1948 Arabâ€Israeli War

1948 ArabIsraeli contendThere were dissimilar causes which conduct to the 1948 Arab-Israeli struggle, to the highest degree of which stem from the engagementing views regarding paradise mingled with the Arabs and Jews. This testify volition serve to explain the long term causes, and immediate causes and disclosecomes of the 1948 Arab-Israeli contend. The Arab-Israeli difference of opinion emerged following the end of man struggle I and the fall of the hassock Empire, wherein devil separate heathenish groups emerged in heaven Arab Palestinians, who traced their ancestry back end 3000 years in paradise and Zionist Jews, who cl postulateed nirvana as the mother hoidenish given to them by God. Zionists believed that the Jews constituted a nation, non just an ethnic or religious community, and called to establish a subject radical in paradise. The Palestinians however, matt-up paradise was theirs, and desired to establish themselves as an independent body po litic.The bequest of the Arab-Israeli conflict continues after 60 years. The 1948 war can be seen as a triumph and tragedy triumph for the Israelis and tragedy for the Arabs.1This essay will check and discuss the main causes of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and its immediate outcomes. It will begin by exploring the amicable, religious and ideological roots of the conflict, and will in like manner go away a contextual background to the war. The establishment of Zionism, the move of globe warfare I and the role of the British mandate will be explored, in rules of order to infra(a)stand the separate aims, tactics and motivations of the twain groups, and the developments that followed. There will be a focus on the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the long term and immediate causes of the conflict, and its immediate aftermath and bequest.Contextual BackgroundThe fall of the pouf EmpireThe Ottoman Empire was stranded in the 14th century by the Ottoman Turks, and came to let in the m ajority of the countries of the Middle East. Palestine was under the rule of the Ottomans through the quick military expansion of the empire in the early sixteenth century, and it remained under Ottoman rule for almost four hundred years, from 1516 to 1917.2Throughout this period, the Ottoman attention was directed to preserving the empire in Europe, to the neglect of Palestine,3as the province was of very little strategic importance. The conclusion of the First World warfare resulted in the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and the empire was officially abolished in 1922.4When the Ottomans coupled the Central Powers in 1914 during World state of war I, the join Kingdom and France plan the division of the Middle East in accordance to their strategic interests and preferences. The Sykes-Picot sympathy of 1916 was an agreement among the g overnments of France and Britain, defining their respective spheres of influence and control in Western Asia after the expected downfall of the Ott oman Empire during World War I.5Palestine was eventually placed under British administration.The Zionist Movement and the Persecution of Jews in EuropeAn all-important(a) Judaic belief is the hope of the Messiah. Klausner defines the Messianic expectation as the Prophetic hope for the end of this age, in which there will be governmental freedom, moral perfection, and earthly cloud nine for the people of Israel in its own solid ground, and also for the entire human race.6This expectation was fundamental in the innovation of Zionism in the deeply 19th century. match to Tessler, Judaic doctrine asserts that God has granted His chosen people principle over the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, in order that they possess a farming in which to construct their commonwealth based on His law.7The Jews held Israel as their transmittable and biblical native get to, and the invention of Messianism drove the hopes of the Judaic population for the capture of their holy place Land. As this theory developed throughout the 19th century, the establishment of Judaic colonies in Palestine was a significant step in forwardness of a native agriculture for the Messiah. Zionism was thus established by Theodore Herzl in the late 19th century, as a movement to piss a matter home for the Jews in Palestine.8Judaism is closely associated with nationalism. The basis for the concept of Israel as a state emerged from the Bible and the belief that Eretz Yisrael was obligationd to the Jews by God. It was believed to be a territorial dominion in which the Jews, the chosen people, could go through by Gods commandments by building a model state based on His laws, and thereby act as a guide for other states. Zionism emerged from the belief that the coming of the Messiah would not happen in the absence of several preparatory events, including the re-emergence of Eretz Yisrael. Therefore, religion became an important aspect in the foundation of the Jewish state. The 19th ce ntury axiom a rapid spread of Jewish Nationalism throughout Europe. Judaism set up the Jews apart from the rest of Christian Europe, and this religious distinctiveness led to the perception that the Jews were a nation without a state. Thus, the need for Palestine