Course: Middle East Politics Final Paper Grade: A

1. Torossian1
Jerome Torossian
Dr. Güneş Murat Tezcür
PLSC 368
26 April, 2015
Zionism: The Birth of A Long Conflict
When individuals are asked about what they think of the relationship between the Jews
and the Muslims, they will for the most part automatically respond that their relations are bad.
Indeed, people are more likely to give that answer because they are used to hearing through the
media or at school about the conflicts between these two communities in the Middle East.
However, the truth is that these two ancient people did not always fight against each other. In
fact, the Jews lived in lands ruled by Muslims for centuries and were considered, along with the
Christians, to be “people of the book” (Cohen 1). In the Muslim world, the Jewish people were
given the status of dhimmi, a term referring to a non-Muslim citizen (Cohen 1). By paying the
Jizya tax, they were able to gain certain rights as well as to be guaranteed to be under protection
(Cohen 1). When they were persecuted in many Christian lands of Europe in the 14th century, the
Jewish people were the ones who found refuge in the Ottoman Empire, which for them was
considered a safe haven (Avraham 1). Yet, many Jews decided to leave Muslim lands due to the
rising tensions between the two communities in the 20th century. This essay will discuss the
reason that led to a crisis between the Jews and the Muslims. My approach to this paper will be
to examine the history of Israel’s creation as a political entity, as well as the political and
religious implications of that history, which has led to the current conflict. At the same time, it is
important to explore why, unlike the Jews, the Palestinians failed to gain statehood.

2. Torossian2
According to James Gelvin, the author of “The Modern Middle East,” the dispute
between the Israelis and the Palestinians is mainly a “real estate dispute” (Gelvin 217). I agree
with his statement as it is true that both the Jews and the Muslims lived for centuries in what is
now known as Israel. Yet, one could also declare that the source of the dispute between these
two people has a religious aspect as well. Indeed, Jews argue that for God they are the chosen
people and that according to the Bible, God said to Abraham, “I will give the whole land of
Canaan—the land where you are now residing—to you and your descendants after you as a
permanent possession” (Genesis 17:8). In fact, Israel is often described as the Promised Land,
making reference to God’s promise to Abraham. In addition, the Jews strongly believe that this
land of the Middle East belongs to them since their ancestors lived there for more than 3,000
years. Moreover, it is interesting to see that even according to the Qur’an, it is stated that the
Jews should return to the land of Israel and that they should “dwell securely in the Promised
Land” (Qur'an 17:104). Thus, the “character of the Jewish people is […] defined both by the
temporal aspects of its historical legacy and by a belief that the experience of the Jews is part of
a larger Divine plan” (Tessler 7).
However, one can similarly argue that the Muslims also have a right to this land since
they have lived in that territory for many decades as well. In fact, the death of the prophet
Muhammad in 632 CE was followed by a huge Muslim expansion in the Middle East (Gelvin
15). Many of the different Arab caliphates such as the Umayyad, or the Abbasids, were all
having under their rule the land of Israel (Davies-Stofka 1). In addition, the Muslim Ottoman
Empire also had Israel as part of its territory until it became part of the British mandate (Gelvin
50, 51).

3. Torossian3
The conflict between the two communities escalated significantly during the period when
anti-Semitism was rising in Europe, and when a new ideology, Zionism, came into existence.
This political movement can be defined as Jewish nationalism, in which its supporters believe
that the Jews should have a state of their own in their historic home. The most important person
in the early times of the history of Zionism was an Austro-Hungarian journalist, Theodor Herzl.
According to James Gelvin, Theodor Herzl became a Zionist when he was in Paris while the
Dreyfus Affair occurred in 1894 (Gelvin 218). Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain of Jewish
descent, was arrested for treason and falsely accused of spying for the neighboring country,
Germany. This trial became well known around the world and was a major symbol of injustice.
In the year 1896, Theodor Herzl published “The Jewish State”, in which he declared that anti-
Semitism was inevitable and that it will necessarily have catastrophic consequences to the Jewish
people. For Theodor Herzl, if France fell into the path of anti-Semitism, then the Jews would not
be secured anywhere because “Wherever they live in perceptible number, they are more or less
persecuted” (Herzl 85). Indeed, these people were subjected to attacks anywhere they were such
as “in parliaments, in assemblies, in the streets, […], and the position of doctors, lawyers,
teachers was becoming daily more intolerable” (Laqueur 91). Consequently, the only available
solution to the problem was the creation of a Jewish homeland either in Argentina, in Western
United States, or in Palestine. Theodor Herzl seemed more to lean for a nation in Palestine as it
was his ancestral land and believed that it would attract many people “with a force of marvelous
potency” (Herzl 96).
In 1916, the French and the British signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which they
divided for themselves the control of the Middle East. Made during World War I, the two
colonial powers thus reduced the vast territory of what belonged to the Ottoman Empire. On

