Making communications land - Are they received and understood as intended? we...
The Middle East in the 20th Century
1. The Middle East: Part One
The Creation of the State of Israel
and the Origins of Mid East
Nationalism
J. Marshall 2007
2. At a glance…
PART 1
•The region - getting oriented
•The origins of Zionism and Arab nationalism
•The Paris 1919 mandate system
•Inter-war tensions
PART 2
•The four Arab-Israeli wars
•Camp David and after
References
•Handbook pp. 164 - 172
7. a)
Example
of a
Provincial
Question:
1.
In 1922,
which of the following
numbered countries
was confirmed by the
League of Nations to
be a French
mandate?
1
2
3
4
Answer = (Syria) = c
see teacher notes at foot of slide
3
1
4
2
8. 2. Zionist Movement
• Difference between religion and culture:
People of the Jewish religion are of
many cultures.
• History of persecution - pogroms
• Ancient Israel vs. a homeland vs. a state
9. Anti-Jewish feelings were
manifested in a variety of ways:
• Limited rights
• Discrimination in government posts
ex. Dreyfus Affair, France
• Scapegoating
• Pogroms
• Violence against person and/or property
10. • A widespread pogrom was carried out in Russia
in 1905. What else occurred in Russia in that
year?
12. Theodor Herzl (father of modern Israel)
led the first Zionist Congress of the WZO.
"At Basel I founded the Jewish State...Perhaps in five
years, and certainly in fifty, everyone will know
it.”
Sept 3, 1897, Basel, Switzerland.
own to
d
lmost
,a
s right
He wa
e day!
th
Flag of the 1923
Congress
13. • Some Zionists
insisted on
Palestine as a
homeland - others
were less definite.
• What if selfdetermination
dislocates another
group?
• Madagascar was
one turn-of-thecentury
suggestion.
But Where?
14. At their fist meeting Balfour asked Weizmann
why the homeland must be Palestine:
"Anything else would be idolatry. "Mr. Balfour,
supposing I were to offer you Paris instead of
London, would you take it?"
"But Dr. Weizmann, we have London."
"That is true, but we had Jerusalem when London was
a marsh."
15. Arthur Balfour:
1917 Balfour Report
• Chiam Weizmann lobbied
and was given a written
guarantee of a Jewish
National Home in Palestine.
• Is that a separate state or
something within a mixedpopulation Palestine?
16. Churchill White Paper: 1922
Redefined British interpretation of a Jewish National Home:
•Palestine will not be “as Jewish as England is
English”, but rather “a center in which Jewish
people as a whole may take, on grounds of religion
and race, an interest and a pride.”
•confirmed the right of Jewish immigration BUT
stipulated that this should not exceed the economic
absorptive capacity of the country
= a natural limit
17. Can both groups be
satisfied?
Weizmann and King Feisal, 1918
18. 3. Arab Nationalism
• The Arabs are tribal and cannot be seen as a
homogeneous group.
• Western powers have made some dubious moves.
• Inter-tribal competition has hindered efforts at
united action.
• A longstanding history in Palestine before the
dislocation of the Palestinian Arabs has caused
tension with the Zionists (later, the Israelis).
• The Arab League and other organizations have
been created to help Arab nationalists meet their
aspirations.
19. 1915-16 MacMahon Letters
Britain promised independence in the
Arab world if there was a revolt
against the Turks.
BUT:
• Precise borders of a future Arab state are
not agreed (Britain did wish not to prejudice the
interests of her ally, France).
• Palestine was not mentioned by name and
its inclusion in the Arab area remains a
source of some dispute amongst historians.
20. Sykes-Picot, 1916
= Brit/Fr sell-out
•
What would be done with the
Ottoman Empire after the war?
•
Ru
ad ssia
vis wa
ed
s
Feisal and the Arabs were
guaranteed self-determination
by MacMahon and others
So-what: Arab mistrust of the
“imperialists” is born.
•
Later, Feisal is given Iraq and
his lazy bother is given
Transjordan; the brother ended
up being the most successful.
EC
S
ET
R
22. 4. The Mandate Years
•
•
•
•
•
Jewish immigration
Pressure on the land
Inter-group rivalry/conflict
Haganah (Irgun)
Jewish support of the British war effort
23.
24. Palestine was Divided in 1922
•Transjordan included the West Bank
and lands east of the River Jordan
• Palestine included the small area to the
West.