as a Jewish homeland became greater.Along with the nationalist and religious motives in forming a Jewish homeland, there was also the issue of security. During the 19th century, anti-Semitism and the persecution of Jews became far-flung in Europe. Herwitt states that throughout their history in Eastern Europe, Jews were confined to small, insulate communities and subject to various attacks, or pogroms. Realizing that life in Russia was intolerable, the Jews looked to acquire grime elsewhere, with many envisioning a return to Palestine.9One of the benefits of a Jewish homeland would be security for the Jewish nation. ascribable to the increase hysteria and persecution that Jews were subjected to throughout Europe, th e Zionist movement continued to grow, encouraging Jews to migrate to Palestine. Due to the widespread anti-Semitism in Europe, the Jews started to consider returning to their religious homeland of Israel and resettling, take oning political control and creating a Jewish state.10Zionism organize the basis for the trigger of Israel it provided both a nationalistic and religious drive for the Jewish community. The urging for a homeland continually increased, for both a fulfilment of their uncanny needs, and for the establishment of security for the Jews. The political poser of Europe was unable to provide a place within it for the Jews as a distinct group,11 intensify the need for the establishment of Israel. This ideology characterized the Jewish community and provided nationalistic ties to a Holy Land that be their culture, identity and religion.Long Term Causes of the 1948 Arab-Israeli WarBalfour announcementIn 1897, The First Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland from portentous 29th to the 31st.12The congress formulated the Basel Program, and founded the Zionist Organization. The program set out the goals of the Zionist movement, which included various preparatory steps towards achieving its ultimate aim to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law.13The Zionist movement continued to rally back for its cause until the First World War.Towards the end of 1916, the British actualize for the Zionist cause grew significantly. Their assistance in the cause entailed the support of influential Zionists. This support was significant to the British in both their aims to encourage America to inaugurate the war via pressure by American Jews,14and the support also appealed to Russian Jews, who were influential among Russian revolutionaries,15as the British worryed that Russia would withdraw from the war. Thus in 1917, the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, issued the famous Balfour Declaration, which promised th e establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.16The Balfour Declaration was the first promise by Britain to give the Jewish people a national home in Palestine. As the Zionists worked to create a Jewish state, the support of one of the worlds strongest powers, which was soon to take over Palestine, was crucial. The Balfour declaration entailed the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people, man promising to safeguard the civil and religious rights of its majority Arab inhabitants.17However, during the First World War, Britain encouraged the Arabs to go against the Ottomans and support the British, and in return the Arabs were promised independence. This was agreed between Henry McMahon, the High commissioner in Egypt, and Sharif Hussein of Mecca.18Through the McMahon-Hussein correspondence, McMahon promised the independence of the Arab countries and their inhabitants, and British planning to approve an Arab caliphate upon its proclamation.19The promises were not ho noured, as they directly contradicted the promises made to the Jews through the Balfour Declaration and between the British and French in the Sykes-Picot agreement.The British jurisprudence in Palestine, 1922-1948The Mandate system originated after the conclusion of the First World War. A mandate was a commission given to a nation to serve up the government and affairs of another nation, and to prepare them for independence. Advanced countries were to administer the countries on the brink of independence, and to manage their affairs until they were ready to manage their own. Each country was assigned the role of a Mandatory Power, and were supervised by the alliance of Nations, an international organization established after the First World War.Palestine constituted the spiritual home of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the future of Palestine concerned a number of countries and groups. Both the Arabs and Jews had claimed they were promised Palestine the Arabs through the McM ahon correspondences, and the Jews through the Balfour Declaration. These conflicting promises created most of the ongoing tensions. The Sykes-Picot agreement entailed that Palestine was to be under international administration. However, Britain set for the League of Nations to make Palestine a British mandate, as it complete that its economic and strategic interests were break away served if Palestine came under its direct rule.20The San Remo conference, held in 1920, decided that Britain would be the Mandatory Power for Palestine. The