4. Torossian4
November 1917, the Balfour Declaration was established by the British, which “endorsed the
Zionist goal of establishing a “national home” in Palestine” (Gelvin 188). According to Mark
Tessler, author of the book “A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” “the Arabs […] were
disturbed by the declaration” as they wondered why the British did not mention “their political
and economic rights as well” (Tessler 149). In reality, this declaration violated the British
promise made to the Arabs in 1915. In fact, Sir McMahon, British high commissioner of Egypt,
promised to Hussein Ibn Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Britain’s “support for the restoration of the
caliphate if the Arabs would support the British war effort against Turkey” (Rydelnik, Easley
86). It is believed that the British accepted to let the Jews settle in Palestine because they thought
they would remain faithful to them. Indeed, some historians think that the British were convinced
that the Jews would be dependent on them due to their small population, and that they would “be
more than willing to help the British preserve the security of the […] Suez Canal” (Gelvin 188).
Likewise, David Llyod George, British former prime minister, argued that one of the reasons for
the Balfour Declaration was that it was part of their strategy “for mobilizing every opinion and
force throughout the world which would weaken the enemy and improve the Allied chances”
(Gelvin 188).
The Balfour Declaration was perceived as treason for the Arabs, and created a real
conflict between the Jews and the Muslims. For James Gelvin, the declaration was not the main
reason that led to immigration in Palestine because some Jews had already settled in the region
before (Gelvin 220). In fact, immigration to Palestine took place in many different ascents, called
aliya in Hebrew. In the first aliya, the new incoming Jews tried “to install a settler-plantation
colony,” which most of them were unsuccessful (Gelvin 220). Furthermore, both the second and
the third aliyot, which were from 1904 to 1914 and 1918 to 1923 respectively, had better results.

5. Torossian5
Indeed, these new people created “the collective and the communal farms, they organized the
labor federation,” and they made Hebrew as their official language (Gelvin 220). In addition, the
immigrants from the second and third aliyot had two specific slogans such as the “conquest of
land” and the “conquest of labor” (Gelvin 220). The first one referred to the need of the
immigrants “to make their imprint on the land of Palestine,” and the other one was the process of
having all Jews taking jobs in the economy (Gelvin 220). However, the purchase of land from
the new incoming Zionists provoked the displacement of many Palestinian farmers whose work
were no longer needed (Gelvin 221). In the past, the Palestinians mostly viewed themselves as
Ottomans. Yet, the rise of Zionists in Palestine led to the creation of Palestinian nationalism. For
James Gelvin, a Palestinian movement did not occur before because unlike the Zionists, the
imperialists did not “appropriate land, establish a rival and competing economy, or establish rival
and competing political structures” (Gelvin 222).
The Arabic population of Palestine was completely opposed to Zionists immigration
because Britain failed to follow its promise made towards them. In 1922, Winston Churchill
argued that “the whole Palestine west of the Jordan was thus excluded from Sir Henry
McMahon’s pledge” (Rydelnik, Easley 86). Consequently, the Arabs used violence to show their
discontentment over their injustice. In fact, Haj Amin el-Husseini, the Muslin leader in the
mandatory Palestine, caused riots against the Zionists in 1919 and asked Britain to reduce the
Jewish immigration (Rydelnik, Easley 86). More the Jews were entering Palestine, more
conflicts between the two communities were occurring. In 1929, riots once again exploded, in
which 135 Jews found death, and 350 of them were wounded (Rydelnik, Easley 87). In the same
year, the British created the Shaw Commission of Inquiry in order to investigate on the reasons
for the violence. They concluded that the Arabs “feared economic displacement by Jewish