27. • In another attempt to appease the Arabs, the British restricted Jewish
immigration in March 1938 to 3,000 for the following 6-month
period. Consequently, Jewish immigration fell from its record high of
66,000 in 1935 to a little more than 14,000 in 1938. The Arabs were
not pacified by the concession and continued their attacks. By the end
of the year, nearly 300 Jews had been killed and more than 600
wounded.
• The Zionists persistently and naively clung to the belief that the Arabs
would eventually accept their presence in Palestine, and recognize the
benefits that Jewish settlement was bringing to the country. In 1934,
Ben Gurion told Palestinian nationalist Musa Alami that the Zionists
were bringing "a blessing to the Arabs of Palestine" and that they had
no good reason to oppose Jewish settlement.
• Alami replied: "I would prefer that the country remain impoverished
and barren for another hundred years, until we ourselves are able to
develop it on our own."
30. 40 Arabs hanged
De-armed the Arabs (helped Israel in ’48)
5000 Arab, 400 Jewish, 200 British deaths
Wingate’s Special Night Squads:
British Regulars and Haganah Volunteers where used
to put down the Arab revolts (often very violently).
31. The force was highly successful in bringing attacks by
Arab guerillas on the pipeline of the Iraqi Petroleum
Company to a halt.
32. Irgun
(ETZEL)
• Violent arm or Haganah - example:
bombed the King Davd Hotel in
Jerusalem in 1946 killing almost 100
Britons).
• Warning to ETZEL in 1947 to cool it!
Why would David Ben Gurion want to
rope in ETZEL?
33. Who really
owned the land?
• Even in 1947, most
land was Arabowned.
• But, the proportion of
population had
shifted significantly in
favour of the Jews
since 1922.
34. Part Two:
5. Creation of Israel
• Zionist lobby - Chiam Weizmann was a
successful chemist for the Allied war effort in
1914.
• Western Holocaust guilt + lobbying.
• Palestinian Zionist support for UK in WW2.
• For UK partition as a means of relieving
regional tension in Palestine.
38. WHAT ARE THESE DPs SAYING ABOUT BRITISH
IMMIGRATION POLICIES AFTER THE WAR?
Aboard
Runnymede Park
39.
40. Why did the Brits want out?
• acts of violence committed by some or all of the Jewish
military organizations undermined British resolve to remain
in the region.
• Haganah's operation of illegal immigration which became a
source of considerable embarrassment to the British
government.
• dire post-war economic situation forced withdrawl from
considerable portions of her Empire including India.
• Britain's now depended on US$, which gave US leverage
over Palestine. US Jewish opinion rallied to the Zionist
cause: Truman, was seeking public support in both
Congressional and Presidential elections -- and was
therefore responsive to the Jewish lobby.
41. Weizmann and Truman, 1948
The USA was the first nation to
recognize the new State of
Israel.
42. 1947 - United Nations Special Committee
on Palestine (UNSCOP):
• April, 1947 British refer Palestine question to the U.N.
• Recommended partitioning Palestine into a Jewish an
Arab state (Jerusalem to be an international city).
• Adopted 29th November, 1947 (Resolution 181: voted
33 to 13; 10 abstained).
• In a rather unusual moment of history, the USA and the
USSR supported the resolution (the Russians wanted the
UK out of Palestine) whilst Britain abstained, promising
only to evacuate her troops by August 1948 (the British
departed three months earlier on May 14).
46. Israeli War of Independence
First Arab-Israeli War
Palestinian War
6. 1948-1949
War
• After David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s
creation, the Arab world reacted by invading in
an effort to destroy the self-proclaimed nation.
• The USSR supported Israel with arms.
• Ironically, the Arabs’ desire to isolate the Jews
during the Mandate years helped the latter to
become more economically independent.
51. 7. Suez War 1956
•
•
•
•
Nasser takes control in 1952 coup
Nationalizes the Canal Zone in 1956
UK/Fr make secret deal with Israel
When the Europeans enter Zone the
US pushes them out.
• First use of UN peacekeepers = UNEF1
• Shows Israel can take the Sinai
53. 8. Six Day War, 1967
• Expulsion of UNEF1
• Nasser stated publicly that he would destroy Israel Israel attacks first!
• The Egyptians feared losing leadership to the
Syrians = posturing.
• The Israelis knew they had to fight a maneuvering
campaign, not a static war of attrition (Napoleon’s
doctrine of fighting from the centre).
• Importance of the air war.