conference recognized the Balfour Declaration, and to the vexation of the Arab Palestinians, the declaration was honoured by Britains allies. The declaration was accepted by the League of Nations, and was substantiate in the mandate that gave Britain temporary administrative control of Palestine. The provisions for the Mandate entailed that Britain and her Allies were in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish p eople, it being clearly understood that nought should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of be non-Jewish communities in Palestine,21and that the Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such(prenominal) political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home.22The role of Britain in the Arab-Israeli conflict was detrimental to both nations. correspond to Khouri, British politics frequently did more to aggravate the deteriorating situation than to modify it.23Britain constantly tried to appease both groups, the Jews and Arabs, living within Palestine under its mandate. Due to heavy Zionist influence, pressure and intense lobbying, it was exceedingly difficult for the British to pass laws in favour of the Arabs, such as setting aside lands for Arabs and capping in-migration by Jews to Palestine.24Mandatory Palestine create the construction of the conflict between the 2 commun ities of Arabs and Jews, and under the immediate resultant of the removal of the Mandate was the establishment of Israel.Jewish Migration and Land AppropriationThe entree of Jewish migration to Palestine increased due to the Balfour declaration and the British mandate, which seemed to promise new opportunities for Zionist development.25In 1917, the Jewish population in Palestine amounted to 57,000, and constituted 3% of the total population. Despite the influx of Jewish immigration throughout the British mandate, the Arabs still constituted a majority of the population, and by 1940 they accounted for 70% of the total population.There existed a dual society in Mandatory Palestine, and the ethnic make-up of the land included twain disturb groups the Jews and the Arabs. Despite their religious diversitys, the main cause of the 1948 war was the struggle for the land. Palestinian Arabs claimed the land as theirs based on continuous residence in the country for many hundreds of year s, and the fact that they represented the demographic majority. The newly established, and slowly exploitation, Jewish community claimed the land theirs based on Biblical ties to the land and the ideologies associated with Zionism. The immigration of Jews into Palestine was the major source of conflict between the two groups. The increasing influx of Jewish residents into Palestine increased the possibility of the first appearance of Israel, much to the contempt of the Arabs. Due to Arab resistance, the mandate failed to provide a particular proposition independent Jewish state thus, the large-scale Jewish immigration could encounter potentially put Jews into the majority.There was a prominent accessible difference and political separation between the Arabs and Jews. Jewish migration to Palestine and their increased land appropriation met resistance from the Arab inhabitants. Palestine under the British mandate indispensable the Arabs and Zionists to live within the aforesaid( prenominal) vicinity, yet the contact between the two communities was limited.26Each community was driven by increasing suspicion and fear of each other, and this translated into a violent collision between the two groups. Economic, social and political tensions drove the increasing anxiety between the Arab and Jewish communities, which by and by translated into violence and hostility. Communal violence erupted in 1929,27and as the years under the Mandate went by, any chance of peaceful co-existence between the two groups was eradicated. accord to Khouri, during the mandate the Jews in Palestine enjoyed many formidable advantages over the Arabs,28including social, political and economic benefits. This was due to the Jewish advancements and improvements in political and economic maturity in comparison to the Arabs, who in contrast were not as politically or educationally advanced.Musa Alami, a respected Palestinian politician, describes the growing estrangement of Arabs and Palest inians in his biography. As he recounts the increasing hostilities between the two communities, his biography offers a sad testimony to the steadily diminishing chances of cooperation between the two peoples. aft(prenominal) returning to Palestine after World War I, in among the growing population of Jews under the British mandate, he found the old friendless and classlessness, the tolerance between the races and creeds had evidently gone forever.29Shimon Peres, the modern president of Israel, describing his encounters with the Arabs as a teenager in the 1930s, states Our attitude towards the Arabs was mixed. They seemed so strange to us, so terrifying, and yet the creatures closest to nature.30Both are witnesses to the social and cultural chasm between the Jews and Arabs, and the growing estrangement between the two groups. spry Causes of the 1948 Arab-Israeli WarU.N. Partition VoteBy the end of World War II, Mandatory Palestine continued to