Sharing the Promised Land

In order to fully explain the history of a Jewish Israeli state one must date back almost sixty years prior to the Declaration and recognition of Israel to 1881, a date in history, which marks the mass migration of East European Jews. The next 50 years will explain where the animosity towards Jewish Israel has stemmed from and then the following fifty years will explain why the animosity has remained and only grown. In addition to this, after May 1948 the ideas and anger between the Arabic nations and Israel have not diminished. Israeli-Arabic conflict may not have decreased throughout the years but the reasons and politics behind the disagreements have. The causes of and the effects of religious conflicts between nations are both social and political.

In 1181, 2.5 million Jews are believed to have moved west and another 2 million had moved to the United States by the beginning of the First World War. These mass migrations are later explained at the Dreyfus Affair in France. A legal trial that lasted over ten years uncovers a deep anti-Semitic feeling in Eastern Europe. Theodore Herzl is a reporter at these trials and as a result of what is discovered during the Dreyfus affair in 1896 writes The Jewish State. A short document that calls for the recreation of a Jewish nation. Herzl is immediately propelled into Jewish stardom and in response to this document the political movement known as Zionism is created. Herzl later is considered the father of the political revolution.

A year later in 1897 the First Zionist Congress is created in Basle, Switzerland. This Congress is brought together under the pretences that it is going to organize the faith and give Judaism one voice. Prior to this first Congress the religion is governed by the actions of many and the future of the religion is not certain. In addition to accomplishing this task, the Congress declares that Palestine is the Jewish homeland. This is the first time this idea has been documented. The participants develop a governmental structure, which it planned to transfer to Palestine some time in the future, a Jewish National fund it will use to acquire land, a committee to manage finances and one other committee to govern the land. After this Congress and throughout the next 15 years the Zionists gain political power and the organization continues to become more organized.

In 1905, two-thirds of the total population (60,000) around Jerusalem was Jewish, with most of the Jews residing outside of the historic walled community. After the capture of Jerusalem by Britain during World War I, 14,000 Jews lived within the confines of Jerusalem along with Arabs who were originally from North Africa and had lived there since the time of Saladin but still the small city still remained segregated.

After World War I at the Paris Peace conference the area known as Palestine was redefined. Prior to the end of the war, the Ottoman Empire had ruled this land and considered it to be part of Syria. Palestine would now be known as the area where Israel and Jordan are today. The League of Nations directed England to create a Jewish state. By 1922 Britain had divided Palestine into two districts. To the East of the Jordan River was Transjordan and to the west would be the lands where Jews would be permitted to establish their homes. By 1946 Transjordan is granted independence and thus Jordan is formed but the future of the area west of the Jordan River is still uncertain.

During British mandate relations between Jews and Arabs were not improved. Arab-Jewish rioting broke out in 1921, 1926 and 1929 as a result of the opposition from the native Arabs to the increased numbers of Jewish immigrants. During this time the number of Jews within the walls of the old city decreased to 5,600. After Arab revolt in 1936 the Jewish numbers were decreased even more. After three years of revolt the British were forced to step in and remove Jews from non-Jewish quarters in order to protect their own safety. This only increased the division between Arabs and Jews. The Jewish to the West and the Arabs to the East.

On November 29, 1947 the United Nations decided with a 2/3-majority vote that Palestine be divided into three separate parts. The area would be divided into a Jewish country an Arab country and the third would be neutral. The neutral area would include the entire holy cites within Jerusalem. This division gave 54 percent of allotted land to the Jewish state. The majority of this being desert and undesirable land. The rest minus the neutral areas were given to Palestinians. Though accepted by the Jews, the Palestinian nationals animatedly refused the order. In addition to this the only members of the United Nations to vote against the order of a Jewish state were Iraq, Egypt, Lybia, Lebanon Syria.

The History of Modern Israel

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