• Nassar lies to Hussein over Israeli air losses.
• Syria doesn’t commit its Republican Guard in Golan
55. Alliance: Hussein and Nasser, May
1967: months later during the 6 Day War,
Nasser would deliberately mislead Jordan
about Israeli air losses
56. The Israeli Foreign Secretary seeks the USA position in case of
war.
L. B. J.
57. • Egyptian Army T-55 tank: many were
captured by the IDF and used against
the Egyptians in the Yom Kippur War.
58. The Six Day War tank battles rivaled those at Kursk!
The IDF with their British 1950’s Centurion Tanks
(sold to Israel so Britian could afford new Centurion tanks).
63. Friendly fire: earlier the USN had told the Israelis no US ship was
within 100 miles - the day before the Israelis had bombed their
own tanks. This PT boat + air attack = many USN deaths - USA
officially accepts Israeli apology + 13Mil$ payment for
compensation.
FOG OF WAR? Many Americans didn’t buy it.
65. Golan Heights:
1. Remember, this is
where it all started: the
Israelis were taking water
from the Sea of Galilee to
the Negev.
2. Syria was diverting the
tributaries to eliminate the
source. Also high ground
is strategically important!
66. The ancient Nimrod Fortress attests to the region’s strategic
importance.
67. View from a Syrian Golan
bunker towards Israel
70. • IDF Paratroopers at the
Western Wall - Jerusalem
is religiously significant to
all regional religious
groups.
•
•
•
•
•
Can you name them?
1 Muslim
2 Jewish
3 Christian
4. Druse
72. 9. Yom Kippur War, 1973
• Surprise attack catches IDF unprepared.
• After the first week, the IDF is able to reverse
the initial Arab forces’ gains.
• Stalemate after a month of fighting.
• Huge political repercussions for Israeli
leaders, although 1967 gains are mostly held.
• Ushers in the 1974 fuel shortage - prices
double!
73. 1973 IDF check point: this is no
longer a UN check point as the sign
says: after Yom Kippur = UNEF2
74. Federation of Arab Republics
• Short-lived (1972-1977)
• Egypt and Syria are in competition to
see who can lead in the region.
3
1
2
75.
76. David Dado Elazar,
IDF Chief of Staff (Warned of attack)
= fall guy
• Agranat
Commission, 1974
• Gen Eli Ziera, Chief
of Intelligence - said
no worries prior to
attack
See pages 405 - 409 in “Paris 1919.” Fisal, in reward for is efforts against the turks was made King of Mesopotamia (Iraq - Iraq became an independent state in the League in 1932, and Fisals grandson was killed in a coup in 1958). Fisal’s brother became king of Transjordan after the Cairo Conference of 1921, and is the only one in the family to have kept power. Ibn Saud took control of Hejaz in 1924 and eventually became king of Saudi Arabia.
1905 Revolution after the failed Manchurian Campaign against Japan. (Bloody Sunday with Father Gapon).
Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the leading spokesman for organized Zionism in Britain.
During their first meeting, in 1906, the Unionist leader was impressed by Weizmann's personality.
Sir Henry MacMahon, British High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca
Feisal lost the Hashemite lands in Arabia to Ibn Saud in the mid 20s; Feisal’s grandson lost Iraq in a coup in 1958. Only Hussein’s great grandson remains in power in Jordan (2007).
Organized by the same Briton who later created the Chindits in India in WW2.
However, the squads were known for their ruthless efficiency and brutal methods. According to Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld their training included "... how to kill without compunction, how to interrogate prisoners by shooting every tenth man to make the rest talk; and how to deter future terrorists by pushing the heads of captured ones into pools of oil and then freeing them to tell the story”.
Nazi letter re the Final Solution: the world had turned its back on the Jews in the 1930s; there was huge pressure after the war to not let the same occur again - especially in the USA.
When facing multiple superior enemies, separate them by putting yourself in the centre and fight them one at a time.
Nations like Syria need reliable forces like the Republican Guard to ensure the safety of the Regime at home: if those forces are lost at battle, the Regime may fall - not worth the risk.
Notice Nasser’s characture (hair, ‘stache, nose) Note also soldiers representing the other Arab states. We assume the sign says “Aqaba.”
3 July 1976 - 4 Hercs
US Marines acting as UN troops
Remember Yitzhak Rabin was an IDF general in the photo with Min of Def Moshe Dayan in the Six Day War photo.