be plagued by line of works and compl ications. latent hostilitys between the Arab and Jewish community persisted, violence between the two intensified, and both groups were continually displeased with the Mandate. By 1946, the situation in Palestine was becoming increasingly unsustainable for the British mandate. The Jewish leadership in Palestine wanted unlimited immigration.31Tension and violence were escalating between the Jewish and Arab communities, and there was growing resentment towards the British by both groups. Under Arab pressure, the British limited Jewish immigration to Palestine. After the Nazi persecutions in 1933, the immigration of Jews, both healthyly and illegally, up leap to 30% of the total population.By February 1947, the British requested help from the coupled Nations in reference to the Arab-Jewish conflict, while retaining its mandatory responsibilities. The UN Security Council was asked to investigate the promontory of Palestine and come up with a plan that would resolve the problem.32 therefrom the UNSCOP, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, was formed. The UNSCOP consisted of seven neutral countries, which were to investigate the conflict and deliver their findings. The UNSCOP agreed on ending the British Mandate, and the district of Palestine to a Jewish and Arab state. The Jewish state was to be larger than the Arab state, despite the Arab population of Palestine being the majority thus, the proposals were denounced by the Arabs. The Zionist ecumenic Council expressed some satisfaction with the partition recommendation,33yet felt that too little territory was assigned to the Jews.The Arabs protested the partition, debating the moral grounds of the plan, and denied the legal and moral right of the UN to partition Palestine against the wishes of the majority of the inhabitants.34The final General Assembly vote took place on the 29th of November 1947. 33 countries support the plan 13 countries voted against the plan and 10 countries abstained fr om voting.35On the 14th of may 1948, the British Mandate in Palestine came to an end and on the same day, the Jewish population proclaimed the state of Israel, and the Arab states invaded the State of Israel.36The 1948 Arab-Israeli WarThe may 1948 Arab-Israeli War commenced following the termination of the British Mandate in Palestine, and the Arab rejection of the United Nations partition plan. The rejection of the plan culminated in five Arab states Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan invading the newly formed Israel.37Their objective was to restore a unitary Arab Palestinian state. Despite the Israeli forces being significantly smaller in number, they were successful in conflict and ultimately won the war. According to Beinin Hajjar, the Arab military forces were poorly organized, trained and armed,38in contrast to the Israeli forces which were superior in these areas.There were various factors which led to the pour down of the Arabs in the 1948 war. The supporting Arab countries all held different motivations and territorial designs on Palestine, with each country distrustful of the others motives.39The Arab states lacked the unity that was fundamental for their success. The Israeli the States exhibited this unity, and were determined in fighting for their liberation, independence and defending their state.40The Israelis were also better equipped in terms of arms, and were more organized and trained in battle.In 1949, the war between Israel and the Arab states concluded with the signing of the Armistice agreements. Palestine was separated into three parts each under separate political control, with the state of Israel encompassing 77% of the overall territory.41The conclusion of the war motto the splitting of the Arab League, the first appearance of Israel and the sacking of British influence in the area.Consequences of the 1948 Arab-Israeli WarThe Palestinian Refugee CrisisThe 1948 Arab-Israeli saw the victory of Israel, and resulted in the c reation of the Palestinian refugee crisis and territorial gain for Israel. In 1947, the year before the war, one million Palestinians lived in the region that would become Israel the following year. Following the war, 75 per cent of them had odd to become refugees, and most of them fall in remained in camps ever since.42The Palestinians refer to the defeat of 1948 as al-Naqba, the catastrophe. Most of the Palestinian owned land was proclaimed as part of the Jewish state in consequence of the Arab defeat, and the territorial dimensions of Israeli land increased by approximately one-third. According to the Palestinian perspective, the creation of refugees was a result of the forceful tactics used by Israel, as Arabs were expelled from the newly established state of Israel. The evidence used for this viewpoint includes the Dier Yassin, and the concept of ethnic cleansing as employed by the Jews. From the Palestinian perspective, the war represented not only a Palestinian defeat, but also the loss of a large portion of their homeland to Israel.43The Palestinian diaspora, the labored dispersion of the Palestinians into other countries, is the most catastrophic and distressing consequence of the 1948 war. The impact of the war and the continual