How the modern state of Israel came into being
Whenever a discussion about the Middle East comes up, be it last year's invasion by Israel of Lebanon, the right of Israel to exist, suicide attacks on Israel, or Israeli attacks on Gaza, it is quite clear that many people are under the impression that the modern state of Israel:
1. Has been in existence for thousands of years, populated by mainly Jews and
2. Has a God-given right to exist and expand their borders as they wish.
The
article below sheds some light on these popular misconceptions.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the population of Palestine consisted substantially of Muslim and Christian Arabs, plus around 20,000 Jews. Until 1948, Palestine was a British mandated territory and British policy on the territory was informed by the Balfour Declaration of 1917, whereby Palestine would be regarded as a homeland for the Jews, subject to the rights of the Arabs, but would not necessarily be an independent state. By 1939, Britain was moving away from this position, and a white Paper recommended that an Arab state of Palestine be created.
In order to force Britain's hand and ensure a favourable outcome, the Jews commenced a program of terrorism, with the Stern Gang as the main participant. In 1946, the British headquarters in the King David Hotel were blown up. By February 1947, the number of British casualties in Palestine has risen sharply and Britain called on the UN to solve the Palestinian problem.
At this point, the United States reached agreement with USSR that Palestine was to be divided. In November 1947, a UN Special Committee on Palestine presented a report to the General Assembly, with a majority advocating division, but a minority advocating a unitary state based on democracy. Intense pressure by USA and USSR was necessary to gain the necessary two thirds majority vote for partition.
At first, the international solution was for the Palestinians to receive the major portion of the divided territory, but the Jews gradually achieved concessions, until a United Nations "Green Line" was drawn, dividing the territory approximately into two, by means of four sectors which touched at one point, so that a Jew or Palestinian need not cross the other's territory in order to move from one of his two sectors to the other.
Some publications that may provide more information include:
* A history of modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples (2004) by Professor Ilan Pappe (University of Haifa, Israel);
* The History of Israel (1998) by Professor Arnold Blumberg;
* Bitter Harvest: A Modern History of Palestine (1989), by Sami Hadawi (official land valuer during the British Mandate)
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