Israel / Palestine - background to the conflict
Whilst the land of Palestine was under the administration of the Ottoman Empire most Jewish people lived in other countries. There was a small Jewish population in Palestine and a larger Arab Palestinian population. In the late nineteenth century Zionism was established as a movement by Theodor Herzl. This movement aimed to create a Jewish state in the land of Israel.
Under the British administration from 1917 onwards the size and influence of the Jewish population in Palestine grew gradually. Palestinians objected to the growing Jewish presence and influence and there were riots in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1920. 60,000-70,000 Arabs gathered in the Old City and passions were inflamed by speakers. They then set about attacking Jewish residents of the Old City and burning and looting their property. The British military put these riots down after four days of lawlessness.
The British Prime Minister Attlee still considered it urgent to bring peace to the region bearing in mind the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of Nazism before and during World War 2.
In November 1947 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for establishment of a Jewsish state in Israel. On May 14, 1948 the British mandate to govern Palestine ended, and the next day the Jewish Peoples Council gathered at the Museum in Tel Aviv declared the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognised that night by the United States and within three days by the Soviet Union.
Abrahams Tomb Building Hebron Abrahams Tomb Hebron Model of the Second Temple Part of the Old City of Jerusalem The Wailing Wall
The early books of the Old Testament of the Bible describe the southward migration of Abraham and his descendants from Ur in modern day Iraq right down to Egypt. After some time in Egypt Moses led them out and after a long period of travel they arrived and settled in the area now known as Israel. This gives them their historical claim to the land. The trouble is that there were already people there who also have a historical claim to the land.
The Jewish civilization flourished in this land and King Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem. Around 586 BC the country was invaded and sacked by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. The iconic temple was destroyed and many of the Jewish priests and people were taken to Babylon.
Eventually the Jewish people were allowed to return to Jerusalem and they started building the Second Temple in 535 BC. The country was invaded by Roman forces and the Second Temple was destroyed in around 70 BC. The Jewish people were looking for a Messiah to liberate them from Roman rule at the time Jesus was born.
Roman domination continued until 324 AD when the Byzantine Period began. In 638 AD the city
of Jerusalem was overcome by Moslem forces and they ruled until the eleventh century when the Crusaders briefly occupied the area. Jerusalem was later ruled by Abuyyids and then Mamluks until the Ottoman Empire took over in 1517. They built the current walls around the city and continued to dominate until 1917 when the British took over. The British governed the country named Palestine until 1948 when the State of Israel was proclaimed.
Palestine under British administration
Further Jewish immigration to Palestine was halted and the Jewish residents began arming themselves for self defence and set up an underground self defence militia, the Haganah.
Tensions continued during the 1920s and there were further riots in 1929 centred on access to the Western (Wailing) Wall. Jews were massacred in Hebron and Safed. These riots were eventually put down by the British forces.
In 1936-1939 there was another Arab revolt to protest against further Jewish immigration. This was put down by the British military, supported by the Haganah. The British supported formation of the Jewish Settlement Police and both groups joined together to fight Arab militants who attacked the Iraqi Petroleum pipeline. The Irgun, a radical Jewish militant group was formed and
launched retaliatory attacks on groups who attacked Jewish people.
Jewish paramilitary groups such as the Irgun and the Legi exploded bombs in buses and crowded marketplaces and eventually in 1946 bombed the King David Hotel causing 91 deaths.
There were a number of massacres by both the Jewish and Arab militants with the massacre at Deir Yassen causing over 100 Arab civilian deaths.
May 1948 - the Declaration of the State of Israel