The Quest for a homeland, 19171948

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The Quest for a homeland, 1917-1948

• Prof. Noam Pianko, January 23, 2009

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Announcement

• Lecture AntisemitismAn Eternal Hatred? Prof.
  Steven Beller
• January 27, Noon-130 Parrington Hall Forum,
  Room 309
• 3,000 Jewish Studies scholarship-Due March 6.
  For more info www.jsis.washington.edu/jewish

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Zionism and Colonialism

• Orientalism and assumptions about Arabs
• Civilizing Mission dessert bloom

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Zionism and Colonialism

• No colonizing state
• Limited exploitation of Arab workers
• Jewish nationalism is anti-colonial

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Imperialism and the rise of Arab nationalism

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The Palestinians?

• Arab Nationalism begins after Jewish nationalism
• Begins as Pan-Islamic Unity against Turkish Empire

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Neguib Azoury, 1905

• The reawakening of the Arab nation, and the
  growing Jewish efforts at rebuilding the ancient
  monarchy of Israel on a very large scalethese
  two movements are destined to fight each other
  continually, until one of the triumphs over the
  other. 1905

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World War I and the Scramble for arabia

• Central Powers (Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire)
  versus Allies (Britain, France, and Russia)
• Arab Lands Central
• Suez Canal
• Ottoman Empire

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Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, 1915
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What About the French?

• Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1915
• Hunters who divided up the skin of the bear
  before they had killed it.

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Sykes-Picot, 1916
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Balfour Declaration, 1917

• His Majestys Government view with favor the
  establishment in Palestine of a national home for
  the Jewish people and will use their best
  endeavors 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..

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Why Promise a Homeland?

• Lord Balfour The vast majority of Jews in
  Russia and America, as indeed all over the world,
  now appear to be favorable to Zionism. If we
  could make a declaration favorable to such an
  ideal, we should be able to carry on extremely
  useful propaganda both in Russia and America.

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Philo-Zionism in British Leadership
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British Victory in Palestine

• General Allenby defeats Turkish Forces
• Takes Jerusalem in December 1917

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Paris Peace Conference, 1917
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What did they do?

• These three all-powerful, all-ignorant men
  Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson were
  sitting there and carving up continents with only
  a child to lead them.

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San Remo Conference and the British Mandate,
1920-22

• Arab-Jewish Conflict in 1920-1921
• Immigration Curtailed
• British Appoint High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel

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1922, White Paper

• The Balfour declarationdoes not contemplate
  that Palestine as a whole should be converted
  into a Jewish National Home, but that such a Home
  should be founded in Palestine

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Two Perspectives on Developments
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Jewish Perspective

• 1903-1906 Renewed Pogroms
• Chalutzim Mentality
• Developments in Europe inlate 20s and 30s
  increases pressure for safe-haven
• Land is purchased
• Separate Jewish labor force

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Arab Perspective

• Demographic Growth in Yishuv
• 1918 60,000 Jews and 700,000 Arabs
• 1922 84,000 Jews and 760,000 Arabs
• 1931 175,000 Jews and 880,000 Arabs
• Land Purchase and Displacement
• Blasphemous for Jews to have political ambition
  on Muslim land
• Concerned about Minority Status

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1929 Anti-Jewish Riots

• Sparked by Control of Religious Sites
• 133 Jews and 116 Arabs Killed (all but 6 by
  British Police)
• British lose control

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1929 Hebron Massacre

• On hearing screams in a room I went up a sort of
  tunnel passage and saw an Arab in the act of
  cutting off a childs head with a sword. He had
  already hit and was having another cutBehind him
  was a Jewish woman smothered in blood with a man
  I recognized as an Arab police constableHe was
  standing over the woman with a dagger in his
  hand. He saw me and bolted into a room close by
  and tried to shut me outshouting in Arabic,
  Your honor, I am a policeman

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Response

• British Balfour was a colossal blunder
• Jews-Haganah and Self-defense
• Arab-Pressure British to end Mandate

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Global Perspective and Palestine

• 1933 Nazis in Germany
• Rise in Aliyah
• 1932-1938- 197,235 European Jews make Aliyah
• Equivalent to immigrants from 1882-1932
• Increased Land purchase by Jews
• Palestinian Arabs side with Hitler

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Mufti of Jerusalem

• The Muslims inside and outside Palestine welcome
  the new regime of Germany and hope for the
  extension of the fascist anti-democratic,
  governmental system to other countries.

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1936-1939 Arab Revolt

• 1,000 Arabs and 400 Jews die
• Killings, Bombings, Armed Attacks
• Palestinian Arabs divided

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Peel Commission, 1937
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Response to Peel Commission

• Arabs reject plan
• Jews accept Peel plan

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Ben Gurion

• A Jewish state in part of Palestine is not an
  end, but a beginning..Our possession is important
  not only for itselfthrough this we increase out
  power, and every increase in power facilitates
  getting hold of the country in its entirety.
  Establishing a small state will serve as a very
  potent lever in our historical efforts to redeem
  the whole country.

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1939 White Paper

• New Policy
• Arab demands met
• Limit on Jewish immigration
• Prohibition of land purchase

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Toward Statehood

• 1942 Biltmore Program-Found a Jewish
  Commonwealth
• 1947 UN Approves Partition Plan
• 1948 May 15th-Declaration of Independence
• 1948 War of Independence