6. Torossian6
immigrants,” and that they had to stop the Jews from purchasing more lands (Rydelnik, Easley
87). In 1930, the Passfield White Paper was issued and ended to a large degree the Jewish
immigration (Rydelnik, Easley 87). The anger from the Zionists was so great that Britain’s
former Prime Minister, Ramsey McDonald, sent a letter to Chaim Weizmann, leader of the
Zionists, in which he stated that he cancelled the white paper (Rydelnik, Easley 88).
The immigration of Jews to Palestine continued to significantly increase, especially with
the arrival of Adolf Hitler to power in Germany. Indeed, his spreading of anti-Semitism in
Europe during the 1930s encouraged the departure of many Jews to the land of Israel. It is
estimated by James Gelvin that from 1931 to 1935, the number of Jews in Palestine grew from
17 to 31 percent of the total population (Gelvin 222). The Zionists were purchasing more land
that it resulted in the “ejection of approximately twenty thousand peasant families” (Gelvin 223).
In addition, James Gelvin declared that around 30% of Palestinian farmers did not have land, and
that “another 75 to 80 percent did not have enough land for subsistence (Gelvin 223).
Consequently, Arab violence exploded and led to an Arab revolt from 1936 to 1939 (Rydelnik,
Easley 88). Orde Wingate, a British captain and a friend of the Jewish community, trained the
Jewish fighters to counter the Arabic attacks (Rydelnik, Easley 89). His training was successful
however; the mandatory government transferred and forbade him to ever come back in Palestine
(Rydelnik, Easley 89). In order to stop the revolt, the British intervened, in which they deported
people, made mass arrests, and dynamited the homes of suspected guerrillas and their supporters
(Gelvin 223). For James Gelvin, the British intervention and the revolt “ravaged the […]
leadership of the Palestinian community,” and led to the exile of many Palestinians. Yet, another
investigatory commission was formed in response to the British intervention in the Arab revolt
(Rydelnik, Easley 89).

7. Torossian7
In 1937, as the Arabs remained strongly opposed to the Zionists settlements, the Peel
Commission concluded that Palestine should be divided into two separate territories, one Jewish
and one Arab (Rydelnik, Easley 89). This solution was greatly accepted by the Jews; however,
the Arabs refused it. Interestingly, the British government also did not accept this solution and
decided to only limit the Jewish immigration to Palestine (Rydelnik, Easley 89). In 1939, another
White Paper was issued. It stated that the Jewish immigration will be reduced, and that an
independent Palestine will see the light “within ten years in the unlikely event that the two
communities learn to work together (Gelvin 223). Both communities rejected the paper as they
felt betrayed. Ten years later, Britain sent one hundred thousand soldiers in Palestine in order to
keep the peace (Gelvin 223). However, some Zionists made many terrorist attacks towards the
British because of their Jewish immigration policy. For instance, the one hundred thousand
British soldiers as well as many diplomats were the target of Zionist splinter groups. In addition,
the King David Hotel in Jerusalem was bombed in July 1946, which killed 91 people (Söderblom
2). As a result, the British got so tired of the Palestine issue that it transmitted it to the newly
founded United Nations.
In 1947, the resolution n.181 of the UN General Assembly was passed. It demanded that
“The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible” and that an “Independent Arab
and Jewish states […] shall come into existence” (UN Resolution 181). This resolution was
accepted by most of the Jewish people as it “upgraded the promised Jewish “homeland” to
“Israel the State” (Söderblom 4). Yet, for the Palestinians it was viewed as a complete injustice
(Söderblom 3). The Palestinian reaction can be comprehensible for the reason that 93 percent of
the land belonged to them, whereas the Jews owned only seven percent of it. Furthermore, the
Resolution gave most of the fertile lands to the Zionists while the Palestinians were given the

