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MLS 610B-81
Spring 2003

WEEK 13: Monday, April 21.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict (cont’d).
The Mandate Period:




 









Meanwhile Jewish settlement of Palestine continued throughout the 1920s.  The third aliya (or wave of immigration) between 1919-23 brought in over 20,000 more (mostly East European socialist Zionist settlers).  Between 1922-39 an annual average of 17,140 Jewish settlers arrived in Palestine.  By 1939 the Jewish population in Palestine was ~445,457, nearly 30% of the total population (up from ~10% of the total in 1914).  Between 1920-39, ~335,000 acres of land in Palestine were bought up by Jewish organizations and individuals, giving them ownership of ~5% of the total land area.  Most of the land was purchased from urban absentee landowners. 

Arab Resistance to Zionism:
















The Peel Commission (1937):
















The more violent phase of the Arab revolt (September 1937-January 1939):   












The British White Paper (1939):









Between 1943 and 1947 Jews in Palestine armed themselves heavily and again resorted to terrorism in their struggle both against the British and the Arab majority.  Also, the Holocaust during WWII that led to the death of ~6 million Jews (~2/3 of European Jewry) gave a great moral imperative to Jewish claims for a homeland. 

The Birth of Israel:


 






















The 1948 War: