IN last week’s edition, I stated that from time immemorial, Palestine and Israel had been entangled in a recurrent tale of hate, wars and death. History tells us that the area known as Canaan was not an empty land nor an inhabited land when the Israelis came into Canaan sometimes in 12th Century BC. They met the Palestinians – number unknown. They were referred to as Philistines, the Israelis were not welcome. The question is, why were they not welcome? After all, the place now known as North America was inhabited by the Aborigines when the English who were not happy with the new Christian Ideology found their way to America which was sparsely populated. However, Israel was able exact its dominance over Palestine in the 7th Century under the warrior King David. This seems to be the beginning of the hate and wars which generations after generations have witnessed.
Jewish settlement in Palestine
In 1882, the Jews began purchasing lands and properties in the Ottoman Palestine. These purchases were finance by large Jewish corporations and private Jewish buyers, and continued even after the establishment of Mandatory Palestine (British rulership of Palestine). Two of such areas that were purchased at the time was the Jezreel Valley and the Bay of Haifa under Sursock Purchases. the Jezreel valley was a marshy area, an gave opportunity for agriculture toJews from Russia, who were excellent agriculturists. In 1920, the Jews formed the Haganahbecause of the brewing hostility from their Palestinian Arab neighbours.
The Palestinian Arabs were unhappy with Jewish settlement in Palestine. In 1920, the Arabs attacked the Jewish faming village of Tel Hai and burned it to the ground. This is known in history as the 1920 battle of Tel Hei. Also, when the Arabs celebrated their Nebi Musa festival in Jerusalem, they attacked Jewish settlements and destroyed them. This led to war in Jaffa between the Arabs and the Israelites in 1921. Regardless of the hostility from the Arabs, the population of Jewish settlements in Palestine increased exponentially. There were 80 000 Jewish immigrants in 1921, about 50 000 more in 1935, and another over 170 000 immigrants in 1936. This increase in Jewish Population was a cause of concern for the Arabs. This led to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
The Independence of Israel and the birth of the Israel-Palestinian wars
In recognition of the contribution of the Jews to winning World War I, Britain showed its support for the political independence of Israel. This support encouraged the immigration of Jews into Palestine. The discontent with the growing population of Jews in Palestine led to the Arab Revolution in Palestine of 1936-1939. This was because the Arabs feared displacement in their own country.
In order to focus on the World War II, and to stem disturbances in the Palestinian region, Britain issued a policy that imposed an immigration cap of Jews to Palestine to 75,000 over a period of 5 years. The Jews resisted this restriction and, using the expertise they amassed from the intelligence training offered to the Palmach (the strike force o Haganah, Israel’s underground militia), guided ships carrying Jewish immigrants toward Palestine, in violation of the restriction.
Following the end of the World War II, about 600,000 Jews were displaced. Also, no European nation was willing to allow Jews settle in their lands. Consequently, the Yishuv in Israel, propelled by the Zionist propaganda, offered sanctuary to Jewish refugees in Palestine. Also, the British were viewed as enemies of Israel. In 1944, radical Zionists launched an armed revolt against Britain. British symbols of power in the region were bombed, and a war that lasted three years, with casualties on both sides, started. The British government called for a Jewish-Arab Conference in London, in September 1946. Nevertheless, deliberations at this conference ended in a deadlock. In 1947, Britain admitted that it could not manage the problems of Palestine and referred it to the United Nations. Later in 1947, Britain announced its intention to leave Palestine by 1948.
On 29th November 1947, the United Nations voted for the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab States. This was through adoption of Resolution 181(II), which is popularly referred to as the Partition Resolution, or the Partition Plan for Palestine. By the Partition, Jews would receive 56% of the land that was initially under the British rule, since about 82% of the Jewish population were living there. Jerusalem was however not partitioned. Taking into cognisance the religious significance of the areas surrounding Jerusalem, it was voted to remain under international control and would be administered by the United Nations. This plan was agreed to by the Jews, but was rejected by the Arabs. The reason for this rejection is that the Arabs queried the competence of the UN General Assembly to partition a country on one hand, and they felt it was favourable to the Jews and unfair to the minority Arab populace that will remain in Jewish territory under the partition.
In response to the resolution for the portioning of Palestine, the Arab Liberation Army was created. This was made up of volunteers from Palestine and neighbouring Arab countries. The Arab Liberation Army launched attacks on Jewish cities, settlements and armed forces. The intention beyond the attack was to prevent the establishment of a Jewish State. Regardless of the opposition by the Palestinian Arabs, and determined to gain control over the territories allotted to it, Israel was officially declared an independent state by the UN on 14th May, 1948. David Ben-Gurion, who was the head of the Jewish Agency, became Israel’s first Prime Minister.
The 1948 Israeli-Palestinian war
The declaration of the state of Israel led to intensive war between Israel and the Arab Liberation Army. Other Arab forces from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, joined in the Palestinian Arabs. British trained forces from Transjordan joined Israeli forces, and they were able to gain offences over the Arabs. The war subsisted till February 1949, by which time Israel gained some territories formally granted to Palestinian Arabs. According to the Israelites, any area captured by the war will be part of the state of Israel. This is because Israel refused to obligate itself to accept boundaries that the Arabs didnot accept. However, Egypt and Jordan retained control over the Gaza strip and the West Bank.
The birth of the Palestine Liberation Organisation
In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was formed. Its purpose was to establish a Palestinian Arab state on the land previously under the British Mandate. At this time in history, it was dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel as the means for Palestine to achieve statehood.
The six-day war
In April 1967 Egypt received a wrong intel from the Soviet Union that Israel was moving its troops to its northern border, and that Israel planned a full invasion of Syria. In response to this intelligence, Egypt advanced its forces into the Sinai Peninsula and expelled the UN peacekeeping forces in the region. In June 5, 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive arial attack on Egyptian forces. This drew in Jordan and Syria into the battle. The war ended on June 10 1967 with significant land gains for Israel. It was this battle that brought the Gaza strip, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights under the control of Israel.
To be continued…
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AARE AFE BABALOLA, OFR, CON, SAN, LL.D (Lond.)
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