confliction between the Arabs and Jews is validated through the refugee crisis. The structural framework of the newly divided State of Israel could not allow the capacity of Palestinians to live in Israel. The diaspora and the refugees forced to depart Palestine are symbolic of the loss of a nation, and the failure of the Arabs experienced through the war.Territorial Gain for Israel firearm the Palestinians lamented their defeat and exile, the Jewish community were rejoiced with their success in war. Their victory allowed the immigration of more Jews into Israel. Through military force, Israel retained some territory primitively assigned to the Arabs according to the partition plan. In 1949, Israel occupied almost 80 per cent of the area of the original Palestinian mandate, and 20 per cent more than she had been promised in the partition plan.44The most important consequence of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war from the Jewish perspective is that is consolidated the Zionist aim of a Jewish state in Palestine. By the end of the war, the Jewish population in Israel exceeded a million, with Jews all around the world returning to EretzYisrael, their newly established national homeland.45The Jewish immigration made Israel a viable Jewish state, and forbade a return of Palestinian refugees to claim land and property that once belonged to Palestinians.46The Jews were motivate by Zionism, creating a Jewish state of Israel in their biblical home land of Palestine. Zionisms success is manifested in the establishment of the State of Israel and the territorial gain of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.ConclusionThis essay served to discuss the long term causes, and immediate causes and outcomes of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Th e 1948 war was the first full-scale war between the Arab states and the Jewish population, and resulted after a series of conflicts between the Arabs and Jews over Palestine. The long term causes of the war gave rise to increasing tensions and hostilities between the Arabs and Jews, and the U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 ignited the flame. The culmination of the war saw a great victory for Israel, in terms of territorial increase and national pride, and loss of land and pride for the Arabs.The Arab-Israeli war of 1948 represents two drastic turning points in two colliding communities. After decades of continual confliction and increasing antagonism between the two groups, the conclusion of the 1948 war saw the creation of a new state, after the outbreak of a bloody and long-running conflict. The war has two completely different outlooks. For the Jews, the war is celebrated and represents the re-creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. For the Arabs, the war represents a political and p sychological failure and defeat. The prospect for creating a Jewish state in Palestine was won, and the hopes for the re-obtainment of Palestine for the Arabs were lost. The Palestinians were scattered around the Middle East and Arabia after the war, while Jews around the world were able to return to their homeland of Israel.As inform by Jamal Abdul Nasser in 1963, the Palestinian battle was a smear on the entire Arab nation. No one can forget the shame brought by the battle of 1948.47Despite the thwarted nationalist aspirations of the Palestinians, the war also represented a grave military defeat and significant loss of land to Israel. This is displayed through the Jewish diaspora, and the refugee crisis of the Palestinian peoples that is still in continuation today. The territory awarded to Israel represents their establishment of the main aims of Zionism, and their national success that is celebrated in the legacy of the war.The 1948 war led to a series of wars and conflicts bet ween the two groups. After decades of conflict, multiple wars and millions of casualties, the conflict between the two communities ceases to stop. The Arab-Israeli conflict is still in continuation today, taking international dimensions and influencing a string of other countries and nations. If the Arab-Israeli conflict is settle peacefully and permanently, many other conflicts will be resolved automatically. Peace talks have been considered for decades, but no clear resolutions have been created, with the various obstacles to peace clouding the prospect of the two groups living harmoniously.References head for the hills CitedBooksAntonius, G. 1938, The Arab Awakening The Story of the Arab National Movement, Simon Publications, New York.Cannon, M. 2009, IB Course Companion twentieth Century World account statement, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Davis, M. 1980, Zionism in Transition, Arno Press, New York.Habibi, M. 2010, IB Course Companion History of Europe and the Middle East, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Hall, E. Wilson, L. 2006, Power, people and ideas VCE international politics units 1 2 (2rd ed.), Social Education Victoria, Melbourne.Harkabi, Y. 1974, Arab attitudes to Israel, Halsted Press, New York.Khatib, H. 2003, Palestine and Egypt Under the Ottomans Paintings, Books, Photographs, Maps and Manuscripts, I.B. 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