The Israel-Palestine Conflict is very complicated and, in this article, we only take A Little Dip, not a Deep Dive. We will explore a little history, especially two important documents that had an impact on this conflict.
The Ottoman Empire had controlled Palestine for about 400 years before World War One; however, when the Empire sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary during World War One and lost the war, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and control over Palestine was passed to the British.
[The Ottoman Empire was a vast empire that existed from about 1299 to 1922. It was a major military, political and economic power for centuries. At first, the Ottoman Empire claimed the land that is now Turkey but eventually controlled large parts of southeastern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa]
Two very important documents in the development of Israel were produced by the British: the Balfour Declaration created in 1917 and the White Paper created in 1939.
The Balfour Declaration was an informal written suggestion that the Jews of Europe be given a place to go. They were not wanted by many in Europe, and many Jews did not like being there. A British man with the last name of Balfour suggested that the Jews be given the option to move into a region called Palestine.
It is interesting to note that the Balfour Declaration was written during World War I. The British had not won the war yet; however, they were confident that they would win and would assume control of the Palestine area. The borders of Palestine had not even been drawn up. Palestine was just an area of land much like Appalachia is an area of land in the United States. The borders were created later after the Ottoman Empire lost the war. Prior to World War I, Jews and Christians were living in Palestine among the Arabs who made up the majority there. They lived together in peace.
The Balfour Declaration was just an idea which was never voted on or officially enacted into any kind of law. But the idea caught on – Jews from Europe started moving into the area, buying land from the local inhabitants and starting a new life for themselves. These transactions were between willing buyers and sellers. The sellers were mostly Arab Muslims.
The Jews kept coming, and the Muslims became alarmed. Many Palestinian Arabs asked the British to restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine. After consideration, the British responded with the 1939 White Paper, an official document and legislation that put severe limits on Jewish immigration to Palestine as well as land purchases.
The regulated number of Jews kept coming, but many more were most likely smuggled in. After World War II, many European Jews were displaced. The United States had sympathy for them and pressured the British to ease the restrictions of the White Paper. The British eventually gave in to the United States. The British split up Palestine into areas for the displaced European Jews. This enraged the Arab Muslims. Some speculate that the Arab Muslims felt that it was not their fault that the Europeans had been so cruel to the Jews, so why should they give up what they thought should be their land to them. Many people throughout the entire world took sides – many favored the Jews and many favored the Arabs.
The British eventually decided that they wanted to get out of the mess altogether because they could not find a solution. They turned the problem over to the new organization that was formed after World War II called the United Nations.
In 1947, the United Nations decided to split up Palestine between the Arabs and Jews. The US President Harry Truman thought the idea was the path of least resistance and the easiest way to solve the problem. As soon as this decision was made, the Jews and Arabs began to fight. The Jews gained the upper hand in this fight, and in 1948 declared a new nation called Israel. When Israel was established, anyone who was Jewish was allowed to move there.
President Truman recognized Israel within minutes after Israel declared its independent status as a country. After the establishment of Israel, neighboring Arab states invaded, beginning the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. This war led to a large refugee crisis with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians leaving or being displaced from areas that became Israel while many Jews in Arab countries would later migrate to Israel over the following years. Since 1948, the region has experienced repeated wars, uprisings and armed conflicts.