Diaspora and Zionism
The diaspora means the scattering of a people away from their homeland. Jews had lived for about two thousand years in many countries. In much of Europe they faced discrimination and violence (pogroms in Russia in the 1880s, and the Dreyfus affair in France).
Zionism is the movement that wanted a Jewish homeland in the land of Israel (Zion). Theodor Herzl organised the first Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897. Many Jews moved to Palestine in waves called aliyah from the 1880s on. For Zionists this was a return and a rescue. For the Arab people already living there, it was a growing newcomer movement on land they saw as home.
The Middle East around 1900
Around 1900 the area called Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. The people were mostly Arab Muslims, with Christian Arab communities and a Jewish minority. In the First World War the Ottomans fought on the German side. Britain made promises to different sides: to Arab leaders for support against the Ottomans (the McMahon letters, 1915-16), to France in the Sykes-Picot plan (1916), and to the Zionists in the Balfour Declaration (1917), which supported a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine without harming the rights of the other communities.
After the war the League of Nations gave Britain the Mandate to rule Palestine (1920-1948). Jewish migration rose, especially in the 1930s when Nazi persecution grew, and there were Arab protests and revolt and Jewish armed groups. Both communities felt that Britain had broken promises.
The founding of Israel in 1948
After the Second World War and the Holocaust, many Jewish survivors wanted to go to Palestine. Britain handed the problem to the United Nations. In November 1947 the UN General Assembly voted for Resolution 181, a plan to split the land into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international control. Jewish leaders accepted. Arab leaders rejected it as unfair, since Arabs were about two thirds of the people.
On 14 May 1948, as British rule ended, Israel declared independence. Armies of neighbouring Arab states entered and the war ended with armistice agreements in 1949. Israel held more land than the UN plan had given. Israelis call this their War of Independence; Palestinians call it the Nakba (catastrophe).
Developments up to 1967
- 1948-49: after the war, Jordan held the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt held Gaza.
- 1956, Suez crisis: Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal; Israel, Britain and France attacked; the USA and USSR pushed them to withdraw.
- 1964: the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded to speak for Palestinians.
- June 1967, Six-Day War: after rising tension, Israel struck Egypt first and in six days took the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The UN Security Council's Resolution 242 (November 1967) called for Israeli withdrawal from occupied land and for peace and secure borders for all states.
The status of Jerusalem and the refugees
Jerusalem is holy to Jews (the Western Wall), Christians (the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) and Muslims (Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock). The UN plan wanted it international. After 1967 Israel took the eastern part and later declared the whole city its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Most countries say its final status must be settled by talks.
Refugees: about 700,000 Palestinians left or were driven out in 1948-49. With their descendants they number millions today. Palestinians demand a "right of return"; Israel says a return would end its character as a Jewish state. Many Jewish families also left Arab countries in these years. These two questions are still the hardest to settle.
Key formulas and definitions
- Timeline: 1897 Zionist Congress โ 1917 Balfour โ 1947 UN plan โ 1948 Israel and war โ 1967 Six-Day War
- Cause โ effect: persecution โ Zionism โ migration โ conflict with local Arabs โ British exit โ UN plan โ war โ refugees
- Key terms: diaspora, Zionism, aliyah, Mandate, Nakba, partition, occupation, refugee
Worked examples
1. Why did the Zionist movement grow in the late 19th century?
Jews faced discrimination and violence in Europe (for example pogroms in Russia) and nationalism was rising everywhere. Zionists decided that only a homeland of their own would keep Jews safe.
2. What did the Balfour Declaration say, and why do both sides cite it?
It supported a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, while saying the rights of the existing communities must not be harmed. Zionists point to the first part, Palestinians to the second part and to earlier promises Britain gave to Arabs.
3. What did UN Resolution 181 propose, and how did each side respond?
It proposed a Jewish state and an Arab state with Jerusalem under international control. Jewish leaders accepted; Arab leaders rejected it.
4. Why do Israelis and Palestinians describe 1948 with different words?
For Israelis it was the War of Independence, the birth of a state. For Palestinians it was the Nakba, because about 700,000 people lost their homes. Same year, opposite experiences.
5. What changed in 1967?
In six days Israel took the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Millions of Palestinians now lived under Israeli control and Jerusalem was under Israeli control as a whole.
Common mistakes
- Treating the conflict as only religious. It is mainly a conflict between two national movements over land, with religion adding to it.
- Telling only one side's story. Use words like 'Israelis say' and 'Palestinians say'.
- Mixing up the dates: 1917 is Balfour, 1947 is the UN plan, 1948 is Israel's founding.
- Saying the conflict began in 1948. Its roots go back to the late 1800s.