to settle & immigrate so long as they went through the same immigration system as everybody else - but they did officially support the Zionist movement and were not planning to partition Palestine.

The British government though were open supporters and as early as 1917 declared to the world that they were going to fight for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine in a famous document called The Balfour Declaration:

Click spoiler tag for quote:

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.

After British support, there were a series of promises & agreements the British made towards establishing Israel. With British support, the League of Nations would eventually decide to officially endorse the World Zionist Organisation and the Zionist movement's goals.

Palestinian nationalism didn't really begin until the late 1910s-1920s, where the international support for Zionism, mainly among the European colonial powers, reached a head, and palestinian arabs, muslim & christian both, began to feel threatened.

World War 2 came along and with Nazi persecution of Jews, League of Nations support for Zionism, and the holocaust, there was a mass migration, often illegally, of European Jews to Palestine. The main change for Zionism during this period was that power shifted in the WZO leadership from Europeans to Americans, as the WZO was based in Europe and most of its leadership was wiped out in the holocaust.

Eventually 1947 rolled around, the UN voted to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state (for muslims and christians). Israel declared independence, and Palestine, well, the UN didn't follow through with its plans, a war broke out, and the Israel-Palestine conflict continues to this day.

The "conflict" itself didn't really begin until the 20s when christian & muslim arab palestinians began to feel threatened by the rise of Zionism and wide European & League of Nations support for it and a palestinian nationalist movement began to build, which eventually led to armed struggle in the 40s.

The "blame" for the conflict - well, that's more of a murky question. Were it nor for the WZO's formation & campaigning the Zionist movement probably would have just been a small footnote in history. However, they probably wouldn't have achieved much were it not for British support & promotion internationally of their goals. I would really say that the turning point for the WZO and its goals was in 1917 and the British government openly proclaimed it would seek to bring about an ethnic Jewish state in Palestine. British support was vital to the development of Zionism internationally and a very important part of the WZO gaining credibility in Europe, and I think without the British there might not be an Israel-Palestine conflict.