8. Torossian8
infertile soil (Söderblom 3). Obviously, it shows how unreasonable this partition plan was for the
Palestinian side. As a result, a civil war immediately broke out between the two communities in
“the wake of the United Nation’s vote to partition Palestine” (Gelvin 224).
The civil war was divided between the Palestinians, who tried to avoid the partition of
their land, and the Jews, who wanted to protect the territory given by the UN Partition Plan
(Chaigne-Oudin 1). According to Chaigne-Oudin, author of First Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the
Jews won the conflict for the reason that they were better prepared since they participated in
World War II, and because they received weapons from Czechoslovakia (Chaigne-Oudin 1).
However, the dispute significantly changed into a great war, especially after the British mandate
over Palestine expired. Indeed, once the British left the region, David Ben-Gurion, the first prime
minister of Israel, took the advantage and proclaimed the independence of Israel on May 14,
1948 (Chaigne-Oudin 1). This proclamation led the regional countries to side with the
Palestinians, and to declare war on the newly established nation. The 1948-1949 war was
successfully won by Israel and caused the exile of around 700,000 Palestinian refugees out of
their land (Chaigne-Oudin 1). Many more conflicts were fought against Israel such as the Six-
Day War of 1967 or the recent Israel-Gaza dispute of 2014. `
This ongoing dispute is ultimately complex to resolve for the reason that both of the
entities have their own separate arguments over who is the rightful owner of this land. History
shows that the Arabs were strongly opposed to the Zionist invasion. Of course, the Palestinians
were living in that territory before Britain agreed to let the Jews immigrate to Palestine. They
also argue that they were dispossessed from their own land because of the Jewish occupation.
However, the Jews claim that this land belongs to them since the antiquity and that God
promised to Abraham’s descendants the land of Israel. Consequently, the Jews argue that they

9. Torossian9
have the duty to reclaim that area. It is inevitably clear that after the Jews established a Jewish
state, a homeland for the Jewish people; it is impossible to imagine that a one-state solution can
come into existence and resolve the current conflict. The Palestinians should understand that
their dream to regain the territory of what is now Israel is unthinkable. The only solution to their
problem is to recognize Israel as a nation and agree to have a Jewish neighbor like Egypt and
Jordan did. In addition, Israel should accept the fact that Palestinians also have the right for
statehood. Therefore, a two-state solution is by far the most acceptable and available way to end
the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. It is the only path to peace and stability in that region of the
Middle East.

10. Torossian10
Bibliography
Avraham, Rachel. Jewish History: Medieval Jews Fleeing Persecution Take Refuge in
Ottoman Turkish Empire. United with Israel, 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Chaigne-Oudin, Anne-Lucie. Premier Conflit Israélo-arabe de 1948. Les clés du Moyen
Orient, 2010. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Cohen, Mark. Muslim-Jewish relations in the Middle Ages. MyJewishLearning. Web. 23
Apr. 2015.
Davies-Stofka, Beth. Exploration and Conquest. Patheos. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Gelvin, James. The Modern Middle East 3 rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
217-232, 283-293. Print.
Herzl, Theodor. The Jewish State. Trans. D’Avigdor, Sylvie. The American Zionist
Emergency Council, 1946. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Laqueur, Walter. The History of Zionism. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2003. Web. 23 Apr.
2015.
Palazzi, Shaykh. A Muslim Scholar Speaks on Islam & Jerusalem. American-Israeli
Cooperative Enterprise. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Rydelnik, Michael; Easley, Michael. Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict: What the
Headlines Haven’t Told You. Moody Publishers, 2007. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Söderblom, Jason. A State of Inequity: The UN Partition Plan of 1947. The Terrorism
Intelligence Centre, 2003. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Tessler, Mark. A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. 2nd edition. Indiana
University Press, 2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

11. Torossian11
The New English Bible. NY: Oxford University Press, 1972. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
UNGA Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine (29 November 1947) UN
Doc A/RES/181(II)